News & EVENTS

NEA Executive Board Meeting
Friday March 19, 2021
Virtual Meeting via ZOOM
9am-1 pm

All NEA members are welcome to attend the NEA Executive Board quarterly meeting on Friday, March 19. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to NEA President Linda Hocking at president@newenglandarchivists.org.

Are you interested in adapting archives and special collections instruction to an online learning environment? Or perhaps you are already offering virtual instruction but would like to explore new strategies for collections-based learning?

Consider registering for the NEA Spring Meeting webinar, Collections-Based Online Learning in the Digital Archive, on March 25. In this webinar about teaching and learning in the digital archive, instructor Amy Barlow will discuss teaching an online first-year seminar that uses collections-based learning as an approach for developing coursework and learning outcomes. The program will describe how students in the course developed academic skills and acquired subject knowledge through the sustained study of a digitized manuscript. Participants will gain theoretical and practical knowledge of collections-based learning with digital materials, which may be adapted to various instructional settings both online and face-to-face.

For more information and to register: https://newenglandarchivists.org/event-4141665

Join NEA at the Spring 2021 Virtual Meeting from March 25-27. Our meeting theme, “Archives for a Changing World,” is inspired by the resiliency of the archives community. Let us use this moment to examine and explore the ingenuity, the resourcefulness, and the curiosity that we as archives professionals bring to a world in a seemingly constant state of flux.

Click here to register (early-bird registration until March 21; special covid-19 hardship rate)

Meet this year's plenary speakers! The plenary sessions begin at 10am on the Friday and Saturday of the virtual meeting.

Friday's plenary: Becci Davis
The plenary presentation is generously sponsored by Lucidea

Becci Davis was born on a military installation in Georgia named after General Henry L. Benning of the Confederate States Army. Her birth initiated her family’s first generation after the Civil Rights Act and its fifth generation post-Emancipation. Just as a river runs from its present in one place to its future in another, gradually and meticulously shaping its surroundings along the way, the women in her family are also rivers—recorders and keepers of recipes, stories, portraits, and traditions. Following their example, Becci believes that events of the past simultaneously shape our present and future. As a Rhode Island-based visual artist who works across disciplines, Becci finds inspiration in exploring natural and cultural landscapes, studying the past, documenting her family’s stories, and recording her present experiences as a daughter, mother, American, and Southern-born and -raised Black woman.

After earning a MFA from Lesley University College of Art and Design, Becci was awarded the St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award in Visual Art, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship in New Genres, the Providence Public Library Creative Fellowship, and the RISD Museum Artist Fellowship. Her work has been shown at the Newport Art Museum, TILA Studios, the Photographic Museum of Humanity, Vermont Center for Photography, Franklin Street Works, Burlington City Arts Center, AS220, and in gallery spaces of the University of Rhode Island, Brown University, University of Maryland, Lesley University, and Longwood University. Becci lives with her family in Wakefield, Rhode Island, and maintains a studio in Providence. She is an adjunct lecturer in Brown University’s Department of Visual Art.

Saturday's plenary: Elaine Stiles

Elaine B. Stiles is an assistant professor of historic preservation in the School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation at Roger Williams University, where she teaches courses in preservation practice and the history of the built environment. Before entering academia, Elaine worked for more than a decade as an architectural historian, historic preservation planner, and preservation advocate, engaging in projects from the rural reaches of northern Maine to the streets of San Francisco. During that time, she worked throughout the Pacific Northwest for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and staffed the organization's TrustModern program. Elaine’s scholarly research focuses on common, everyday architecture and spaces, such as mass-produced housing, modern spaces of consumption, and landscapes of urban decentralization, in pursuit of better understanding the design history and social and cultural functions of everyday spaces. Her preservation-related research focuses on critical analysis of contemporary historic preservation practice and the intersections of architecture and memory. Elaine holds a BA in art history from Smith College, an MA in preservation studies from Boston University, and a PhD in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley.

The New England Archivists Education Committee is looking for new members! We need members to serve three-year terms, as well as two student members to serve one-year terms. New members will start serving in winter or spring 2021.

Responsibilities include planning workshops and webinars—which can be done from the comfort of your home through email—liaising with members to determine their education needs, and serving as a day-of workshop representative at NEA's Spring Meetings (once we're meeting in person again). It is a fun, easy way to build your resume.

If you are interested, please contact co-chairs Nadia Dixson and Nicole Besseghir at education@newenglandarchivists.org.

Whether you are an experienced archivist looking to connect with peers or a new professional hoping to build your resume, New England Archivists has volunteer openings that will give you new skills and networking opportunities! Consider applying for the position of Web Administrator.

WEB ADMINISTRATOR

The Web Administrator is a member of the New England Archivists Communications Committee and serves a three-year term.

Major duties:

• Oversees maintenance and administration of the NEA website, including granting and removing site permissions for committee and Executive Board members.
• Coordinates with the Communications Chair, the Web Content Manager, and the Copy Editor to keep the site updated, relevant, and in line with NEA’s mission.
• Oversees the organizational structure of the website based on current web standards.
• Responsible for adding new pages, removing old pages, and maintaining the structure of the navigation, including on meeting pages.
• Back-end administrator for Wild Apricot including web pages--look and feel, usability, web forms, analytics, etc.--membership database, registrar’s module, and all other related web administration, including security protocols and domain name (note: this does not include PB Works).
• Manages and maintains NEA’s Google admin site, including facilitating the transfer of NEA email addresses to new committee and board members.
• Coordinates with the Treasurer when site and domain payments are necessary.
• Coordinates with the NEA Newsletter staff to make the quarterly newsletter available in digital format on the website.

To apply please contact communications@newenglandarchivists.org

New England Archivists Representatives-at-Large are seeking NEA members to serve on the committees that review applications for the Richard W. Hale, Jr., Professional Development Award, the Richard L. Haas Records Management Award, and the A/V Professional Development Award, described at: https://newenglandarchivists.org/awards.

You need only be a current NEA member in good standing to volunteer; no prior experience with NEA or with awards committees is required, making this a great opportunity for both new and seasoned members to get involved with NEA. The review and discussion of applications are conducted virtually, so no travel or in-person meetings are required. Applications for these awards will be accepted starting in early December, and winners will be chosen in February. For more information on NEA awards and scholarships, see: https://newenglandarchivists.org/awards.

To volunteer, send an email to the NEA Representatives-at-Large (RepAtLarge@newenglandarchivists.org) with your name, contact info, and the name of the award selection committee(s) on which you would like to serve by Friday, November 20. If there are more volunteers than we have spaces for, volunteers will be selected at random.

New England Archivists election season is upon us! This year, the NEA Executive Board has three openings:


• Vice President/President-Elect
• Treasurer-Elect
• Representative-at-Large

Job descriptions for all open positions are at: https://www.newenglandarchivists.org/leadership

The Treasurer-Elect position is new this year. The responsibilities of the Treasurer will now be divided between two Executive Board members: the incoming Treasurer-Elect (a non-voting member) and the Treasurer (a voting member). This division of duties will allow for more effective support as the role transitions over the course of the two-year term. After one year, the Treasurer-Elect steps into the Treasurer’s role for the second year of their term. 

NEA members are encouraged to self-nominate for elected positions or to nominate fellow members for open positions. All NEA members in good standing are eligible. Joining the Board is a great way to help support the archives community, learn from and share with colleagues, and inform NEA’s future.  

Please contact Jamie Rice, NEA Immediate Past President and Nominating Committee Chair, with nominations via email at jrice@mainehistory.org

Please make your nomination(s) by November 2, 2020.

Apply for one of New England Archivists' three awards to support members in their professional development and activities: 

Richard W. Hale, Jr., Professional Development Award
The Hale Award is given annually by NEA to promote the professional development of archivists in the region. Individual members of NEA are invited to apply for the award.

Richard L. Haas Records Management Award
The Haas Award is given annually by NEA in support of a project that promotes increased cooperation, understanding, and knowledge between the archival and records management professions. Applicants need not be a member of NEA to receive this award. 

Audio/Visual Professional Development Award
The A/V Award is given annually by NEA to promote the professional development of members in the areas of moving image, recorded sound, and time-based media. Individual members of NEA are invited to apply for the award. 

NEA invites applicants for each, as well as NEA members to serve on the committees to help review them. Applications for all three awards and supporting documentation must be submitted to the NEA Representatives-at-Large (RepAtLarge@newenglandarchivists.org) by Monday, February 15th, 2021.

Archives for a Changing World

The Spring 2021 Program Committee would like to announce an extension of the deadline for the spring meeting's call for proposals. The new deadline for session proposals is October 16, 2020. We hope that the extended deadline will allow our members to further connect, share ideas, and contribute to a successful spring conference!

New England Archivists (NEA) invites submissions of session proposals for our Virtual Spring 2021 Meeting, to be held remotely the week of March 22-27, 2021.

The deadline for proposals is now October 16, 2020.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the associated uncertainties, we have decided to move the in-person spring meeting to an entirely virtual format.

The Spring 2021 Meeting theme, Archives for a Changing World, was inspired by the resiliency of the archives community. We pride ourselves on our ability to adapt to the demands of unexpected challenges and innovate solutions that build a stronger, more inclusive community. Let us seize this moment to examine and explore the ingenuity, the resourcefulness, and the curiosity that we as archives professionals bring to a world in a seemingly constant state of flux.

The Spring 2021 Program Committee invites proposals on all topics but is especially interested in the following:

• Anti-racism
• Crisis management
• Climate change
• Social justice
• Labor practices/professional responsibilities
• Managing remote work
• Rapid response collecting
• Managing change
• Professional ethics
• Self-care

First-time presenters, current graduate students, early-career professionals, and BIPOC are encouraged to apply.

A Note about the Remote Format

Many details of the remote nature of the conference are still in the planning stages. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Program Committee chair (rjirka@amherst.edu) or the Inclusion and Diversity Committee (diversity@newenglandarchivists.org) with any questions or concerns you may have.

Possible Session Types

Sessions are not limited to those listed below, and we encourage proposals with creative session formats.

Standard Presentations

Two or three speakers present on a common theme. May include a moderator to steer discussion and/or introduce speakers and theme.

Open Forum

Topical discussion with moderator leading discussion with everyone in attendance. May include additional moderator(s) to direct breakout conversations.

Roundtable Discussion

Three or four participants make very brief remarks, then discuss a topic together. Includes a moderator to steer discussion.

PechaKucha

Each presentation consists of 20 slides or images displayed for 20 seconds each, with comment, and lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Highest number of presenters possible is 12, fewer if leaving time for questions.

Lightning Talks

Like PechaKucha, but without a set format. May or may not include slides or images. Presentations may be from 3 to 10 minutes long, with number of presenters depending on time allotted for each.

Debate

Moderator announces the topic, and two other people debate.

Other

If you have an idea for a virtual session not outlined here, let us know!

Note: Presenters are expected to have access to an internet connection, a computer with a microphone and camera, and the ability to access the virtual conference platform (to be determined).

For more ideas on successful conference sessions, see these links:

• Tips for Designing and Delivering an Engaging Presentation
• 20 Interactive Conference Ideas and Formats
• Creating an Experience: 10 inspired ideas for meetings
• From Forbes: 2 Million Professionals Polled On How To Make Virtual Conferences Better— Here Are Their Top 10 Hacks

Collaboration

To facilitate collaboration, the Spring 2021 Program Committee has created a space for NEA members to develop session proposals together.

Please use this space to connect with your colleagues about potential session topics and formats. This collaborative space will be accessible until the deadline for proposals, October 16, 2020.

Proposal Submission

To submit a proposal, complete this form.

Please note that proposed sessions involving fewer than three presenters and/or covering overlapping topics may be grouped together.

All submissions will be acknowledged by the Program Committee. If your proposal is selected, your acknowledgment will include instructions about next steps. All presenters are required to register for the conference upon acceptance, at the early-bird rate.

Accessibility and Code of Conduct

NEA is committed to making the Spring 2021 Meeting welcoming and accessible to all presenters and attendees. Presenters are encouraged to ensure that their presentations meet current accessibility guidelines. Presenters are also required to abide by the NEA Code of Conduct, which can be found here:

https://www.newenglandarchivists.org/Code-of-Conduct

If you will need specific accommodations, such as interpretive services, to support your participation in this event, please contact the program chair.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available through NEA to facilitate participation for those in need. Details about criteria and how to apply will be shared via the listserv and on the NEA website prior to the application period opening.

Please see the following pages for specific details on past scholarship requirements:

Questions? Please contact the Program Committee Chair, Rachel Jirka, at rjirka@amherst.edu.