SAA Roundup
A report on my recent attendance at the Society of American Archivist 2021 Virtual Conference
Published: August 15, 2021 by Melissa Prunty Kemp
An extraordinary virtual meeting
just wrapped up on August 6. This was my first opportunity
to attend, and as an active conference participant, I cannot be
more pleased with the enriching educational content and relevant
vendor presentations. The week was actually exhausting and packed
full of don’t-miss events. A tight schedule was complemented by
on-demand education seminars, mini-theatres, professor and
graduate student posters, and social activities.
Thematically and excitingly, the
conference had three focus areas – (1) digital preservation,
exhibitions from archives and engagement. It seems everyone is
digitizing collections right now out of expediency and
necessity. A second theme – (2) collecting during COVID-19,
community archives and small archives ingenuity – demonstrated
that everyone can digitize and preserve with a minimum of
equipment. Many small institutions have found the means to do so,
even during COVID. One excellent seminar – S13 – Outreach and
Online Access Innovations from Smaller Institutions – provided
outstanding information on inexpensive digitizing and virtual
exhibit building.
A third major theme was (3) cultural representation and preservation. Several sessions addressed questions of how archivists can repair offensive or dated language in their metadata and other publicly accessible areas. How institutions handle a history of offensive or discriminatory language presented suggestions on how and when to globally replace problematic identifiers. The daunting task this presents for small institutions is problematic in some cases. Using volunteers for this purpose can alleviate some labor issues. Creating collaborations, especially community ones, can be highly effective in addressing this repair.
Comments
Post new comment