The Archivists Round Table (A.R.T.) of Metropolitan New York is pleased to announce the full schedule for the annual A.R.T. Symposium, which will take place online on Thursday, January 26 and Friday, January 27, 2023.
This year’s Symposium theme is Connection/Isolation, which seeks to explore the things that bind us together and keep us apart at all levels of our field. As archivists, we navigate a variety of relationships within our institutions, among colleagues, with potential donors, and even with folks who have limited exposure to archives. However, we may also experience separation from these groups, particularly as a result of changing work spaces, limited budgets, and continuing effects from the COVID-19 pandemic. How do we reconcile these different needs? In what ways are we alone in our work and in what ways do we collaborate? How do the records we care for include and exclude subjects and creators? These questions and more will be explored over the course of two days of programming.
Admission is free and open to all. Advance registration is required. Live captioning will be provided throughout the day. Please feel free to contact the organizers at education@nycarchivists.org if you have any other accessibility needs.
Unless otherwise noted, all sessions will be recorded.
SCHEDULE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023
12:15 – 12:30 Opening Remarks & Land Acknowledgement
Danielle Nista, Director of Education, Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York
12:30 – 1:30 Keynote Addres - Database Digging, Stat Seeking, and People Finding: News Librarianship in a Nutshell
Whitney Lee
For more than a decade Whitney has been involved in various aspects of news media. She started out as a transcriber typing, editing, and formatting transcripts for nightly news programs. Whitney later went on to work as a researcher in the newsrooms of two New York newspapers, Newsday and the New York Daily News. Both experiences would become crucial to her landing a job as a research specialist with NBC News (one of the companies she formerly produced transcripts for).
Whitney is currently the Helen Bernstein Librarian for Periodicals and E-Resources at the New York Public Library, and an Adjunct Assistant Curator for Teaching, Learning & Engagement at New York University. When not working she can be found trying to conceal the number of tabs open in her browser and running casually (some would call it jogging) around Brooklyn.
1:30 - 2:00 PM Break
2:00- 2:50 PM Researchers and Archivists: Achieving More Together!
Kate Lingley
Please note that this session will not be recorded.
As a visual researcher for documentaries and films, Kate sometimes gets called an archivist. Although she takes it as a compliment, she clarifies that she is not one. Rather than maintaining and organizing an archive, most of the time she is running around among virtual stacks chasing after specific materials. This presentation provides the perspective of a ‘lone seeker’ who works with archivists to find hidden gems for incorporation into new works. Archivists know their collections best, and often can lead a researcher down the right path to discovery. Kate will discuss the importance of good communication between researcher and archivist (especially when working offsite), handling reproduction rights and permissions, and resolving demanding production deadlines with institutional parameters.
Kate Lingley has been a visual researcher for the past decade. Her main areas of interest are biographical documentaries of unsung heroes (Ray Parker Jr., Shep Gordon, and 'Hired Gun's), and stories told in order to inspire action ('The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel,' 'Action Planet,' and 'An Apology to Elephants'). Films she has worked on have premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, Tribeca, SXSW, Doc NYC, Hot Docs Film Festivals, and have been recognized by the Emmys, Grammys, Peabodys. She is currently taking courses at the Queens College GSLIS.
3:00 – 3:50 PM Path to Leadership: Reflecting on the National Forum on Advancing Asian and Pacific Islander American Librarianship:
Perspectives from Asian American Archival Workers & Panel Discussion
Raymond Pun, Lydia Tang, Hanna Ahn, Helen Wong Smith, Shelly Black
Please note that this session will not be recorded.
This panel discussion highlights how the "Path to Leadership: National Forum on Advancing Asian and Pacific Islander American Librarianship'' (funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and supported by the Chinese American Librarians Association and the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association) created a community for library and archival workers who identify as Asian and Pacific Islander American. "Path to Leadership '' hosted a virtual forum in January 2022 and a series of webinars in Spring 2022 to gather 100+ AAPI participants to discuss, identify, and share the opportunities and barriers to leadership experienced by AAPI library and archival workers. Panelists are archivists who will share how their participation in the program expanded opportunities for them to think about the value and importance of community building for professional and personal growth, particularly during this moment under COVID -19. The project came in a timely manner where it connected 100+ AAPI library and archival workers to learn from one another, understand different modes of leadership, and to develop collaborations. Attendees will learn more about the "Path to Leadership" project as well as hear the value of community building and inclusive leadership that benefits all.
Dr. Ray Pun is a librarian at Alder Graduate School of Education and a co-Project Director of the "Path to Leadership" (funded by IMLS).
Dr. Lydia Tang is currently the Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for LYRASIS.
Hanna Ahn is the Assistant University Archivist at Stanford University.
Archivist for University Records at the University of Hawaiʻi (UH) at Mānoa, Helen Wong Smith has over 35 years’ experience in library and archival collections in Hawaiʻi.
Shelly Black is currently the Digital Archivist at North Carolina State University Libraries.
3:50 – 4:00 PM Closing Remarks
Danielle Nista, Director of Education, Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York
SCHEDULE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023
12:00 – 12:15 PM Opening Remarks & Land Acknowledgement
Nicholas Martin, President, Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York
12:15 PM – 1:30 PM Archiving Hip-Hop as a Community of Practice
Martha Diaz (MD), Brad San Martin, Pacey Foster
Please note that this session will not be recorded.
Almost 50 years since the birth of Hip-Hop in New York City, an international movement to archive this important Afro-diasporic American art form has emerged. Our panel features three leading archivist/scholars working at diverse collecting institutions -- Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive in the Boston Public Library, Universal Hip-Hop Museum and The Apollo Theater. In analyzing the Hip-Hop archive phenomenon through the recent discovery of two unearthed video projects, this panel will critically interrogate the unique responsibilities, opportunities and challenges that arise as large heritage institutions and independent collections work collaboratively with local Hip-Hop communities to preserve, study, and celebrate urban arts and culture. The audience will leave with a deeper understanding of the emergent Hip-Hop archive movement and be able to discuss its stakes and implications for their own work and the field of archival science as a whole.
Martha Diaz (MD) is an award-winning media producer, archivist, curator, educator, and founder of the Hip-Hop Education Center. Through her exhibitions, and publications of research reports, books, and curricula, she has chronicled Hip-Hop history to preserve its cultural value and memory. A graduate of NYU’s Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, MD has worked on archival projects with the Universal Hip Hop Museum, Parkwood Entertainment (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), Tupac Shakur Estate, and The Paley Center for Media to name a few. MD is a Professor of Hip-Hop & Fellow at the Center for Creative and Entertainment Arts at Virginia State University.
The Apollo Theater's first staff digital archivist, Brad San Martin received his Masters of Library Science degree with a concentration in archives and records management from the University of North Carolina School of Information and Library Science. Prior to joining the Apollo in 2017, he processed incoming collection materials and helped develop novel workflows at the Southern Folklife Collection in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A lifelong music enthusiast, he worked in the music and travel industries as a copywriter, content developer, and product manager before entering the archives field. He has also produced and/or annotated a number of acclaimed historical CD reissue projects, including Kevin Dunn’s No Great Lost: Songs 1979-1985 and Harlan County USA: Songs of the Coal Miner’s Struggle.
Pacey Foster is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he is a member of its Organizations and Social Change group. As a creative industries scholar his research focuses on brokerage and social networks in creative industries, the dynamics of creative clusters and scenes, and community engaged archives. His work has appeared in the Journal of Management, Creative Industries Journal, Regional Studies, Poetics and the Oxford Handbook of Creative Industries. In 2016, Pacey launched the Massachusetts Hip-Hop Archive at the Archives and Special Collections at UMass Boston's Healey Library and with the support of the Boston Public Library, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Mass Humanities, has partnered with numerous local artists and community groups to host events that collect and celebrate Hip-Hop arts and culture in Massachusetts.
1:30 – 1:45 PM Break
1:45 – 2:15 PM Archives Unmasked: Transforming the Lone Arranger through Inclusivity and Trust
Kristen J. Nyitray, Dana Reijerkerk
At Stony Brook University Libraries, Kristen Nyitray is Director of the Special Collections and University Archives, and University Archivist; and Dana Reijerkerk is the Knowledge Management and Digital Assets Librarian. In this lighting talk, they will discuss their experiences over the past three years to create new opportunities within existing work structures to produce collaborative projects, services, and research. Through this intentional process, inclusivity and workplace bonds were cultivated through trust.
In 2019, Dana was hired in a newly-created role for digital asset management. Kristen has been the only librarian and archivist in her department for more than a decade. In their own unique ways, both work in a singular or “lone” role. Kristen is the “lone arranger” in Special Collections and University Archives, and Dana’s role is for library resource management at large. Although their positions are located within the same collection management division, the administrative structure did not inherently create connections in daily work.. Dana and Kristen were assigned as mentee and mentor in 2020. After communicating in that capacity, they recognized opportunities to transform isolated work tasks and research interests into collaborative initiatives.
To support other librarians and archivists who may be working in similar circumstances, this lightning talk will describe the diverse approaches taken and outcomes from their experiences. Examples of the types of work that were shifted from solo endeavors to a self-directed collaboration model include formulating policies and best practices; conducting assessments; managing digitization projects; supervising internships; preservation benchmarking; and enacting committee agendas. For the library, these collaborations have created new workflows and resulted in several completed projects. Two personal outcomes are higher morale and stronger collegial relations. These changes are motivating and positively influence feelings of career success and trust. This model could be instructive for others seeking to transform feelings of isolation to connection in the workplace.
Kristen J. Nyitray is Director of the Special Collections and University Archives, and University Archivist, at Stony Brook University, USA.
Dana Reijerkerk is the Knowledge Management and Digital Assets Librarian at Stony Brook University, USA.
2:15 – 2:30 PM Break
2:30 PM – 3:20 PM Addressing Archival Gaps with Library Colleagues and Community Partners
Meral Agish, Jerrie Grantham
In this discussion, Queens Public library colleagues Meral Agish and Jerrie Grantham will share highlights from their community-engaged projects and present ways they have activated internal and external networks and bring newly recorded oral history interviews and digitized materials to the library's archives.
Meral, community coordinator of the Queens Memory Project, leads the Ambassadors Program, working closely with librarians and volunteers at selected branches on local history projects that incorporate oral history interviewing and thematically linked public programs to recruit potential interviewees. Through the Ambassadors Program's first two years, nearly 75 interviews have been added to the library's oral history collection.
Jerrie, the library's Volunteer Services Manager, leads the Friends Legacy Project, working closely with long-standing members of the library's Friends Groups to record the decades-long history of local outreach, programming support and advocacy across 20 volunteer-led groups. After finding that the Friends were under-represented in the library's institutional records, Jerrie launched the project to help digitize printed materials that have long been kept in people's homes or in branch library file cabinets and to record oral history interviews with Friends members who have dedicated years of work to their communities and branches.
Meral Agish (she/her) is the community coordinator of the Queens Memory Project at Queens Public Library and collaborates with library colleagues, community partners, and volunteers on participatory archiving programs and oral history interviews. She is currently pursuing her MLIS at Queens College CUNY.
Jerrie Grantham (she/her) is the Volunteer Services Manager at Queens Public Library and works closely with various Friends chapters to achieve their respective goals. Jerrie is Member-at-Large for the New York Library Association, Friends of Library section.
3:30 – 4:00 PM Closing Remarks
Danielle Nista, Director of Education, Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York
