Log in
  • Thursday, August 02, 2012 9:39 AM | Anonymous member
    This fall, the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (ART) will be celebrating its 24th Annual New York Archives Week, October 7th - 13th, 2012. Archives Week events are designed to raise the public’s awareness of the importance of preserving and making accessible our documentary heritage. Activities include a wide range of programming, including lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and tours of repositories, all free and open to the public.
     
    Archives Week is intended to be a coordinated effort to bring the significance and accomplishments of archives to the public's attention. Last year, over two dozen institutions in New York City held events or exhibitions relating to archival records. We would like to see similar participation this year and thus urge you and your repositories to plan an Archives Week event.
     
    Suggested Archives Week activities:
    * Hold an open house, highlighting unique materials held by your repository.
    * Mount an exhibit using materials from your repository.
    * Demonstrate or report on activities/projects supported by grants.
    * Ask a researcher to speak on the value of your collections to his/her research.
    * Present a film festival using films or videos held by your repository.
    * Sponsor lunchtime talks by archivists, historians, and other researchers.
    * Organize a walking tour of your repository's neighborhood.
     
    In addition, as part of an effort to draw public attention to Archives Week and highlight the importance of our repositories and collections, ART will sponsor three events: on the evening of Thursday, October 11th we will honor our colleagues at our Annual Awards Ceremony; on Friday, October 12th we will hold a full-day symposium, “Archives and Activism;” and on Saturday, October 13th, the third annual K-12 Archives Education Institute will take place.
     
    For all other Archives Week events, please complete the 2012_Event_Form.doc to be submitted for inclusion in the Archivists Round Table Archives Week event calendar. The deadline for submission of the form is Friday, August 31st. The form should be emailed to secretary@nycarchivists.org.
     
  • Monday, July 30, 2012 10:43 AM | Anonymous
    ART mourns the loss of our friend and colleague Michael Nash, Head of the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University. His obituary was published in The New York Times on July 29, 2012:

    NASH--Michael, Head of Tamiment Library -- NYU Libraries mourns the passing of our colleague; innovative archivist of left politics, labor, and human rights; scholar; teacher; dear friend. He transformed his library, his profession, and our understanding of the historical record. Our hearts are with his family. Memorial gifts may be sent for Tamiment to the Michael Nash Memorial Fund, Dean's Office, 70 Washington Square S, New York, NY 10012, or to organizations fostering social justice.

    http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=158818028#fbLoggedOut
  • Tuesday, July 10, 2012 9:34 PM | Anonymous

    On June 19, the American Museum of Natural History Research Library hosted this year’s annual business meeting, along with the June programming event that featured a presentation on the American Museum of Natural History Archive Project. At the meeting, members voted, by ballot and by proxy via email, selecting candidates for the ART Board of Directors.

    Several structural changes have now come into effect with the revised by-laws which were approved by members in May. In accordance with revised by-laws, new board positions were created including Programming Director, Communications Director and Outreach and Advocacy Director.

    2012 Election Results:

    President (2012-2013)
    Rachel Chatalbash

    Rachel Chatalbash holds the position of Archivist at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Previously, she held archives positions at the MIT Museum and Northeastern University. She received her M.S. in archives management from Simmons College and is currently a PhD candidate in art history at the CUNY Graduate Center. Rachel served on the Board of the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York as President from 2010–2012, as Coordinator of the Communications and Outreach Committee from 2008–2010 and as Editor-in-Chief for ART’s Metropolitan Archivist from 2006 to 2010. During her time with ART, Rachel has been responsible for expanding the organization’s programs, including developing outreach programs for local communities and new ART-sponsored New York Archives Week events, increasing membership numbers and member services, and leading ART’s participation in significant advocacy campaigns.

    Vice President (2012–2013)
    President (2013–2014)
    Pamela Cruz

    Pamela Cruz is director of the National Historic Preservation Center for Girls Scouts of the USA. She has extensive global experience in assessment, organization, preservation and management of asset collections, and creating systems for tracking and storage. Prior to arrival at GSUSA in July 2008, Pamela was Vice President, Archival Services for Miramax Films, for eight years and Antiques Manager at Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation for 13 years. During her years at Miramax, she was responsible for the inception of the Miramax Archives Department, created archive databases, and handled taxonomy and nomenclature and systems for Miramax and Dimension Films and the personal archives of the co-chairmen of the company. She worked with film asset collections in Italy, France, Mexico, Romania, and in the U.S. and on various exhibits and special projects for museums and other venues. At Polo she managed the inventory of high-end antiques and decorative arts used for Polo stores, wholesale showrooms, advertising shoots, and special events. Pamela’s work with ART includes Programming Committee volunteer in 2011 and service on the Board as Vice President for the current 2011–2012 membership year where she was responsible for ART Monthly Meetings and Programming and facilitating the work of the Programming Committee, as well as supporting the Board on ART initiatives.

    Education Committee, Director (2012–2013)
    Tessa Fallon

    Tessa Fallon is a Web Collection Curator at Columbia University Libraries. She is currently an ART member and in the past she has been a volunteer for the Programming and Outreach Committees. Tessa holds an MSLIS from the Palmer School of Library and Information Science and a certificate in Archives and Records Management.

    Programming Committee, Director (2012–2013)
    Nick Pavlik

    Nick Pavlik graduated from the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies in December 2011 and is currently the archivist for the 92nd Street Y. Prior to that, Nick was a member of the project team for “Uncovering the Secrets of Brooklyn's Nineteenth-Century Past: Creation to Consolidation,” an archival survey project at the Brooklyn Historical Society. He has also interned as an archivist at the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Transit Museum.

    Membership Committee, Director (2012–2014)
    Anne Petrimoulx

    Anne is the Assistant Archivist at Trinity Wall Street, a position she has held since 2008. She received her MSIS with concentrations in Archival Administration and Electronic Records from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008. While in school, Anne worked in the archives at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and did volunteer work at the Harry Ransom Center. Anne has been a member and volunteer with ART since 2009, helping with the work of the Education Committee and the Outreach Committee, contributing the Metropolitan Archivist, and helping to coordinate the 2010 NYAC conference, as well as various ART workshops held at her institution.

    Communications Committee, Director (2012–2014)
    Ryan Anthony Donaldson

    Ryan Anthony Donaldson, CA, is currently the Archivist with the Durst Organization, Inc., a fourth-generation family real estate firm in New York, New York. In 2007, Ryan earned an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program (CGP) in Cooperstown, New York, and served as CGP’s archivist. He has previously interned with the Archives and Special Collections department at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Seymour B. Durst Old York Library and Reading Room, and Missouri Historical Society.

    Outreach and Advocacy Committee, Director (2012–2014)
    Janet Bunde

    Janet Bunde currently serves as the Assistant University Archivist and Archivist of the John Brademas Congressional Papers at New York University. She received her M.A. in history with a certificate in archival administration from NYU in 2007. Her areas of professional interest and research include both advocacy and incorporating archival materials into educational instruction. For the past several years Janet has chaired ART’s Outreach Committee. In that capacity she has been fortunate to work with many ART members to plan two successful Archives Education Institutes, pairing local K–12 educators with archivists to connect archivists to new groups of users and teachers with materials they can use in the classroom.

    Secretary (2012–2014)
    Melissa Bowling

    Melissa Bowling currently works as an Assistant Archivist in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives. In 2008, Melissa received her MLIS and certificates in Archives and Museum Libraries from Pratt Institute. She has previously worked for the American Civil Liberties Union Archives as Archives Assistant, interned in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine Archives, and volunteered in the Western Connecticut State University Archives. Melissa also served on the ART Bylaws Revision Committee 2011–2012.

    Mitch Brodsky continues to serve as ART Treasurer.

    ART thanks Heather Ball, Elizabeth Pope, and Catherine Carson Ricciardi for their contributions over the past two years as Membership and Nominating Committee Coordinator, Education Committee Coordinator, and Secretary.

    Originally posted in the July/August 2012 edition of For The Record: News From The Archivists Round Table.
  • Friday, July 06, 2012 8:04 PM | Deleted user
    The ART Board invites you to check out the July/August 2012 edition of For The Record: News From The Archivists Round Table.

    You can access For The Record within your browser here.

    For The Record provides members with the latest news between meetings and will keep members informed in-between issues of Metropolitan Archivist, our semi-annual publication.

    For future editions, we encourage you to subscribe if you have not done so already.

    Here is a direct link to sign up.

    You will have the option of receiving For The Record as HTML, text, or in mobile format.

    Emma Curtis serves as Editor, and all content is compiled by the ART Communications Committee. Communications relating to For The Record can be directed to commchair@nycarchivists.org.
  • Saturday, June 30, 2012 3:17 PM | Anonymous






    The new summer issue of Metropolitan Archivist, with contributions highlighting the theme of trends and transitions, is now available on the ART website, for direct download here, or on Scribd.

    In this issue:

    *FEATURES*
    "Shedding New Light on World War II in the Archives of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection"

    "Oyster Bay Historical Society Takes up Atlas Digitization"

    "Litchfield Historical Society’s Archives Acquires Business Record of Local Entrepreneur, Elijah Boardman"

    "More Product, Less Process: The Evolving Process of Connecting Theory with Practice"

    "Collaboration and Digitization: Transitions in Collections Access at the Seamen’s Church Institute Archives"

    *INTERVIEW(s) WITH THE ARCHIVIST(s)*
    Marcos Sueiro Bal and Regina Feeney

    *REACHING OUT*
    Woody Guthrie Archives and Dance Heritage Coalition

    *BOOK REVIEW*
    The Lone Arranger: Succeeding in a Small Repository by Christina Zamon

    *CITING COLLECTIONS*
    With Thomas Lannon and the New York Public Library

    *EXHIBITIONS REVIEW*
    Edith Wharton’s New York City: A Backward Glance and Star Quality: The World of Noel Coward

    *REPOSITORY REVIEWS*
    Stephen B. Luce Library, Archives, & Special Collections and the Ernest A. Liner collection at AMNH

    *ART NEWS*
    Sixteen submissions, including the announcement of new Metropolitan Archivist managing editor, Rachel L. Conrad. Also, see the final call for papers for the “Archiving the Arts” symposium.

    *PROGRAMMING AND EDUCATION COMMITTEE REPORTS* …and more!

    *All comments, questions, republication inquiries, and letters to the editor may be directed to editor@nycarchivists.org*

  • Monday, June 25, 2012 8:02 PM | Anonymous


    On the morning of June 13th, a small band of ART members hopped aboard the 9:48AM Harlem Line train at Grand Central Terminal. They were joined by a few others who drove directly to Mount Kisco for an exclusive tour of the Woody Guthrie Archives. The tour was led by Tiffany Colannino, Archivist.

    Since 1996, the Woody Guthrie Foundation & Archives
    has helped properly preserve and creatively promote the life, music, and work of Woody Guthrie. First amassed in Manhattan, now housed in Mount Kisco, and soon headed for Tulsa, Oklahoma, the collection comprises Guthrie’s original song lyrics, diaries, photographs, correspondence, personal papers, scrapbooks, artwork, films, and audio recordings. Seeing the breadth of the collection, all in one place, quickly expands one’s understanding of Guthrie not only as a musician, but also as a political activist and social commentator, vivid writer, and gifted visual artist.



    Tiffany Colannino, Archivist, leads a group tour of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives in Mount Kisco, NY. The group, comprised of members of the Archivists Round Table, examined some of Woody Guthrie's notebooks. Photograph courtesy Ryan Anthony Donaldson, 13 June 2012. Image via archivistsrt Flickr

    The group consensus of the tour’s highlight was holding Guthrie’s original notebooks, filled with his lyrics, aphorisms, illustrations, opinions, and observations. After admiring Tiffany’s custom enclosure cases (with velcro!) for the notebooks, we relished the privilege of witnessing Guthrie’s dazzling mind at work on paper. What heightened the experience of poring over the notebooks was the thrilling opportunity to meet Nora Guthrie, Director, and Anna Canoni, Publicity Director for Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Nora Guthrie spoke eloquently of her father; she has made remarkable efforts to personally work with musicians, writers, filmmakers and those inspired by Woody Guthrie to license and share his music and art, thereby expanding his legacy.

    All in attendance cherished this tour experience, and we were amazed to hear how much the mighty archives staff, totaling two, has accomplished. In addition to managing the archives, licensing rights, offering educational programming and traveling exhibits, and assisting researchers, the archives staff is celebrating Woody Guthrie’s centennial. Please visit http://www.woody100.com/ to learn more.

    ART gratefully acknowledges and thanks the Woody Guthrie Foundation & Archives for this exclusive opportunity for ART membership.

    *
    Submitted by Ryan Anthony Donaldson, ART Communications Director

  • Tuesday, June 05, 2012 9:12 PM | Deleted user
    2012-2013 Board Elections

    Please cast your vote for ART's new Board members at our June 19th meeting at the American Museum of Natural History Research Library from 6:30 pm to 7:15 pm. 

    Please follow this link to view each candidate's bio and statement.

    If you are unable to attend our meeting, you can vote by proxy via email. Please send an email to membership@nycarchivists.org by 5pm on June 18th, attaching the ballot sent to you by the ART Membership and Nominating Coordinator and including your full name. You must vote using the email address registered with your ART membership account.

    Thank you to all, and good luck to our candidates!

  • Thursday, May 31, 2012 8:36 PM | Deleted user

    Archives and Activism: Call for Participation

    “The rebellion of the archivist against his normal role is not, as so many scholars fear, the politicizing of a neutral craft, but the humanizing of an inevitably political craft."
    -- Howard Zinn "Secrecy, Archives, and the Public Interest," Vol. II, No. 2 (1977) of Midwestern Archivist.

    The boundaries between "archivist" and "activist" have become increasingly porous, rendering ready distinctions between archivists (traditionally restricted to the preservation of records, maintaining accountability, and making critical information available to the communities they serve) and activists (who, with greater frequency, look to archives or adopt elements of archival practice as a means of documenting their struggles) virtually unsustainable. In the past year, archivists and citizen activists collaborated to document the Occupy Wall Street movement, and archivists committed to open government worked with the New York City Council to advocate for keeping the Municipal Archives as an independent city agency. While the apparent convergence of archival and activist worlds may appear a timely and relevant topic, these distinct communities often deliberate their roles separately with little dialogue.

    The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York and the New School Archives and Special Collections are sponsoring a symposium to bring together a diverse group of archivists, activists, students, and theorists with the aim of facilitating discussion of their respective concerns.  Among its proposed topics, the symposium will address potential roles that archivists may engage in as activists, as well as how archivists can assume a greater role in documenting and contributing toward social and political change.

    Possible areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

    -Archivists documenting the work of activists and activist movements
    -Activists confronting traditional archival practice
    -Possible models for an emergent “activist archives”
    -Methodologies for more comprehensively documenting activism
    -Archivist and activist collaborations
    -Community-led archives and repositories operating outside of the archival  establishment
    -Archives as sites of knowledge (re)production and in(ter)vention
    -Relational paradigms for mapping the interplay of power, justice, and archives
    -Critical pedagogy in the reference encounter
    -Interrogating preconceptions and misunderstandings that obscure common goals

    Date: Friday, October 12, 2012

    Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, The New School

    All individual presentations will be 20 minutes long (10 page paper).
    Submissions must include a title, name of author and institutional affiliation (if applicable), abstract (250 words max), and indication of technological requirements.
    Individual papers or entire panel proposals accepted.

    Deadline for Proposals: Proposals should be emailed to admin@nycarchivists.org by August 1, 2012.

  • Thursday, May 31, 2012 2:08 PM | Deleted user

    The ART Advocacy Committee is helping disseminate information about the formation of the United States Chapter of Archivists without Borders (AwB-US), whose stated mission is currently to “unite archival professionals through education, outreach, and advocacy to support human rights, underrepresented populations, and endangered archives both in the United States and in collaboration with international chapters.”

    The AwB-US organizing working group has posted the first phase of their founding documents online, and call upon the archives community to review and comment upon these documents. The first phase of the proposal, including background information and mission statement, are open for comments until June 1.

    A second phase of the proposal, consisting of a statement of financial organization, goals, and membership qualifications, will be made available for comments beginning on June 1, 2012.

    Documents are available for review and comment on the AwB-US website: http://awbuschapter.wordpress.com.  

  • Sunday, May 27, 2012 5:41 PM | Anonymous

    Nominations Open for ART Board Elections

    Submitted by: ART Membership and Nominating Committee

    ART's newest bylaws were accepted by member vote on May 10, 2012. A copy of the ART bylaws is available for download here. As a result of our new bylaws, Board positions have been amended to better support our organization (descriptions of all positions may be found in the bylaws).

    This realignment coincides with our elections for this year-- please find listed below the Board positions available for the 2012-2013 election, along with their descriptions (all positions are for two-year terms, excepting the President, Director of Education Committee, and Director of Programming for this year only, which will be one year):

    President

    The President shall be the chief executive officer of ART and shall have general supervision over the business of the organization, subject, however, to the control of the Board. The President shall be the official spokesperson for ART. The President shall, if present, preside at all meetings of the Board; shall be an ex officio member of all committees; and, in general, shall perform all duties incident to the office of President and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Board.

    Vice President

    At the request of the President, or in the absence of the President, at the request of the Board, the Vice President shall perform all of the duties of the President and so acting shall have all the powers of and be subject to all restrictions upon the President. The Vice President shall solicit nominations for Director, officer and committee positions; inform the nominator and nominee of the nomination; prepare ballots with candidates’ biographies and statements; and appoint an independent election committee to receive and count the ballots. The Vice President shall serve as liaison with the President to national, regional and local professional associations; prepare a report for the Annual Business Meeting; and perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Board or by the President.

    Director of the Communications Committee

    The Director of the Communications Committee shall identify the communications requirements of ART; update and produce publications for ART, as needed, or as requested by the Board; communicate the concerns of ART on 9 various subjects as needed; and perform other duties applicable to the office as prescribed by the Board.

    Director of the Outreach and Advocacy Committee

    The Director of the Outreach and Advocacy Committee shall conduct outreach by coordinating community programs and promoting awareness of ART to other organizations and community groups, promote the archival profession to new audiences, advocate for the preservation and increased use of historical materials, and influence policy decisions that affect the archives profession.

    Director of the Programming Committee

    The Director Programming Committee shall recommend to the Board topics and venue locations for regular programs; distribute the notice of the program topics and venue locations to the Members; and make all arrangements for regular programs, including alternate arrangements, as necessary. The Programming Committee shall coordinate with other Members of ART to insure that at least one program per month will be offered between the months of September and June, or as otherwise determined by the Board.

    Director of the Membership Committee

    The Director of the Membership Committee shall encourage institutional and individual membership in ART; develop and update an orientation packet for new Members; collect and maintain personal information submitted by Members, and document the reasons Members have not renewed their membership.

    Director of the Education Committee

    The Director of the Education Committee shall determine the continuing educational needs of the archival community; make recommendations to the Board for both short-term and long-term projects for ART sponsorship; and propose topics and make arrangements for a minimum of three education programs annually. Education events may be offered in addition to the regular monthly or offered as the regular monthly program, but must be coordinated with the Programming Committee.

    Secretary

    The Secretary shall act as secretary of all meetings of the Board, and shall keep the minutes thereof; shall be custodian of the seal of ART and may seal with the seal of ART; shall have charge of the books, records and papers of ART relating to its organization and management as an organization, and shall see that the reports, statements and other documents required by law are properly kept and filed; shall manage the archives of the Archivists Round Table according to the Records Retention Policy and Schedule of the Corporation and shall, in general, perform all the duties incident to the office of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Board or by the President.

     

    At this time, we would like to open nominations for the election to our members-- please contact us at membership@nycarchivists.org if you would like to nominate someone, including yourself, for a position on the Board, and that name will be included on the official ballot to be voted on at the annual business meeting in June. Serving on the ART Board offers numerous benefits, such as gaining leadership experience, the experience to manage committee projects, and most importantly serving as a representative for your colleagues and for ART membership.

    If there are any questions about the open positions, or this year's election, feel free to contact the Membership and Nominating Committee at membership@nycarchivists.org.

     




Questions? communications@nycarchivists.org

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software