NEWSLETTER OF THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN ARCHIVISTS MAR/APR 2005 WWW.ARCHIVISTS.ORG archivalarchival outlookoutlook BirdsBirds ofof aa Feather...Feather... •• AmericanAmerican ArchivistArchivist EditorEditor SearchSearch •• WeinsteinWeinstein ConfirmedConfirmed asas U.S.U.S. ArchivistArchivist •• JointJoint AdvAdvocacyocacy EffortEffort toto SaveSave NHPRCNHPRC table of contents archival outlook features the society of american archivists Inside the Beltway serves the educational and informational needs of its members and provides leadership to Weinstein Confirmed as Archivist of the United States . 6 help ensure the identification, preservation NHPRC Budget Zeroed Out for FY2006 . 7 and use of the nation’s historic record. SAA Needs You! NANCY P. BEAUMONT Call for Applicants: Editor, The American Archivist . 5 Executive Director [email protected] Volunteering 101: Sign Up to Serve on an SAA Committee and Develop Your Professional Skills! TERESA M. BRINATI Richard Pearce-Moses . 8 Director of Publishing [email protected] New Orleans ’05 SOLVEIG DESUTTER Get Jazzed by the New Orleans 2005 Program Education Director [email protected] Elisabeth Kaplan and Kathy Marquis . 10 Visit Historic City Park in New Orleans BRIAN P. DOYLE Sally K. Reeves . 11 Graphic Designer & Webmaster [email protected] February 2005 Council Meeting: SAA Leaders Identify RODNEY FRANKLIN “Mega Issues,” Develop Advocacy Action Plan. 12 Publications Assistant [email protected] SAA Code of Ethics for Archivists . 13 Reading and Archival Knowledge LEE GONZALEZ Richard J. Cox . 14 Office Assistant [email protected] columns CARLOS SALGADO Program Coordinator President’s Message: A Public Voice for Archivists. 3 [email protected] From the Executive Director . 4 JEANETTE SPEARS Member Services Coordinator departments [email protected] Washington Beat . 16 JODIE STAUFFER Education Coordinator National News Clips . 17 [email protected] World View . 18 Currents . 20 Archival Outlook (ISSN 1520-3379) is published six Bulletin Board . 24 times a year and distributed as a membership benefit Professional Opportunities . 28 by the Society of American Archivists. Contents of the newsletter may be reproduced in whole or in part on the cover provided that credit is given. Direct all advertising inquiries and general correspondence to: Birds of a Feather Teresa M. Brinati, Director of Publishing, Society of Oberlin College students and bird enthusiasts William L. Dawson American Archivists, 527 S. Wells St., 5th Floor, '1897 (left) and Lynds Jones '1892 (right) at the end of a trip over Chicago, IL 60607; 312/922-0140; fax 312/347-1452; the Cascade mountains and down the Skagit River in Washington [email protected]; www.archivists.org. in August 1900. Subsequently, Dawson became an ornithologist ∞ Archival Outlook is printed on paper that meets the and publisher of bird books for various states, including requirements of the American National Standards California, Ohio, and Washington; Jones stayed on at Oberlin to Institute—Permanence of Paper, ANSI Z39.48-1992. become a professor of ornithology and zoology. File photo from the Oberlin College Archives. Submitted by ROLAND BAUMANN. 2 | archival outlook • march/april 2005 www.archivists.org president’s message Randall Jimerson, Western Washington University [email protected] A Public Voice for Archivists have personal ties to recent advocacy issues. NAGARA, COSHRC, and other groups and has pledged IFunding for my first job as an archivist came from collaboration with us and his support for reforming the the National Historical Publications and Records nomination process. SAA looks forward to developing Commission (NHPRC). The person who hired me, close working relations with Dr. Weinstein, and we Dr. Robert M. Warner, was later appointed Archivist remain committed to the nonpartisan political independ- of the United States. When I assumed my first ence of NARA and of the Archivist of the U.S. management position, I turned to NHPRC for grant Why should we care about who serves as Archivist funds to develop a records management and archives of the United States? How does it affect us? Efforts to program. My predecessor in my current position was limit access to public records, particularly presidential former Archivist of the U.S. Dr. James B. Rhoads. records, significantly affect our ability to hold govern- Given these experiences, I have taken a personal ment leaders accountable and to know the truth about as well as a professional interest in the two most public events. The Archivist of the U.S. bears responsi- important public advocacy initiatives led by SAA this bility for upholding the law, for ensuring public access year. As I write this column (February 25, 2005), SAA’s to government records, and for preserving an essential concern about the nomination of the new Archivist of part of our nation’s heritage. the United States is reaching a conclusion. Meanwhile One of the most frequent concerns of archival the threat to eliminate NHPRC is advocacy relates to funding for archives. This ranges becoming an unprecedented crisis. from cutbacks in state and local support for public A year ago SAA mobilized SAA has worked closely with archives to national issues such as threatened budget allied professional groups at the cutbacks for NARA and the grant programs of NHPRC. the support of many other national, state, and local levels to A year ago SAA mobilized the support of many other historical and regional raise a united public voice on historical and regional archival associations to oppose behalf of archivists. Here, briefly, proposed funding cuts for NARA and NHPRC. This archival associations to are two stories of archival advocacy. year the very survival of NHPRC is at stake. The Bush Since the National Archives Administration has proposed a FY2006 budget that oppose proposed funding gained its independence from the would eliminate not only all grant funding from NHPRC, cuts for NARA and NHPRC. General Services Administration in but also all staff positions and overhead support. 1985, archivists and historians have Advocacy requires collaboration. In February 2005, This year the very survival sought to protect it from partisan SAA joined with NAGARA and COSHRC to form a influences. Since the April 2004 Joint Task Force on Advocacy, which has begun its work of NHPRC is at stake. White House announcement that with the campaign to save NHPRC and which will Dr. Allen Weinstein would replace address other concerns as they arise. These three John Carlin as Archivist of the U.S., SAA has worked to national archival groups joined forces with the ensure the independent and non-partisan nature of the Association for Documentary Editing, which represents position of Archivist of the U.S. Twenty-five professional staff of many of the publication projects funded by organizations of archivists, historians, and librarians NHPRC. We are busy mobilizing support and preparing joined with SAA in issuing a public statement calling information to help Congress and public citizens under- for an explanation for Carlin’s removal. stand the vital importance of public grant funding for The Senate held a hearing on the Weinstein nomi- historical documents and archives. nation in July 2004. At that time several senators ques- If federal, state, and local governments—and private- tioned the White House’s failure to explain the circum- ly supported foundations and organizations—provided stances under which John Carlin had been asked to adequate support for history, archives, and museums, step aside. No historians, archivists, or other citizens such advocacy efforts would not be necessary. From sad concerned about this nomination were invited to pres- experience, however, we know that this is not the case. ent testimony. SAA publicly stated that we would not Archivists need to increase their engagement in public endorse the nomination, nor would we oppose it, policy discussions and to assert the need for an archival because the process by which it was brought forward perspective on public policy. As the largest and oldest did not comply with legal requirements. association of archivists in the United States, SAA has a After considerable delays, on February 10, 2005, responsibility to speak out on behalf of archival concerns. the Senate confirmed Dr. Weinstein as Archivist of the SAA will continue to offer a public voice for archivists. United States. He has met with the leaders of SAA, Please join us. Together we can make a difference! v www.archivists.org archival outlook • march/april 2005 | 3 from the executive director Nancy P. Beaumont • [email protected] Spreading the Word ike most professionals, archivists want to be recog- “Questions and Praise for Google Web Library,” which Lnized for what they do. Higher salaries would be considers Google’s plan to convert certain holdings at great, of course, but many members tell me that what Oxford University and some leading U.S. research they really want is for “everyone” to know what an libraries into digital files: “Mr. Jimerson said, ‘A archivist is and does. More easily said than done, but scanned image will only tell you some things, and the here’s a sampling of some articles and letters to the sheer volume of records makes scanning everything editor that made it into several influential media outlets very difficult.’ But he added that he supported Google’s in recent months: plan in theory. ‘I recall the story of a gentleman