Blog and Newsletter

On March 1, Cynthia Walker will begin work as the new executive director of the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk. Walker joined the staff in 2010 as Museum Specialist, and was promoted to Associate Director in 2012. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Public History at Northeastern University, and a Master’s Degree in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in 2010. Walker wrote her thesis on the Brick Store Museum’s founder, Edith Barry, and is currently turning her work into a book. Her previous experience includes the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston and Willowbrook Museum Village in Newfield. Joining Walker as Collections & Archives Associate Manager is Leanne Hayden, arriving at the Museum after eight years with the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA. FMI: www.brickstoremuseum.org. 

 

The Rufus Porter Museum in Bridgton, offers two 12 week in-residence internships from mid-May to late August 2043 with a $180.00 per week stipend. While housing is provided, a car is a necessity. Interns obtain practical museum experience and are expected to develop and carry out projects or programs that help them to develop personally and professionally. Priority is given to students intending to pursue a career in museums, particularly in museum education this year. The mission of the Rufus Porter Museum is to increase the enjoyment, knowledge, and pride of communities by bringing to life the world and the inspiring works of Rufus Porterundefineda remarkable American folk artist and inventor. For a full description of the museum and the 2014 internship program please see the museum’s website (www.rufusportermuseum.org).

Saturday, April 26th, 10am-3pm at Emlen Hall in Blue Hill. 

Did you know that tomorrow is Maine Nonprofit Day at the state house?

New England Archivists (NEA) is excited to announce that registration for the Spring 2014 Meeting is now open! Join us March 20-22 at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for great programs, workshops, thought-provoking sessions, and a "Jeopardy" tournament. In this E-mail you will find pertinent information about registration, lodging, and what to look forward to at Spring 2014.

To give you some idea of the pricing, here are the Early Bird rates
Early-bird  |  now - February 17

Member (2 days): $105.00

Member (1 day):  $70.00

Bridge* (2 days): $78.75

Bridge* (1 day):  $52.50

Student (2 days):  $52.50

Student (1 day):  $35.00

Non-member (2 days):  $120.00

Non-member (1 day):  $85.00

*Bridge-rate registration is for NEA members who are currently unemployed or underemployed.

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REGISTRATION DATES

Early-bird: now-February 17

Advance: February 18 - March 14

On site: March 15-22

For detailed pricing information and to register online, click here<http://newenglandarchivists.wildapricot.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1509872&eventId=813163&EventViewMode=EventDetails>.



*LODGING*

Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside

250 Market Street

Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801

Google Map <http://goo.gl/maps/yzJQC>

(603) 431-2300

http://www.sheratonportsmouth.com/



Room rate $125 available until February 24th (subject to availability.), using this code: New England Archivists 2014 QYND6W2WZTY (OR copy and paste the following link into a web browser):

https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/res?id=1306242670&key=9E66C



*MEETING HIGHLIGHTS*

Spring 2014 will feature two plenary speakers: Vivek Bald and Ian MacKaye.



Ian MacKaye (Friday, March 22) is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer best known for being the frontman of influential punk bands like Minor Threat, Fugazi, and The Evens. Currently he is working to personally preserve recordings of all of Fugazi's 1,000+ shows. He is also trying to preserve the cassette recordings of his grandmother who wrote a marriage counseling column for Ladies Home Journal. Read more about MacKaye's audio-archiving work<http://www.spin.com/articles/fugazi-ian-mackaye-library-of-congress-lecture-punk-archive/>.

Vivek Bald (Saturday, March 21) is a scholar and filmmaker whose documentary, *In Search of Bengali Harlem* has spurred a related book and website<http://bengaliharlem.com/>.

The website is part of Bald's ongoing project to document the histories of two little-known groups of early South Asian migrants to the United States.

Both were groups of Muslim men, predominantly from the region of Bengal, who entered the U.S. between the 1880s and the 1940s.



The sessions on Friday and Saturday cover a wide range of topics and formats such as a roundtable discussion on the Boston Bombing Digital Archives, working with students in archives, collaborating with non-archivists, and how best to provide access to moving image and sound archives.



The "Jeopardy" tournament on Friday will test your knowledge of the profession, repositories all over New England, and fun historical facts.

Players will compete for bragging rights and cool prizes by answering questions from NEA's own Alex Trebek, Gregor Trinkaus-Randall. Details on how to participate are coming soon.



View the full schedule to begin your own planning for Spring 2014<http://newenglandarchivists.wildapricot.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1679054>.



If you have any questions regarding the NEA Spring 2014 Meeting, please contact Kelli Bogan, Spring 2014 Program Committee Chair, at kbogan@colby-sawyer.edu<mailto:kbogan@colby-sawyer.edu>.

The Catholic Library Association is pleased to announce the sixth Introductory Archive Workshop for Religious Communities to be held at the Cenacle Retreat House, Ronkonkoma, NY from June 15-20, 2014. The 5-day intensive program is directed toward individuals who are interested in learning about archival theory and practice or who wish to update their archival training. 

Unlike other archival workshops, the sessions will focus on the unique types of records found in the archives of men’s and women’s religious communities. These records document not only the communities themselves, but also the evolution of Catholicism in the

United States, and its impact on educational, social and charitable institutions that shaped the nation’s history. 

The program, directed by professional religious archivists, will include lectures, tours, and opportunities for sharing experiences.

Complete program and registration information and a registration form are posted on the Catholic Library Association website at http://www.cathla.org/archives-workshop or contact the CLA at cla2@cathla.org or phone 312-739-1776 or toll free 855-739-1776.       REGISTRATION DEADLINE MAY 1, 2014.

YHS is seeking an energetic and experienced Executive Director for a full-time position based in Yarmouth, ME.  Qualifications: An M. A. in History or Humanities and 5 years of experience in historical or cultural studies and the management of a non-profit cultural institution is preferred.  Experience in fundraising, personnel management and as a chief executive officer is desired.  Excellent communications and organizational skills a must.  The Executive Director advises the 14-person Board of Trustees in developing policies and goals for the Society as well as managing day-to-day operations.  Specific duties and responsibilities are posted on the website, www.yarmouthmehistory.org, under the tab About Us.  You may also request a job description by emailing info@yarmouthmehistory.org.
 
To apply, please mail or email cover letter and resume to: Yarmouth Historical Society, P.O. Box 107, Yarmouth, ME 04096 or to info@yarmouthmehistory.org. We will begin review of applications on February 17, 2014 and continue to consider candidates until the position is filled.

Each year, the C. F. W. Coker Award is given out to recognize an outstanding and innovative finding aid, finding aid or descriptive system, or finding aid/descriptive project.

Established in 1984, this award recognizes finding aids, finding aid systems, projects that involve innovative development in archival description, or descriptive tools that enable archivists to produce effective finding aids. To merit serious consideration for the award, nominees must, in some significant way, set national standards, represent a model for archival description, or otherwise have a substantial impact on descriptive practices. The following types of works or activities may be considered:

1. Finding aids, including, among others, multi-institutional guides, record surveys, repository guides, special subject lists, finding aids to individual collections or records groups, and narrative descriptions of holdings.
2. Finding aid systems, including, among others, manual or automatic indexing systems, computer databases, or current awareness systems for notifying users of holdings.
3. Descriptive tools that enable archivists to produce more effective finding aids, including, among others, subject thesauri, authority files, data element dictionaries, manuals establishing descriptive standards, and such reference works as atlases and administrative histories.
4. Projects that involve innovative developments in archival description, including, among others, cooperative ventures that result in the exchange of finding aid information among repositories, efforts at building national information systems, and survey projects.

Last year’s submissions were great and we had to make a tough decision. This year, we’d like to have to make a difficult choice again, but we need your help! Do you know of an outstanding and innovative finding aid or description system published in 2013?  Have you created a finding aid or designed a descriptive system or tool that you feel breaks new ground in the field of archival descriptive practice? Would you like to see the author(s) or editor(s) recognized for contributing to descriptive practice and the archives profession?  Please consider submitting a nomination prior to the deadline of February 28, 2014.  Self-nominations are welcome!

The nomination form is available at www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/Awardsform.pdf

Additional information can be found at www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-coker, where you can also see a list of previous winners.

Focusing on Visitors: Public Programming and Exhibits at History Organizations Workshop Coming to New England

Do you love history? Do you support dynamic hands-on projects for students?

Then the Maine National History Day coordinators are looking for you!

Sign up now to be a judge for the 2014 Maine National History Day competition, to be held at UMaine in Orono, on Saturday, April 12. Whether you've been a judge for several years running, or have never experienced the excitement and reward of History Day, you are invited to join the 2014 team. It's an inspiring experience!