Blog and Newsletter

The American Alliance of Museums is offering fellowships to its Annual Meeting for Alliance Professional and Student members who are:

            underrepresented* within the profession

            emerging leaders

            mid-career professionals

*This includes individuals who identify with one or more of the following underrepresented groups: racial/ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and LGBT. 

Note: Individuals must be Alliance members at the time of application.

Fellows are required attend the entire meeting and participate in fellowship-related activities, such as the Fellowship breakfast and those ticketed events accompanying the award.

Fellowships awarded to Alliance Professional and Student members includes complimentary conference registration and selected ticketed events and a $750 cash award to cover travel expenses.

How to Apply

Eligible individuals are invited to submit an application. Fellows will be selected from among a competitive and talented pool of peers. Unfortunately, because of limited funds we cannot accommodate all applicants.

Individuals who have previously been awarded a fellowship to attend the Annual Meeting are not eligible.

Applications are due Friday, Feb. 10.  Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Fellowship awardees will be notified by email no later than March 31 and will have a week to confirm their attendance. Once awardees have confirmed their attendance, they will receive a special registration code for complimentary registration and can purchase additional event tickets not included in the fellowship award. Upon receipt of confirmation and signed IRS W-9 form, travel stipends will be issued to Alliance Professional and Student fellows and may take 2 to 4 weeks to arrive. 

Applicants who are not awarded a fellowship and would still like to attend the meeting may register at the published Early Bird rate until the Advance Registration deadline, April 25. Instructions for how to register will be included with your notification email.

For more information and Fellowship Application Form visit http://aam-us.org/events/annual-meeting/register/fellowships

The application period for the Society of American Archivists’ (SAA) Mosaic Scholarship is currently open, with a deadline of February 28, 2014.

 

The Mosaic Scholarship was established to provide financial and mentoring support to minority students pursuing graduate education in archival science, to encourage students to pursue careers in archives and to promote the diversification of the American archival profession. The award is given to applicants who demonstrate excellent potential for scholastic and personal achievement and who manifest a commitment both to the archival profession and to advancing diversity concerns within it.

 

Up to two scholarships of $5,000 each will be awarded. In addition, each scholarship recipient receives a one-year complimentary membership to SAA and complimentary registration to the Society’s Annual Meeting.

 

For more information on the scholarship, eligibility requirements and instructions on applying, please visit: http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-mosaic.

 

Good Luck!

 

The Mosaic Scholarship Selection Committee:

Jennifer Marshall (chair), University of South Carolina

Krystal Appiah, Library Company of Philadelphia

Sofia Becerra-Licha, Berklee College of Music

LaNesha DeBardelaben, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History

Mona Vance-Ali, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library

Aditi Worcester, Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Call for Nominations: 2014 SAA Waldo Gifford Leland Award

 Please help us to recognize the best in our profession!

Have you read a great new book about archives? Seen an exceptional new finding aid? Encountered a new documentary publication that is head and shoulders above the rest? Has a new web publication really stood out to you?

If you have, please consider nominating it for the Society of American Archivists Waldo Gifford Leland Award. Nomination forms, a list of previous winners, and more information are at http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-leland. The deadline for nominations is February 28, 2014. 

The annual Leland Award – a cash prize and certificate – recognizes “writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the field of archival history, theory, and practice.” 

 (Please note that periodicals are not eligible.) 

Established in 1959, this award honors American archival pioneer Waldo Gifford Leland (1879-1966), president of the Society of American Archivists in the1940s and one of the driving forces behind the founding of the National Archives.

Melissa Salrin

Archivist and Special Collections Librarian

Whitman College and Northwest Archives

345 Boyer Ave Walla Walla, WA 99362

salrinmm@whitman.edu

p (509) 526-4731

f (509) 526-4785

MAM has signed onto the Community Nonprofit Letter in support of LD1664, proposed legislation to restore incentives for donations to charitable organizations like archives and museums. The letter was drafted by the Maine Association of Non-profits and will be presented at a public hearing on January 22.

From the Maine Association of Non-profits website:

The Biennial Budget passed by the 126th Maine Legislature late this past spring included a $27,500 cap on itemized deductions including the charitable giving deduction.  Our conservative estimates found that this cap will cost Maine nonprofits $20 million annually in decreased charitable giving at a time when nonprofits can hardly afford it.

We worked with legislative leadership to remedy this situation and we are pleased that Senator James Boyle (Gorham, Scarborough, Westbrook) has introduced a bill, LD 1664, that will carve the charitable giving deduction out of the overall cap, preserving a tax deduction that benefits the greater good much more than it benefits the tax-payer.

There are several ways you can help us reach our first goal in the legislative process, a unanimous Ought To Pass recommendation out of the Taxation Committee.

• Add your organization’s name to our sign-on letter to be presented to the Taxation Committee.   To add your name, e-mail Brenda Peluso with the name of the organization, the regions that your organization serves, and a brief statement that you are authorized to endorse the letter.
• Plan to present spoken or written testimony at the public hearing on Wednesday, January 22nd.  A public hearing gives members of the public an opportunity to address members of the Joint Standing Committee in charge of the bill.  View the State’shelpful information about public hearings and e-mail Brenda Peluso if you plan to participate.
• Contact members of the Taxation Committee directly if you have a prior relationship or serve members of their district.
• Join our “interested parties” e-mail list by e-mailing Brenda Peluso.

Established in 2011, this award recognizes the role of innovative practices in the archival profession. Key areas of innovation are outlined by the criteria below, with preference given to nominees who have clearly demonstrated the greatest impact on the profession or their communities through the use of groundbreaking strategies, approaches, and/or technologies.

• Creativity or innovation in approaching professional challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to think outside of professional or institutional norms.
• Ability to translate creativity, innovation, and new thinking into working solutions.
• Development of an archives program or outreach activity that has an extraordinary impact on a community.
• Commitment to the advancement of professional knowledge through traditional or emerging information-sharing media.

Eligibility:
The Archival Innovator Award is presented to an archivist, group of archivists, repository, or organization for work undertaken within the past three years. The work need not be completed, but it must be sufficiently advanced to demonstrate results.

Application Deadline:
All nominations must be submitted by February 28, 2014. Additional information and applications are available online at http://www2.archivists.org/governance/handbook/section12-innovators.

Prize:
The winner will receive a certificate and complimentary registration for one individual to the 2014 SAA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

Previous winners:
2013:  Augmented Processing Table Research Team, The University of Texas at Austin School of Information, Dr. Ciaran B. Trace and Dr. Luis Francisco-Revilla

The SAA Spotlight Award Subcommittee invites nominations for the 2014 Spotlight Award.  This award "recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the archives profession and of archival collections, and whose work would not typically receive public recognition."  Nominees do not have to be members of SAA.  Please share this message as you think appropriate.  I hope you will consider recognizing a colleague (or yourself!) in this way.  Additional information about the criteria and process is found below.  

 

Spotlight Award

Purpose and Criteria for Selection: Established in 2005, this award recognizes the contributions of individuals who work for the good of the archives profession and of archival collections, and whose work would not typically receive public recognition. The nominee(s) should have achieved distinction in one or more of the following ways:

 *   Participating in special projects.
 *   Exhibiting tireless committee or advocacy work.
 *   Responding effectively to an unforeseen or pressing need or emergency.
 *   Contributing innovative or creative ideas to the profession.
 *   Performing extraordinary volunteerism.
 *   Quietly but effectively promoting the profession.

Eligibility:  Awarded to an individual archivist or a group of up to five archivists who have collaborated on a project. Preference is given to archivists working in smaller repositories, especially those without institutional support for professional activities.

Nomination Requirements:  A completed nomination form, downloadable at http://www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/Spotlight-Award-Form.rtf.   

Sponsor and Funding:  The Society of American Archivists Foundation.

Prize:  A certificate and complimentary registration (for up to five individuals) to the SAA Annual Meeting occurring in the year in which the award is presented.

Submission Deadline and Nomination Form:  Deadline: February 28, 2014.  Please complete the nomination form (http://www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/Spotlight-Award-Form.rtf) and email it along with any applicable supporting documentation to awards@archivists.org with the subject line “Spotlight Award.”   Attachments should not exceed 5MB.

 

 

Alternately, nominations may be mailed.  Materials must be postmarked by February 28, 2014, and should be sent to:

 

Spotlight Award Committee

Society of American Archivists

17 North State Street, Suite 1425

Chicago, IL 60602-4061

http://www.aam-us.org/about-us/grants-awards-and-competitions