Author Archives: Kate Theimer

Help pick the next book for the archivists’ book group

If you’re looking for an excuse to avoid the beautiful spring weather, why not read a book? Even better, why not read a book and archives and then discuss it with archivists? (While flexing your toned biceps, of course.) If … Continue reading

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Debate: “Although digitization is useful for accessibility, detailed online item-level cataloguing is even more so”

I remember seeing that tweet from the “‘Democratising or Privileging: the Future of Access to Archives“ conference at University of Dundee last week and thinking that many in the U.S. might find it a controversial statement. I was reminded of it  this … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids | 30 Comments

Get ready to give or receive: Campaign for Spontaneous Scholarships 2013 will start in June

This is just a quick note to let you know that I am planning on following up on the success of the last two year’s successful Spontaneous Scholarships campaigns again this year. The Scholarships  will help people pay for the cost of … Continue reading

Posted in Society of American Archivists (SAA), Spontaneous Scholarships | 1 Comment

Participatory Archives: Something Old, Something New

Or, “I finally write up a presentation I gave last spring, now with a shiny new definition.” File this one under “better late than never.” I have finally taken the slides for the keynote presentation I gave at the Midwest Archives Conference … Continue reading

Posted in Archives 3.0, Outreach, Participatory archives | Leave a comment

How you can help rev up SAA’s metabolism

On Sunday I was very fortunate to be part of a panel at a Computers in Libraries workshop on change. I’ll be incorporating some of the wisdom of the other speakers into future blog posts, but today I want to … Continue reading

Posted in Organizational change, Society of American Archivists (SAA) | 1 Comment

Archives who have implemented linked data?

On Twitter I asked for suggestions of archives who have implemented linked data (or perhaps I should say linked open data?). I got a few responses from people who were beginning to implement or starting projects, but not much else. … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids | 10 Comments

A question for archivists with experience in the pre-Internet era

In a related, but different question that the one posed to researchers in the previous post, I would like the input of archivists with experience in the pre-Internet era. In the post targeted at researchers, I said: … my hypothesis … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids | 12 Comments

A question for researchers with experience in the pre-Internet era

I’d like to confirm what I think is a pretty logical assumption about the driver for changes in archival practice. To do this I would like the input of people who conducted research in archives before the glorious age of … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids, History & related professions | 6 Comments

Can’t decide who to vote for in SAA elections? Maybe reading these interviews will help

Today voting opens in the elections for SAA offices. If you’d like more information about the candidates, many of them participated in interviews on the SAA Students and New Archives Professionals Roundtable’s blog (links below). You should also review the … Continue reading

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More specifics to get you thinking about submitting a proposal for a case study on description

The deadline is creeping up soon to submit a case study proposal for the two books I’m editing for Scarecrow about innovative practices in  archives and special collections–the book on management and the one on description (note these are two … Continue reading

Posted in Archival description & finding aids, Opportunites | Leave a comment