I have a dream . . . for San Francisco in 2008
I’d like to share some ideas for what would make SAA’s next annual meeting in
Beginning in
- Technology Basics (similar to the Archives Unplugged sessions)
- Technology and Policy
- Technology and What We Acquire
- Technology and How We Do Our Jobs (could cover processing and management issues)
- Technology and How We Interact with Our Customers
- Technology and How We Tell the World About Ourselves (covering outreach and how we push out descriptions of our collections)
- History of Technology in Our Collections
- Emerging Trends (panels discussing emerging trends from technology hardware and software, as well as speakers from related fields, speakers on emerging uses of technology, etc.)
To support collaboration on session proposals, the wiki for the
At the Awards Ceremony in Chicago, a new award competition is also announced—SAA’s “Best of the Web” award for the most innovative or exceptional archival web resource, which will be awarded for the first time in San Francisco.
Once the sessions for the
Before the meeting, attendees use the information supplied by the Host Committee on the wiki to plan their stays—where to go, where to eat, and how to stay as cheaply as possible. More information is also available about the repository tours and open houses, as well as other archival repositories that people can contact for one-on-one appointments. The sections and roundtables also use the wiki to post agendas and more information about their meetings, which should mean they can get more accomplished and help people decide which meetings they want to attend. In addition, members who want to bring new business to the floor at the business meeting use the wiki to get their proposals out to members and get feedback on their ideas.
The sections and roundtables are also supporting a “Tech Help Desk” at the Exhibit Hall. Attendees can send in questions in advance, and the help desk routes the question to an SAA member expert who is available to meet with the person and discuss the answer. If enough people write in with a similar question, the help desk schedules an impromptu mini-workshop in a conference room to provide assistance to a group. The assistance is provided by SAA member experts, but it might be supplemented by volunteers from local schools or universities, if possible.
When attendees arrive at the meeting, there is a bank of computers available for their use to check email or use the information on the wiki. They are also told that all conference spaces have wifi available. This is particularly welcome to the network of bloggers who have coordinated their efforts to cover every event on the program. All sessions are also being recorded and made available after the meeting as podcasts—at a reasonable cost for SAA members.
The program and host committees have done a great job lining up big-name plenary speakers with technology expertise, as well as session speakers from the local area who bring new perspectives to archival questions. Attendees learn (or brush up on) technology basics, get new ideas for how to improve their operations, and get some ideas to think about for the long term. People who had sent in questions to the Tech Help Desk meet with experts and get personalized attention; others might just drop in and ask questions—taking a chance that whoever is at the table might be able to help. At the Awards Ceremony, the first award dedicated to excellence in technology is awarded—the “Best of Archives on the Web”—and it’s announced that all the finalists will be reviewed in the next issue of American Archivist and profiled on the SAA website.
After the meeting, speakers put up their slides or follow-up information on the wiki. People can download podcasts of sessions they didn’t get a chance to go to or read the bloggers’ descriptions and follow any conversations that ensue. People post their photos on Flickr or other photo sharing sites—giving everyone a sense of what a lovely place
Caveats: I’m describing my ideal meeting—which might not please everyone. As I’ve said before in this space, I’m not a typical archivist. But I think the A*CENSUS results point to the importance of these topics for most archivists. Also, I’m pretty sure some of these things wouldn’t be possible, but I think probably most of them would be (with some work, of course). And the way those eight tracks are characterized is not exactly the way I’d like it—it could still use some tinkering, I know.
But, what about you? What do you want to see at the 2008 meeting?
Conferences, Electronic records, Leadership, Society of American Archivists (SAA), Technology for archives, Wikis | Kate T. | 
June 3, 2007 3:43 pm
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By Jeanne, June 3, 2007 @ 6:30 pm
Yes! This sounds fantastic.
How about going even further – what if archivists who cannot attend are given access to live webcasts of the talks? The fees paid by off-site attendees could fund the recordings – which could then be made available for free to all SAA members after the fact.
I really think that if the wiki were done well it could evolve into an amazing resource – especially if we kept growing it between conferences. One of my greatest frustrations as a student has been finding the latest in research related to archives and technology. Since there aren’t really ‘proceedings’ or the like published from the SAA conference presentations it seems like so much effort sort of drifts away after the fact – sort of funny when you think about it (we are archivists – right?).
I am very curious to see what others think of these ideas!
By SAA member, June 4, 2007 @ 12:24 pm
I could not agree more – but since these are such great ideas (both yours and Jeanne’s) they won’t happen. Ironic, considering that SF would be a perfect place to do most of this. SAA is too much of an elephant to ever be that nimble and creative. (Oh and yes, that’s a challenge – prove me wrong SAA) Archvists are more comfortable doing things the old way. I can hear the famous Gloom and Doom chorus starting up: “All this would costs too much” or “this would violate SAA rules” or “we don’t have enough interest in these topics” and my favorite: “But we’ve never done it that way.”
I believe that we need to agitate for the change. What’s frustrating to me is still the large number of archivists that claim “the web is not record” or that “I don’t need to know about these technologies because they are all going to go away in 10 years” – both comments I have heard in the last couple of weeks.
Ugh. We should just build the wiki and make it work. I’m sure there are enough renegade SAA members to make it work.
By ArchivesNext, June 4, 2007 @ 12:43 pm
Hey, now, “SAA member”–keep hope alive! There will be an unofficial wiki for Chicago–it’s going up pretty late and maybe it won’t get used as much as it should, but we’ll give it a try. I think we can get some interesting blogging going for Chicago–we’ve got time for that and there is some wifi availability in the hotel (not in the meeting rooms, though). But, yes, San Francisco is the right meeting to push for more widespread changes. It’s Silicon Valley, for crying out loud. I think we’ve got a chance at making some of these kinds of things happen there.
But, be positive for me, what do you want most to see? What did you think of the program track idea? Do you have other ideas about bringing the less-tech inclined people in? What’s going to sell this?
By dkemper, June 4, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
SAA Member wrote: “Ugh. We should just build the wiki and make it work. I’m sure there are enough renegade SAA members to make it work.”
I think this is the attitude we need to adopt to make things happen. Forget about waiting on getting approval or the funding; just build it and make it work.
By Sally J., June 8, 2007 @ 10:15 am
I’m delighted that I found ArchivesNext. I just finished reading Everything Is Miscellaneous and my mind is spinning with ideas about, you know — *The Future* (cue dramatic music).
As for your SAA 2008 proposal, I say yes, yes, yes! I’d suggest we invite David Weinberger to give the plenary, but I’m afraid that’ll start an “Everything is NOT Miscellaneous” riot. Chance of bloodshed, 24%.
But, honestly — if SAA offers a program this forward looking in San Francisco, I hereby pledge to scrape together the funds for travel, lodging, and registration. A feat that is difficult for those of us who earn an entry-level salary and work at an institution where the prof. dev. budget is strained beyond capacity.
Also, how about reaching out to Stewart Brand and The Long Now Foundation? Or at least a field trip to the SF office.
As for starting small, this suggestion certainly seems do-able:
–> “Best of the Web” award for the most innovative or exceptional archival web resource, which will be awarded for the first time in San Francisco.
By ArchivesNext, June 9, 2007 @ 8:40 am
Hi Sally – Glad you found us! If you don’t make it to San Francisco, then maybe you can be official representative on the wiki to make sure we build in things for people who won’t be able to make it. Thanks for the ideas and keep posting! Kate
By Joel W., August 26, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
Since this thread is over two months old now, I don’t know if anyone will take note of this, but I wanted ArchivesNext (who sent me the dream statement earlier) and others to know that I’m taking this to our inaugural 2008 Program Committee meeting this coming Wed. As I mentioned in a response to ArchivesNext back in June, the SF program won’t mirror this vision, but there are very direct connections between it and the announced theme of “Archival R/Evolution and Identities.” Here’s part of what I wrote:
“……Our theme for next year won’t directly embrace what you’re articulating — it will be broadly cast as an exploration of the identity of the archival profession and whether it is at a revolutionary moment or on an evolutionary path. But as you can imagine, technology as absolutely central to this. How has the digital world transformed the profession? Have we adapted sufficiently to its rapid developments? Are we helping to lead this, or we merely following (even desperately clinging)? How is our very identity shaped by the nature of technology and the way people use it?
These and several other related questions, I’m sure, will be framed and discussed in various ways during the San Francisco conference. Sheryl and I are just now working to verbalize some of these thoughts for the sake of encouraging proposals and creative program ideas, so your message is really timely and much appreciated. Thanks for sending it, and feel free to connect further as we all gear up for SAA 2008. Hope to meet you there, if not in Chicago.”
The Program Committee members will each get a copy of the original post and will be encouraged to keep this in mind as we speak to sections, roundtables, and others this week in pumping for session proposals. A conference dealing with the future of the profession won’t make sense if it doesn’t substantially address technology’s pivotal role.
I’m not blowing smoke here — I’m quite sympathetic to the ideas ArchivesNext articulated. SAA conferences have to be a lot of things to a lot of people, but creative thinking like this — and creative session proposals it might inspire — is much appreciated as we try to build a program that, I hope, will feature a bit of risk taking.
Joel Wurl
SAA 2008 Program Committee Co-chair