Archives Task Force Meeting: October 14, 2024

Zoom / Conference Call

Members attending: Alex Altan (Prairie State College), Rebecca Fitzsimmons (Illinois State University), Matthew Gorzalski (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Pam Hackbart-Dean, chair (University of Illinois Chicago), Ashley Howdeshell (Northeastern Illinois University), Marcella Lees (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Members absent: Jeannette Bruno (City Colleges of Chicago), Elaine Fetyko Page (Elmhurst University), Meghan Ryan (National Louis University)

CARLI Staff attending: Martin Kong

Decisions

• The September 4, 2024 minutes were approved.
• The task force will put out another call to CARLI members for processing documents to add to the resource page.
• The task force will move forward with an appraisal webinar in January 2025 and a digitization webinar to be held in Spring 2025.

Tasks Assigned

• Minutes taken by Rebecca Fitzsimmons.
• Matthew Gorzalski and Pam Hackbart-Dean will reach out to prospective workshop speakers to confirm dates and availability for January appraisal webinar.
• Matthew Gorzalski and Pam Hackbart-Dean will send workshop information to Martin Kong for advertising.
• Ashley Howdeshell will review documents submitted for inclusion on the Archives Resources page.

Announcements

• Member Announcements:
  • Matthew Gorzalski (Southern Illinois University Carbondale): Recently completed Homecoming events and exhibits; received a photo collection from Ron Gould, an alumnus who was a prominent Chicago photographer (Ron Gould Studios). Gould did a lot of political and corporate photography including executive portraits and Republican Party events and photographed several Olympics.
  • Ashley Howdeshell (Northeastern Illinois University): Inaugurated the 8th University President, Katrina E. Bell-Jordan; hopes to begin filling vacant positions at the university.
  • Marcella Lees (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville): The library will be hiring a University Archivist with a target start date in June or July; just completed digitization work for a collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
  • Alex Altan (Prairie State College): Gave a presentation on the history of the college; currently creating an exhibition about a former faculty member.
  • Rebecca Fitzsimmons (Illinois State University): Milner will be starting a search for a tenure track liaison to the Education Administration Foundations program. A tenure track Special Collections Librarian search is currently underway. A search for a new Dean of Milner Library will begin in the spring semester.
• CARLI Announcements:
  • 2024 Chicago Area Medical Archivists (CAMA) Medical History Symposium will be held on November 7, 2024 at Rosalind Franklin University and via Zoom.
  • CARLI staff changes: Denise Green is retiring in November, and new staff member Yanira Cruz is starting on October 14, 2024 in the Electronic Resources unit.
  • CARLI Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024 in Champaign, IL and online. Registration closes on October 14, 2024.

Discussion

• Pam Hackbart-Dean shared results of the evaluation of the Developing an Archives: Embracing the Messiness of the Real World webinar. Participants who completed the survey found the information presented useful and relevant. There were 96 actual attendees and 58 were from CARLI members. There were between 150-200 people registered for the webinar. Martin Kong shared types of statistical information the task force can request to include in the annual board report.
• Archives digitization workshop proposal: Two half-days or a full day
  • Draft proposal for this program was shared with the task force.
  • We will share session times with people who register so they can drop in and out as desired.
  • Practical information for getting started—especially for small institutions without dedicated digitization staff.
  • Demos of software uses and hands-on portion with access to sandbox sites for attendees to experiment with selected software.
  • Plan to open the morning presentation sessions to other members of the task force and/or outside colleagues to present on some of the topics.
  • Date will be scheduled for second half of the spring semester.
  • Next steps:
    • Commit to specific date(s) by the next Archives Taskforce meeting (https://www.carli.illinois.edu/calendar)
• Appraisal workshop proposal: The Power of Appraisal: Selecting Archives
  • Draft proposal for this program was shared with the task force.
  • Proposed date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 1-3 p.m.
  • Overview of appraisal, deciding what to keep and what to send elsewhere.
  • Reached out to Ruth Bryan (University of Kentucky), who has done similar webinars—broad overview of appraisal, theory, and process.
  • Will reach out to Nicole Menchise (Long Island Resource Council) to present a case study on a recent project.
  • Breakout session: Will create an example case study of an appraisal project for a small archive so attendees can work in groups to practice making relevant decisions during the appraisal process.
  • Next steps:
    • Pam Hackbart-Dean will check with Ruth Bryan about availability on the selected date.
    • Matthew Gorzalski will invite Nicole Menchise to present.
    • Planning team will send a workshop write-up to Martin Kong for advertising (newsletter, listservs, calendar) by December 6, 2024, for inclusion in November/December newsletter.
    • Pam Hackbart-Dean will arrange a meeting with presenters to plan workshop content.
• Archives and Special Collections Resources page
  • Blind for Training was added to the list and recording of Developing an Archives: Embracing the Messiness of the Real World was added.
  • Request for additional forms went out in September; Ashley will review and rename 3-4 forms that were submitted by CARLI members.
  • Still need more forms related to processing, but people may find it intimidating to share entire processing manuals. Put out another call in January asking for specific forms related to processing (i.e. separation forms).

Next Meeting Dates and Deadlines

The Archives Task Force will meet next on November 11, 2024 at 10 a.m.

Committee Meetings:
November 11, 2024: Minutes taker – Jeannette Bruno
December 9, 2024: Minutes taker – Matthew Gorzalski
January 13, 2025: Minutes taker – Pam Hackbart-Dean
February 10, 2025: Minutes taker – Ashley Howdeshell
March 10, 2025: Minutes taker – Marcella Lees
April 14, 2025: Minutes taker – Elaine Fetyko Page
May 12, 2025: Minutes taker – Meghan Ryan
June 9, 2025: Minutes taker – To be determined

Deadlines:
November 11, 2024: Finalize date(s) for digitization workshop
December 6, 2024: Provide information for advertising appraisal webinar
May 30, 2025: Task Force Annual Report