|
From the Chair
By Loretta Greene
In 6 short weeks, many of us will make our way to the Windy City for the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists. I hope you all will agree that one highlight will be our gathering as members of the Archivists of Religious Collections Section. We have the opportunity to get together twice; at the reception hosted by Malachy McCarthy at the Clarentian Missionary Archives on Wednesday evening and at our Section meeting on Friday morning. The Steering Committee discussed ways to help you get the most from the Section meeting and this special conference edition of Archival Spirit is one effort to do that.
It was apparent to the Steering Committee that much time at Section meetings is spent with reports from standing committees. We decided to published these reports in a special edition so you can read them before the meeting and come prepared with questions or items to discuss. This also allows members who cannot attend to be informed so they can share any concerns or questions with me or another Steering Committee member before the meeting. We hope you will find this helpful and that it will allow the Section to utilize well the time we are allotted.
What you will find in this annual meeting issue of the newsletter is details about: the reception; a draft agenda for the business meeting; details about the section program; a link to the 2006 meeting minutes; reports from the Website, Newsletter, Models & Resources, and Sister M. Claude Lane Award standing committees; information about the session on artifacts organized and presented by ARCS members; and the slate of candidates. Please think creatively after you read the business meeting agenda items and Gwynedd’s column regarding the section program. We really want your input.
Since this is my last letter to the members as section Chair, I want to thank the Steering Committee members and all section members for your assistance, insight, and participation during the last two years. With your help, we have accomplished much and without you, it would not have happened. We supported our colleagues devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, completed the update of the online Membership Directory, breathed new life into Models & Resources and provided members with helpful links on the website, proposed three and had accepted two conference sessions, transferred the section listserv to Yahoo! groups, and created the Virtual Tour as a way to get to know each other’s repositories. Also, several of our members have been active with SAA governance and committees, including two Council members and five committee members. Now that says a lot about our activity as a section! Congratulations to all of you and let’s keep the momentum going for creative and exciting years ahead. One last, important note is to ask you to support Gwynedd Cannan, our new section Chair, and her new and current Steering Committee members in all their upcoming activities.
See you in Chicago!
ARCS Annual Meeting News 2007
| This special edition of the newsletter will help our members get geared up for the Chicago meeting. Print from these pages and links to have the meeting agenda, reception directions, list of officers, reports, and other helpful information at hand during the meeting. |
| |
ARCS Program: Taking the “Mystery” out of the ARCS Meeting
Welcome to this year’s annual meeting of the Archivists of Religious Collections Section scheduled to take place at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago on Friday, August 30, at 8:00 a.m. We are looking forward to seeing all of you there, bright and early as it happens.
This year’s meeting will be similar to, but different from, other years. We will have a business meeting and program but the content will be a little different. The Steering Committee is hoping that there will be more time at our meeting for discussion about members’ needs, session proposals, and other items of interest. This will be an important part of our business meeting: we would like to hear from you what you want the section meeting to include. Do you want to discuss section activities and projects that will make the section valuable to its members and possibly others within SAA? Is there a project you want to see the section undertake? Do you want a speaker? Do you want discussion of vital topics? None of these? Something totally different? If you can’t attend the meeting in Chicago but want to share your thoughts, please email me at gcannan@trinitywallsttreet.org.
After our business meeting this year, we have scheduled a speaker on an interesting and much-needed topic, e-mail management. Edie Jeter of the International Mission Board Archives will present a program, “Email Management Requirements: Optimism and Forbearance,” on how her department dealt with the challenges presented by proliferating email. She will tell us what we need to know about developing such a project and how we can convince administrators of the importance of archiving electronic documents. Edie spoke about these issues at last year’s SAA to good reviews and her 2007 talk will be an updated and expanded version. We all encounter email every day. Edie’s presentation will give us a chance to take the mystery out of email retention and work toward a system that will save documents filled with valuable information.
ARCS Chicago Reception: Hosted by the Claretian Missionaries Archives
Welcome to the Windy City
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Claretian Missionaries Archives
205 West Monroe
Chicago, IL
|
By Malachy R. McCarthy, Province Archivist
The Claretian Missionaries Archives, along with members of the Chicago Area Archivists are pleased to be some of the first Chicagoans to welcome you to our great city for the SAA Annual Meeting! The Archivists of Religious Collections Section reception will take place on Wednesday evening, August 29th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. on the 10th floor of the Claretians’ headquarters in the historic Williams Building. The building is located at 205 West Monroe [SW corner of Monroe and Wells], in the heart of the Loop, about a fifteen minute walk (directions below) from the Fairmont Hotel. Designed in 1897 by Holabird & Roche, one of Chicago’s premier architectural firms, the Williams Building is built in a loft style with steel and brick construction, allowing an open floor plan only interrupted by columns, elevators and stairways.
|
The Claretian Missionaries Archives is the official repository of all materials which pertain to the origin, history, development, and mission of the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of the Eastern Province, a Catholic male religious order better known as the Claretians. Since their arrival in San Antonio, Texas, in 1902, the Claretians have ministered to Latino communities, first in the western half of the United States and then in Chicago and New Jersey. Besides parish ministry, the Chicago Claretians introduced the Saint Jude devotion to North America through their publication, The Voice of Saint Jude [1935-1963]. Today Claretian Publications publishes US Catholic and a variety of other national publications focusing on current religious issues. In 1991, the Claretians established the Hispanic Ministry Resource Center was established to provide parish resource materials for Latino Roman Catholics. Our holdings include records pertaining to the establishment of Latino Catholic ministry in Illinois, initiation and popularization of the Saint Jude devotion in the United States, and a complete record of Claretian Publications. You can visit our website to find out further material about the archives at: http://www.claretians.org/.
|
|
St Jude devotees waiting to receive communion at the National Shrine in South Chicago, ca. 1954.
|
We hope that you will join us on the 29th for beverages and light snacks and the chance to meet and talk with ARCS members, local religious archivists and historians! As an added attraction, the Religious Archivists of the Chicagoland area have contributed information and photographic images representing their archives to create a virtual exhibit for this event.
We are located near many Loop restaurants and about a fifteen-minute walk to Greektown, made famous by the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding! We look forward to meeting you on the 29th and hope that you enjoy your stay in Chicago.
DIRECTIONS: Walking: From the conference hotel, head south on Michigan Avenue to Monroe Street (about 10 minutes). Take a Left, heading west (away from the lake), and walk about 6 blocks. The Williams Building is on the SW corner of Monroe and Wells, adjacent to the Sears Tower. Bus: Take the 151 bus (saying Union Station) on Michigan Avenue to the corner of Monroe and Wells. Walk one block north and east. The Williams Building is adjacent to the Sears Tower. Bus fare is $2. A $5 day pass or $18 week pass is available at select locations.
Section Business Meeting Information
| |
Annual Meeting Agenda
The proposed Agenda for the Annual Section Business Meeting can be downloaded as a pdf document. Minutes of the 2006 Meeting can be found in the January issue of The Archival Spirit
Section Reports
Reports on Section activity can be downloaded as pdf documents. These reports include an update on the activities surrounding the Section Website, the Newsletter, and the Models and Resources Committee
Steering Committee Meeting
The annual Steering Committee meeting will take place immediately after the Section meeting from 10-12 in a room to be announced. The Steering Committee is made up of the officers and elected members of the Section, who meet to plan future activities and solicit volunteer help. Interested members are urged to attend the meeting. The Agenda is available here.
|
SAA Annual Meeting 2007 -- Session of Interest: ARCS Sponsored Session about Artifacts
| |
Do you have numerous artifacts in your archives that you’re not certain what to do with? Are these objects placed off in a dark and dusty corner with the intent to deal with them eventually? If so, ARCS has a session for you. Artifacts often present unique challenges and religious archivists in particular need to collect, record, and store a wide variety of objects to document the doctrine, practice, and lived history of a specific faith. An ARCS sponsored session titled “Artifactually Speaking: Getting a Handle on Objects in Your Archives” is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 1st. Three colleagues from ARCS will discuss their use of database systems (EmbARK, Past Perfect, and FileMaker Pro) to catalog artifacts as well as their overall approach to organizing artifacts in their care. The speakers will touch on issues of appraisal and collection development, proper storage and preservation, access and digitization, and display and use of artifacts. Please join us to learn how easy it can be to get a handle on artifacts in your care.
Carol Smith of the Christ Church Preservation Trust, Wes Wilson of DePauw University, and Lisa Jacobson of the Maryknoll Mission Archives are the speakers for this session.
|
Proposed Slate of Candidates For ARCS Officers and Steering Committee
|
The Section has three positions open for election this year: Vice-Chair/Chair elect, Secretary, Representative- at-large. The term of office for each position is 2 years, except that the Vice Chair automatically becomes Section Chair for another 2 year commitment. Elections will be held at the
Section meeting in Chicago. For the candidates' statements, see the June issue of The Archival Spirit
|
|
| : |
Nominated for Vice Chair/Chair-elect
Alan J. Lefever, Director
Texas Baptist Historical Collection
Nominated for Secretary
Elizabeth B. Scott
Archivist
Saint Michael's College
Nominated for Representative-at-Large
Audrey P. Newcomer, M.S., M.P.A., CA
Director of Archives
Archdiocese of St. Louis
|
Annual Meeting 2008 -- Calling all Ideas!
Do you have an idea or challenging problem that you would like to see addressed at SAA? Is it something that hasn't been looked at recently -- or looked at with fresh eyes? Bring your ideas to the Section meeting or Steering Committee meeting. Other members may be able to contribute ideas and speakers to helps sharpen your thoughts into a program proposal -- either for the SAA program or the Section meeting. Keep in mind that beginning in 2007-08, each Section has the opportunity to endorse a program proposal, thus giving it extra weight during the Program Committee's review.
|
United Church Archives Undergoes Changes
By Sharon P. Larade
The United Church supports a network of archival repositories in an organizational structure that broadly reflects that of the denomination as a whole. In Ontario, the United Church Archives (Toronto) manages records of the General Council, the antecedent denominations, and the records of Bay of Quinte, London, Hamilton, Manitou and Toronto Conferences, and their respective presbyteries and pastoral charges.
General Council Executive agreed at its meeting May 4-7, 2007 to dissolve the agreement with Victoria University (Toronto) concerning the joint management of their archives effective April 30, 2008. Victoria University’s archives will remain on campus as the responsibility of the University’s Library; questions about Victoria University’s archives may be directed to Robert Brandeis, Chief Librarian at (416) 585-4472. The United Church of Canada’s archives held in Toronto will be moving to a new location, as yet undetermined.
In view of these changes, readers may be assured that the Church’s valuable documentary heritage will continue to be preserved according to professional standards, and be handled with the appropriate resources. The Church is committed to opening a new United Church Archives in the near future to facilitate research from all sectors. Archives development and planning is well underway as the General Council Office and the Bay of Quinte, London, Hamilton, Manitou and Toronto Conferences together explore a wide range of options for their future collective archival needs. This work will build on the strong legacy of collections development and archival description at the United Church Archives (Toronto).
It is also important to note that throughout the United Church Archives transition, the Church is committed to providing continued access to all archival records related to residential schools, and to full cooperation with all aspects of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. This includes open access for the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission and its activities. The United Church is committed to facing the ugly realities of the residential school system and to actively living out its apologies.
The Archives Reading Room will be open for research until Friday Dec. 21, 2007 during our regular hours, Tues - Fri 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.; and closed on Mondays. In order to prepare for a move away from campus, the United Church Archives (Toronto) will be closed temporarily (with the exception of the residential schools records) while archival collections are prepared for the transition.
The Conference Archives outside of Ontario are not affected by this transition at the United Church Archives (Toronto); for updated information about their programs, see http://www.united-church.ca/archives/home.shtm.
Questions and concerns about the transition may be directed to Sharon P. Larade at slarade@united-church.ca. Additional information about services and new acquisitions will be posted to the website at www.unitedchurcharchives.ca.
Reference inquiries can be directed to info@unitedchurcharchives.ca
Virtual Tour
United Methodist Archives at DePauw University
By Wes Wilson
|
The Archives of DePauw University and Indiana United Methodism, as it is officially called, is located in Greencastle, Ind. Founded in 1951 by DePauw alumnus and Methodist minister, Worth M. Tippy, ours is a joint archives whose mission is to collect the records of both the University and the United Methodist Church in Indiana. Since the Archives has funding from the two conferences of the United Methodist Church in Indiana as well as DePauw University, it is able to provide two full time and three part time staff members as well as up to one FTE in work study students.
Our climate-controlled reading room, processing area and stacks were built as part of the Roy O. West Library’s 1987 renovation and are located on the second floor overlooking the campus. The holdings are about evenly divided between church and university collections and total about 2510 linear feet in the stacks and another 650 linear feet in off-site storage in another campus building. The collection represents all media types from early nineteenth century manuscripts and records to modern office files and daguerreotypes to digital images. Collections that have inventories are MARC cataloged and are present in the university library’s catalog.
|
|
|
|
Archives staff members provide reference service to between 600 and 700 visitors (students, faculty, staff and local church historians) annually and answer another 700 requests for information each year. Research requests that come from outside the University or the church in Indiana are completed for a fee of $24 per hour plus copy charges.
Most of the Archives’ audio collection has been digitized through a grant-funded project a few years ago. The video collection composed of several hundred 16mm movies and videotapes on reels and in U-Matic, Beta and VHS formats is in need of digitization in order to provide better access by the public. Some of the video and movies were digitized when a copy of the item was requested by a researcher. Scanning of photographs is ongoing and is currently at about 25,000 images or about half the total number of images described in the database. Steps are being taken to provide digital images to the public via an online image resource, Luna, within the next few months and a greater effort is being made to complete scanning of the rest of the images in the database.
The Archives is also preparing to implement Archon, a program developed by the University of Illinois to provide a better way to collect information about archival collections for preparation of finding aids, Encoded Archival Description records (EAD) and MARC records for online public access catalogs.
Our website is located at www.depauw.edu/library/archives and an archives staff member may be reached by sending a request to archives@depauw.edu or calling 765-658-4406. Our reading room is open 8-5, Monday-Friday and on Tuesday evenings until 9:00 p.m. during the academic year.
|
Archivists of Religious Collections Section Officers
| Chair: Loretta Zwolak Greene, Sisters of Providence Archives |
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect: Gwynedd Cannan, Trinity Church, New York City
| Secretary: Lisa Jacobson, Maryknoll Mission Archives |
| Past Chair/Nominating Committee: Diane Wells, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia (Wash.) |
| Representatives-at-Large: Ellen Pierce, Maryknoll Mission Archives; Judy Huenneke, Mary Baker Eddy Library |
| Newsletter Editor: Wesley W. Wilson, DePauw University |
| Web Coordinator: Mark J. Duffy, The Archives of the Episcopal Church USA |
Editor's Notes
The Archival Spirit is published three times a year by the Archivists of Religious Collections Section of the Society of American Archivists. Feature pieces as well as announcements of acquisitions and projects are welcome. Send submissions to: Wesley W. Wilson at wwwilson@depauw.edu.
For membership information, contact: Society of American Archivists, 527 S. Wells, 5th Floor, Chicago, IL 60607, 312-922-0140, fax 312-347-1452, info@archivists.org
|
|
