Category Archives: Announcements

Texas Legislature House Bill 1962


Please see the below SAA announcement in  opposition to Section 441.206, Committee Substitute to House Bill 1962 (The Texas State Library and Archives Commission “Sunset Bill”).

Former AHA! President Emily Vinson notes, “it is very important that records be maintained by the Texas State Library and Archives in perpetuity to ensure access to the state’s legislative history. In addition to the alert below, here is a link to a statement by the Council of State Archivists.

https://www2.archivists.org/sites/all/files/CoSA_Statement_on_Texas_Archival_Legislative_Records.pdf and the Society of Southwest Archivists: https://www.southwestarchivists.org/ssa-objection-to-a-section-of-hb-1962-in-relation-to-texas-state-records/.”

We encourage you to find your Texas Senate and House representative here and contact them today! For information on monitoring the bill’s status see this page.

First AHA! Meeting of 2019!

Our first meeting of the year will be Thursday, April 11 at 6:00 PM at the Woodson Research Center, located in Fondren Library on the campus of Rice University. Dr. Joshua Furman will speak to us about the Houston Jewish History Archive.

Founded in 2017 in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the Houston Jewish History Archive is dedicated to the study and preservation of Jewish life in South Texas. By collecting artifacts from all facets of Jewish life, the HJHA sheds light on how Jews in and around Houston have balanced maintaining their traditions and heritage with adapting to life in Texas and the United States.

Prior to Dr. Furman’s discussion, we will have a short business meeting including an update on the upcoming Houston Archives Bazaar. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Lilly Carrel at lcarrel@menil.org.

Logistics:

The closest parking to Fondren Library is the Rice Central Garage.  Please see the Rice University interactive campus map for more information: https://parking.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=32

Questions please contact: Emily Scott at Emily.Scott@houstontx.gov

We hope you will join us for our 2019 inaugural meeting!

New SAA Rights Review Process


The latest issue of American Archivist explores a new rights review process for sound recordings that combines fair use evaluation with a risk management approach; a case study engaging undergraduate and graduate students with congressional papers; and a cultural competency framework for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the archival profession. In addition, articles highlight the legacy of SAA’s former Committee on the Status of Women (1972–1998), inquiry-based archival instruction, and student employees in archives and special collections. Start reading the digital edition-and keep an eye on your mailbox for the print edition!

Archives Month 2018

For Archives Month 2018, AHA! members came together for two events:

On October 15th members gathered at the Julia Ideson Building to view the Society of American Archivists (SAA) webinar, Introduction to Processing Digital Records and Manuscripts. This class is one of the core classes for both the DAS and Arrangement and Description (A&D) Certificate programs.

On October 26th , archivists got a behind the scenes tour of the Menil Library and Archives.

Thanks to all who came out, and to our host institutions!

TS-DACS Update on Companion Standards

Sharing on behalf of the Technical Sub-Committee on Describing Archives: A Content Standard:

TS-DACS is pleased to announce that a major overhaul and new version of Appendix B: Companion Standards is available. The standards in the appendix provide more detailed rules for describing materials and can be used in conjunction with DACS if you need to provide more granular description.

The appendix has been completely rewritten to account for recent developments in the field and to improve usability.

Changes include:

  • New standards added, superseded ones removed.
  • Links added to existing citations.
  • Full bibliographic citations from modern (i.e. online) standards removed.
  • Version details removed, as they change frequently.
  • Categories, subcategories, and standards alphabetized.

The appendix covers content standards, data structure standards, and data value standards/thesauri.

You can view the updated Appendix B: Companion Standards on the DACS GitHub site.

More about how TS-DACS is using GitHub

DACS is available as the printed blue book (available from SAA Press), as a PDF, on SAA’s website, and on GitHub. The most current version of DACS is the version on GitHub; all other versions are derivatives of this version.

Information about how TS-DACS is using GitHub to manage the standard over time is available in the readme file.

2018 AHA! Happy Hour Schedule!

The results are in from our Happy Hour surveys! Below are the dates, times, and locations for all the AHA! Happy Hour for the year (and then some). Please join us every 3rd Tuesday* when you can!

East End Hardware
8th Wonder Brewery
Time: 6pm
Address: 3005 Leeland St, Houston, TX 77003
Dates*: November 20, December 18 December 11, January 15

Java Lava Brew
Time: 6pm
Address: 1201 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX 77004
Dates*: February 19, March 19

* Dates could change due to conflicts or popular demand. If locations or dates change, an announcement will be made on the website, email list, and social media.

Introduction to TARO Workshop

Registration is now open for this TARO full or half-day workshop hosted at Rice University on Monday, February 12, 2018.

This workshop will teach the hands-on basic skills needed to participate in TARO, including basic XML familiarity and editing, EAD familiarity, how to upload files to TARO, and troubleshooting. The full day is recommended for those with little or no TARO, EAD, or XML experience. The half-day (afternoon only) is recommended as a refresher for those who might feel rusty and/or have work environment changes which have changed their approach to TARO (such as using collection management software now instead of hand-encoding XML).

This workshop is open to anyone but is focused on TARO guidelines and workflows. This is not an intensive EAD course, which is offered as a two-day workshop by SAA (http://www2.archivists.org/profeducation/course-catalog/encoded-archival-description-ead3) or an intensive XML class, but will show the basics to get you started and share resources to help you once you return to your workplace.

Find out more and register: https://societyofsouthwestarchivists.wildapricot.org/event-2734149

Operation Photo Rescue

Help save flood-damaged family photos with Preservation Houston and Operation Photo Rescue

Volunteer shifts available 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10

Sign up for a volunteer shift now

Preservation Houston needs your help reclaiming family photos that were casualties of Hurricane Harvey. PH is partnering in a special program with Operation Photo Rescue (OPR), a group of volunteer photographers, graphic designers and photo restorers who repair personal photographs that have been damaged by unforeseen circumstances. As OPR says, “Insurance doesn’t restore memories . . . but we do!”

Volunteers are needed for a variety of roles, including checking people in and helping them with the necessary paperwork, sorting damaged photos and assisting the volunteer photographers. Three-hour shifts are available beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 9, and Sunday, December 10. The event will be held at the Heights Clocktower, 611 West 22nd Street in the Heights. Volunteer online and indicate the shift(s) you can work and your preferred job. Volunteers must be able to work an entire three-hour shift.

During the Houston sessions, digital copies will be made of damaged photographs and the original photos will be returned immediately to the owner. The digital images will be sent to volunteer restorers around the United States who will repair, reprint and return the restored photographs at no cost to the people who own them.

Volunteers are needed to help in every step of the process. Photographers who would like to volunteer for the program should e-mail Preservation Houston with the subject line “Volunteer for OPR” or call (713) 510-3990 during regular business hours.

Appointments will be required to submit photos for restoration. Preservation Houston will send out an announcement when online registration opens. Because of the incredible number of photos damaged during Harvey and other recent disasters, OPR can accept a maximum of ten (10) photos per household.

Thank you for volunteering and helping recover family treasures. We look forward to working with you on December 9 and 10.

AHA! Holiday Party and Meeting 2017

AHA-holidaymeeting2017

The AHA! Holiday Party and Meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 13 at 6:00 pm at the McGovern Historical Center, 8272 El Rio St. Suite 190 Houston, TX 77054.

This year, we will host a round-robin style event for members to share current archival projects, recent accomplishment, or future plans.

AHA! will supply the main dish, drinks, and tableware for the party, but please feel free to bring your favorite side dish or dessert to share.

CALL FOR CANDIDATE NOMINATIONS!
Nominations (including self-nominations) are now being accepted for AHA! officers, incluiding Secretary, Treasurer, or Vice-President. Contact Emily Vinson with your nomination.

CANDIDATES, AGENDA, MINUTES
Check out the AHA 2018 Slate bios for the election (note that nominations are accepted up until the time of the election), the AHA_Winter2017_agenda, and the AHA_Summer2017_minutes_20170719 courtesy of AHA Secretary Lisa Cruces.

DUES!
Sandra Yates, AHA! Treasurer, will be collecting membership dues for next year (and beyond). Dues are $10 and can be paid by cash, check, or credit card ($1 convenience fee). If you can’t make it to the meeting, contact Sandra.

Archie Motley Memorial Scholarship Applications Solicited

Archie Motley Memorial Scholarship Applications Solicited

MAC is soliciting applications for the 2018 Archie Motley Memorial Scholarship for Minority Students (http://www.midwestarchives.org/motley). The scholarship is designed to provide financial assistance to minority students pursuing graduate education in archival administration and to encourage ethnic diversification of the MAC membership and of the archival profession as a whole. Two $750 scholarships, accompanied by one-year memberships to MAC, will be awarded.

In order to be eligible for a scholarship, the applicant must be of African, American Indian, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Latino decent; must be a student currently enrolled in or accepted in a graduate, multicourse program in archival administration; and must have a grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in his or her academic program.

If the program is not listed in the SAA Directory of Archival Education, http://www2.archivists.org/dae, the applicant must provide proof of the multicourse standard by submitting copies of course descriptions from the institution’s current departmental catalog. Applicants are not required to be residents of or attend school in the MAC region.

Applications are due March 1, 2018 and must include the following documents:

Completed applications should be sent to:

Rachel Howard
Digital Initiatives Librarian
University of Louisville Libraries
Archives and Special Collections
Louisville, KY  40292
Telephone: 502-852-4476
Email: rachel.howard@louisville.edu

Applications must be emailed or postmarked by March 1, 2018.

Awards will be announced no later than June 1, 2018.