Author Archives: Houston Archivist

HAB Call for Repository Participation

Good morning, AHA!
We’re two months away from the Houston Archives Bazaar, happening Sunday, September 10, 2017 from 2-6pm at White Oak Music Hall.
Archival repositories are encouraged to participate in various ways – we’re offering repositories a table in the main hall to promote their collections and engage visitors in a hands-on archival experience. Repositories are also welcome to jump onstage to wow the crowd with their repository’s “elevator pitch.” Even repositories who are not able to attend the event are encouraged to provide informational materials for the visitor’s HAB goodie bags.
A number of repositories have already committed, but we want to ensure the widest possible participation for the Bazaar. Even if we haven’t seen or heard from you in a while, we’d love to have your organization represented at the event! Know of someone else we should invite? We’d love to hear that, too. And if you aren’t sure whether your repository has already committed, feel free to check with Matt Richardson [rmrichardson@uh.edu]] or Emily Vinson [evinson@uh.edu].
If your repository would like to participate in the event, please fill out the Google Form below. Once we receive your submission we will be in touch with additional information. [Note: the description you provide of your archive will be used for promotion in social media and elsewhere.]
Also, if you represent a non-repository organization, your involvement is welcome, too. Go ahead and fill out the form, and we’ll follow up to discuss whether a table, and/or some other form of participation is the best fit.
If you have questions about how your organization can best participate in this archival community-building event, please feel free to get in touch with Matt Richardson [rmrichardson@uh.edu] or Emily Vinson [evinson@uh.edu].We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.
Best,
Matt Richardson,
Chair, HAB Programming Committee

Houston Archives Collective Meet & Greet

Please consider stopping by the Houston Archives Collective’s first meet & greet gathering at Brasil Houston Tuesday, August 1st, at 6 pm-7:30 pm.
HAC is an informal group and space for exchange and collaboration between professional archivists and librarians with individuals in the community interested in archives and Houston history.

Job Posting: Librarian II, HMRC Photography Archie Supervisor

Librarian II (HMRC Photography Archive Supervisor): This position is to specifically work at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center as the Photography Archive Supervisor. The person in this role will be responsible for the management of the photography collection at HMRC (over 4.5 million photographs) and will oversee and coordinate the digitization and reproduction of archival material.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/houston/jobs/1789746

Position closes Wednesday, 7/26/2017 11:59 PM.

 

Continuing Education: Privacy and Confidentiality Issues in Digital Archives

Privacy and Confidentiality Issues in Digital Archives

October 23, 2017
Rice University, Fondren Library

Certificate Eligibility: A&D, DAS
Credits: 5 ARC, 0.75 CEU
Length: 1 day
Format: In-Person
Max Attendees: 35
Tier:  Tactical & Strategic
ACE Category: Ethical and Legal Responsibilities

This course covers privacy and confidentiality legal issues specific to archives of digital material. You’ll examine the intersection of (and the tension between) privacy/confidentiality, free speech, and freedom to research/write, and focus on how electronic records and the digital realm have altered the scene. You’ll look at privacy and confidentiality issues in the context of third-party rights, donors, special situations such as medical and education records, national security legislation, and the overriding impact of the digital world. Through case studies, you will examine specific situations pertinent to the work of archivists.

The focus of the day will be on how to think through and identify options for resolving the most commonly encountered privacy and confidentiality legal issues regarding electronic records.

TX-CERA Sponsored Safety Workshop

TX-CERA is hosting a safety and disaster planning workshop July 24th at the MFAH. The workshop is targeted at cultural heritage staff that may work with mold and soot hazards impacting their collections. Staff so often plunge right into hero mode once a disaster hits their collections and inadvertently put themselves at risk while trying to rescue those collections. We hope to avoid that by this type of workshop.

Learn more about the event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/safety-training-for-museum-library-and-archives-professionals-tickets-35122002856

Act Now to Save NHPRC, IMLS, and NEH!

SAA Leaders:

Please share the following with your members.

June 15, 2017—The Trump Administration’s proposed budget for FY18 includes devastating cuts to federal humanities funding, including elimination of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Now is the time to urge your Members of Congress to support federal programs that are vital to our archives community!

House Appropriations Committee subcommittees are drafting their spending bills between now and the end of June. Our colleagues at the National Humanities Alliance have created a legislative action center that allows you to send multiple email messages to Congress from a single website.  Alerts specific to NEH, IMLS, and NHPRC include a pre-written letter that you can personalize or send as is. The system uses your ZIP code to identify your House member and Senators automatically.

Access the NHA Action Center<http://p2a.co/kVFEeav>.

Personalize your message!  Whatever method of communication you choose, it’s important to personalize your message to your background, experience, institution, district, or state – something that, as a constituent, will resonate with your representative.

Need some background or ideas?

See SAA’s issue brief on Federal Grant Funding for Archives<http://www2.archivists.org/statements/issue-brief-federal-grant-funding-for-archives> as well as backgrounders on NHPRC<http://www2.archivists.org/statements/backgrounder-funding-for-the-national-historical-publications-and-records-commission> and NEH<http://www2.archivists.org/statements/backgrounder-funding-for-the-national-endowment-for-the-humanities>.

See your colleagues’ Federal Funding Impact Stories<https://archivesaware.archivists.org/>.  (Or share your own story<http://www2.archivists.org/advocacy/share-your-federal-funding-impact-story>.)

And view the National Coalition for History’s in-depth agency-by-agency analysis<http://historycoalition.org/2017/05/23/trump-fy-18-budget-proposes-devastating-cuts-to-federal-history-archival-education-programs/> of the administration’s FY18 budget proposal.

Never before have federal archival, humanities, and history programs been under such attack. Act now to save them!

Tell us when you’ve taken action!  #saveNHPRC  #saveIMLS  #saveNEH=

Why not a phone call? Many staffers’ voice mail boxes are full due to unprecedented advocacy activity, but if you prefer to try to make a phone call, find your Representative here<http://www.house.gov/> or Senators here<https://www.senate.gov/>.

Nancy P. Beaumont
Executive Director
Society of American Archivists
17 North State Street, Suite 1425
Chicago, IL  60602
312-606-0722; 866-722-7858 (toll-free)
nbeaumont@archivists.org<mailto:nbeaumont@archivists.org>

Event: Architectural Orientation at the HMRC

May 10, 2017   6:30-8pm

HMRC is hosting an Architectural Orientation of the Texas Room to introduce the public to our collections and how to access them through the reference desk.  This program goes beyond our monthly Texas Room Orientation to focus primarily on HMRC’s architectural collections.

Guided by Architectural Archivist, Samantha Bruer, customers will learn about architectural drawings, archival collections, books, and other materials that are useful in historic building research.

Parking is available under the Central Library building, with entry on Lamar Street.

For questions, please contact Samantha Bruer at samantha.bruer@houstontx.gov or 832-393-1376.

Event: Spring Creek Heritage Festival

SPRING CREEK HERITAGE FESTIVAL — FREE EVENT
Saturday, May 20th, 10 am – 3 pm RAIN OR SHINE
Spring Creek Park – 15012 Brown Road – Tomball, TX 77377

Enjoy a fun-filled day of educational, family friendly activities in one of Harris county’s most beautiful parks! Visit recreated Confederate and Union camps to learn about Civil War era lifestyles. Also take guided tours to discover the history of the recently discovered Spring Creek Park Cemetery.

Activities
Cemetery Tours – Civil War Battle Reenactments
Cultural Demonstrations – Crafts and Entertainment
Food Trucks – Archaeology Digs – Storytelling

Event Flyer

Dues Payments Made Easy!

Greetings AHA!

We’re so happy to report that you can now pay your AHA! membership dues with any major credit card! We have setup an account with Squareup.com to handle credit card transactions. To cover the transaction fee, a convenience charge of $1 will be added to the regular $10 membership. As always you can still pay dues by cash and check. See the AHA Credit Card Flyer for more details.

Cheers!

Sandra Yates
AHA! Treasurer

Sandra E. Yates, MSIS, CA, DAS
Archivist & Special Collections Librarian
McGovern Historical Collections
Texas Medical Center Library
syates@library.tmc.edu
p: 713-799-7176
f: 713-799-7876

Website: www.library.tmc.edu/mcgovern
The Black Bag: http://mcgovernhrc.wordpress.com