Author Archives: Rebecca

Job posting: Project Archivist at TMC – McGovern Historical Center–POSITION FILLED

The Texas Medical Library seeks a project archivist to work in the McGovern Historical Center for an eight month period to arrange, process and make accessible to the public an assortment of collections. This is a contract position without benefits. A temporary, non-grant fund is available to finance this position. The project archivist will be responsible for processing and describing a variety of materials in various collections. The types of processing may range from box level to item level. The project archivist will report to the archivist heading the TMC Library’s McGovern Historical Center.  Applicants are required to have a master of library science or equivalent degree and demonstrated experience with archival principles and practices based on the standards of the Society of American Archivists.  For more information about how to apply contact the McGovern Historical Center at mcgovern@library.tmc.edu .

Astrodome Memories project will host oral history and scanning event, August 8, 2015!

Astrodome rendering

Astrodome Memories is a project of the Houston Public Library in partnership with the Houston Metropolitan Research Center; the Harris County Archives; the Woodson Research Center Special Collections & Archives, Fondren Library, Rice University; Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries; and the Harris County Public Library. The project provides access to a broad collection of Astrodome-related materials, including items contributed by the public as well as from major archives in the Houston area and the state. The collection includes oral histories, photographs, blueprints, and audio-video materials related to the construction of the Astrodome, as well as pamphlets, scrapbook, and memorabilia documenting the use of the Astrodome for the last fifty years.

This project has been made possible in part by support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services provided by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Visit the project website: http://www.astrodomememories.org

The next Astrodome Memories event is an oral history and scanning event:

August 8, 2015
10:00 AM until 2:00 PM
Julia Ideson Building Auditorium
Houston Public Library
500 McKinney Street
Houston, TX 77008
For Appointments Call: 832-393-1522

Drop-in appointments are available, but if you wish to record an oral history or have more than three items to contribute, we recommend making an appointment.

Oral histories and items scanned at the event will be shared online at the project Web site. You can view items that were scanned at the 50th Anniversary Birthday Party at the Astrodome by visiting:

50th Anniversary Event

 

AHA! Summer Meeting scheduled for July 8–UPDATED!

AHA! Summer Meeting has been scheduled for July 8 at TSU Special Collections.

Summer Meeting

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

6:00 PM

Texas Southern University

Barbara Jordan Archives and Special Collections

Robert J. Terry Library

3100 Cleburne Street

Houston, Texas 77004

 

Agenda

  • Introductory remarks
  • Acceptance of Minutes/Secretary’s Report
  • President’s Report
  • Vice President’s Report
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Old Business
  • New Business
  • Audio/Visual Presentation – Emily Vinson and Sandra Yates

Map of TSU and parking:

TSU campus  map

When the Water Recedes: Salvage assistance offered by AHA!

When the Water Recedes: Archivists Provide Salvage Assistance

Members of the Archivists of the Houston Area (AHA!) are available for providing advice and best practices in salvaging photos, books, documents and other priceless records that may have been damaged in the recent flooding.

Vince Lee, archivist at the University of Houston Libraries and president of AHA!, urges those seeking help with waterlogged materials to contact the organization for guidance. “AHA! would be happy to talk with anyone in a situation in which their valuable materials have been damaged by floodwaters,” Lee said.

Flood remediation of family or organizational records involves cleaning, drying and other types of treatment specific to the type of item. Many materials that have been affected can be salvaged with appropriate methods. AHA! archivists can provide specialized expertise in salvage and preservation.

Houston area flood victims seeking help with damaged records are encouraged to contact AHA! President Vince Lee. For more information on emergency salvage of flood damaged papers, visit National Archives Salvage Tips.

Job posting: Coordinator of Digital Projects, University of Houston Libraries

The University of Houston Libraries is looking for a Coordinator of Digital Projects. The Coordinator of Digital Projects reports to the Head of Special Collections.  Primary responsibilities include managing the internal workflow for the department’s digital library projects and supervising assigned personnel.  The Coordinator leads departmental efforts, in collaboration with other UH Libraries departments to preserve, process, and provide access to audiovisual and digital materials, including born-digital materials.  The Coordinator also serves as Special Collections Department liaison to the Metadata & Digitization Services, Digital Repository Services, and Web Services departments.

The Coordinator of Digital Projects is a librarian position.  Librarians hold academic rank pursuant to the Bylaws of the Librarians of the University of Houston.  They are expected to develop a record of service and professional involvement.  The UH Libraries support the ongoing professional development of librarians and our goal is to recruit librarians committed to continuous learning.

Required

  • Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited library program
  • Demonstrated ability to develop workflows for complex projects
  • Understanding of digitization processes, digital collection workflows metadata schemas, and digital asset management systems
  • Knowledge of archival theory and best practices
  • Familiarity with trends in arrangement, description, preservation, and access for audiovisual and digital materials
  • Ability to work effectively, cooperatively, and collaboratively with a variety of individuals and groups across the organization
  • Excellent oral, interpersonal, and written communication skills

Preferred

  • Minimum of two years relevant professional experience
  • Supervisory experience
  • Digital Archives Specialist certificate or similar coursework or training
  • Knowledge of copyright and privacy issues related to archival materials
  • Experience digitizing archival and special collections materials

For more information, please visit: http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/employment/coordinator-digital-projects

DAS course: Arrangement and Description of Electronic Records, 2 day course offered in Houston–CANCELLED

Holocaust Museum Houston is hosting the 2-day DAS course: Arrangement and Description of Electronic Records, June 23-24. Early bird registration ends May 24. This excellent 2-day course fulfills two requirements under Foundational and Tactical and Strategic Courses needed to pursue the DAS Certificate.

For more information visit: http://saa.archivists.org/events/arrangement-and-description-of-electronic-records-part-i-and-ii-15b2/616/

AHA! Spring Meeting on Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The AHA! spring meeting will be on Wednesday, April 1 at 6 pm at The Heritage Society. Our guest speaker will be author Louis Aulbach.

Agenda:

  • Introductory remarks
  • Acceptance of Minutes/Secretary’s Report
  • President’s Report
  • Vice President’s Report
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Old Business
  • New Business
  • Presentation – Louis Aulbach, Author and Publisher, Guides to the rivers and parks of West Texas: Rio Grande, Devils River, Pecos River, and others. “Keeping up with the changing nature of archival research — an author’s  perspective.”

Directions to The Heritage Society can be found: http://www.heritagesociety.org/direct.html

Parking Information:

Please park in the Heritage Society’s lot behind the Kellum-Noble House. The best approach to the parking lot is heading east toward downtown on Allen Parkway. Turn right immediately after going under Interstate 45. Be careful not to accidentally turn right onto the interstate just before reaching the parking lot. You can also enter the parking lot from the intersection of Clay and Bagby/West Dallas. Additional parking is available at the Heritage Clay Street Garage for a fee. Tours begin at the Tour Office located in the Museum. The Heritage Society parking lot is open from 8:30 a.m.−5 p.m. Monday−Saturday and for THS special events.

Decolonizing the Archive: Chicana por mi Raza and the Challenge of Digital Humanities, March 9 @University of Houston

Event Date: 
Monday, March 9, 2015 – 10:00am12:30pm
Location: 
Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion, MD Anderson Library, University of Houston

 

10:00am – Talk by Maria Cotera, University of Michigan
Decolonizing the Archive: Chicana por mi Raza and the Challenge of Digital Humanities

Focusing on the Chicana por mi Raza digital archive, a collection of oral histories and documents from women who were active in social movements during the 1960s and 1970s, this lecture explores the possibilities and challenges that are opened up by the “digital turn” in Humanities scholarship.

Cotera argues that digital archiving projects like Chicana por mi Raza challenge conventional notions of humanistic research and reformat the archive in critical ways by shifting it from a repository to an active site for the co-creation of feminist knowledge. Re-reading the archive as a site of encuentro (encounter) and exchange, Cotera explores how contemporary feminist scholars can teach and learn about the past in ways that recover lost histories and incite new, and unexpected, connections.

Maria Cotera, PhD is an associate professor who holds a joint appointment in theDepartment of Women’s Studies and the Program in American Culture at the Universityof Michigan. She served as the director for the University of Michigan’s Latina/o Studies Program from 2008 to 2011. Cotera’s first book, Native Speakers: Ella Deloria, Zora Neale Hurston, Jovita González, and the Poetics of Culture, received the Gloria Anzaldúa 2009 book prize from the National Women’s Studies Association.

Cotera’s two current research initiatives include Chicana por mi Raza, a national digital humanities project that seeks to create an online interactive archive documenting Chicana Feminist praxis from 1960-1990; and El Museo del Norte, a partnership with Southwest Detroit arts and culture organizations to create a museum without walls that documents Latino history in the Midwest.


11:30am – Panel discussion
Pushing Back: Chicana, Latina, Hispanic Women Preserving Our Narratives

Panel participants will discuss the politics and implications of digitizing the archive, as well as the opportunities increased access provides.

  • Lisa Cruces joined the University of Houston Libraries as the first Hispanic Collections Archivist in 2014. Prior to this position, Cruces was a fellow with the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame. Along with stewarding and growing UH’s Hispanic Collections, Cruces promotes the use of archival materials in undergraduate education and an increase in community inclusivity. Her professional interests and research focus on collecting, preserving and creating access to English and Spanish language Hispanic archival collections.
  • Patricia Hernandez is a visual artist, arts educator, archivist and native Texan.She holds a BA in Art and Art History and a BFA in Painting from Rice University. She received her MFA in Painting from the University of Houston in 2000. In 2011, she began managing the DiverseWorks pilot project, Creating A Living Legacy (CALL), helping Houston artists collect and organize the records of their creative practice. She is the founder of StudioOne Archive Resource, a new service organization whose mission is to work with members of the Houston arts community to preserve their stories.
  • Carolina Villaroel, PhD is the Director of Research for University of Houston’s Arte Público Press, the nation’s largest and most established publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by US Latina and Latino authors. Villaroel, along with Dr. Nicolás Kanellos, leads the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, a national program that locates, identifies, preserves and makes accessible the literary contributions of US Hispanics from colonial times through 1960.

Both events are free and open to the public. Sponsored by the University of Houston’s Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program, Center for Mexican American Studies, Department of English, Department of History, and Digital Humanities Initiative, along with the Houston Arts Alliance, MECA, and Humanities Texas.

Permalink: http://info.lib.uh.edu/p/decolonizing-archive-chicana-por-mi-raza-and-challenge-digital-humanities

 

Revised Head of Special Collections, UH Libraries posting

The University of Houston Libraries are seeking a progressive and forward thinking leader prepared to articulate a vision and direction for a growing special collections and archives that supports the University’s objectives of advancing research, improving student success, and increasing national recognition.  The Libraries’ Special Collections enhances the traditional strengths of a rare books and archives department with a growing number of contemporary collections that reflect the vitality and diversity of the City of Houston.  The position provides direction and oversight to a group of 6 librarians, 4 regular staff members, and 2 post-doctoral staff members curating archival collections and rare books.  The Head oversees the ongoing development of archival collections, work with academic departments, preparation of collections for digitization, and a full calendar of exhibits.  There is frequent contact with established donors and potential donors for acquisitions of unique collections, as well as fundraising and management of departmental endowments.  The Head of Special Collections serves as a member of the Library Management Council, the Public Services Council, and the Digital Collections Management Committee.  The position reports to the Associate Dean for Public Services.  The position is available February 2, 2015.

Appointment to an endowed professorship is possible for a candidate with an exceptional record of scholarly productivity and professional engagement.

For more information visit: http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/employment/head-special-collections

Genealogical Research Seminar, Saturday, February 28

Holocaust Museum Houston is pleased to announce its collaboration with Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research in bringing Houston a genealogical research seminar. Embarking on a family history research project is a great way to pass down our stories and those of our ancestors’ lives. Sue Kaufman, manager of Houston Public Library’s Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, will present basic steps for getting started on your family history journey with a special emphasis on Jewish genealogical research.  Amanda McKenzie, assistant librarian at Holocaust Museum Houston, will give an introduction to Jewish genealogical tools that will assist researching Holocaust survivors and victims. Join the Museum and the library to learn about the resources available for your search. The program is brought to the public by HMH’s Friends of the Library affinity group.

Admission, which includes entry to the Museum, is $12 for nonmember adults, $8 for seniors and active-duty military, and free for HMH members and students. Seating is limited, and advance registration is requested.

Visit http://www.hmh.org/RegisterEvent.aspx to RSVP online.