Category Archives: Meetings

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!

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.

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.

The Year Ahead for AHA!

Dear AHA! Members,

Thanks to all who joined us recently for the inaugural monthly AHA! Happy Hour—it was a great evening of discussion and socializing. We had a productive executive meeting and brainstormed ideas for an exciting upcoming year.

One thing that came out of this gathering was a thoughtful review of AHA’s mission statement. Reflecting on the organization’s stated mission energized board members and others present. It also provided guidance as we seek to align AHA’s activities with this mission.

AHA! exists to increase contact and communication between archivists and those working with records, to provide opportunities for professional development, and to promote archival repositories and activities in the greater Houston, Texas area.

As we craft programming and communications for the year, we’ll seek to ensure that all three of these pieces are actively cultivated. Improved communication, increased fellowship, and opportunities for training and knowledge-sharing all seem like areas ripe for connecting and developing our membership. The big-ticket item—the Houston Archives Bazaar—naturally fits the focus of promoting our work within and beyond Houston. By deliberately aligning our activities with the stated mission, it is our hope that we can better serve and connect Houston’s archival community—that’s you!—as well as the communities we serve.

As we look ahead to the year, we’d like to begin by getting your input on what you’d like to see from AHA! Please take a moment to fill out this member survey.

We hope that you’re as excited as we are about the upcoming year!

Sincerely,

AHA! Executive Board

Emily Vinson, President
Matt Richardson, Vice-President
Lisa Cruces, Secretary
Sandra Yates, Treasurer

Upcoming Board Meeting and Happy Hour!

We’d like to invite you all out to a happy hour Tuesday, March 14 at 6pm at 8th Wonder Brewery. We hope you’re able to drop by and socialize with friends and colleagues.

The board will have a short meeting at 5:30 to discuss plans for the year, including the Archives Bazaar. Anyone interested in joining those conversations is welcome to come early!

2016 Holiday Party

AHA! Holiday Party and Meeting
December 15, 2016 at 6:00 pm

McGovern Historical Center
8272 El Rio St. Suite 190
Houston, TX 77054

Our special guest speakers will be Jennifer Hecker, Daniel Alonzo, and Madeline Moya who will discuss their experience with the Austin Archives Bazaar!

AHA! will supply Tamales, drinks, and tableware for the Holiday Party and Election so please bring you favorite side dish or dessert to share.   If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.Thanks – the Hospitality Committee.

CALL FOR CANDIDATES!

Those interested in serving as an AHA! officer as Secretary, Treasurer, or Vice-President should contact Emily Vinson evinson@uh.edu and Matt Richardson rmrichar@uh.edu ASAP. Election will take place during the meeting.

We will also be voting on the by-laws amendment proposed on Nov. 1. See more here: https://houstonarchivists.org/2016/11/01/proposed-bylaw-changes/

DUES!

Remember to bring your Hamiltons! Sandra Yates, AHA! Treasurer, will be collecting membership dues for next year (and beyond). Dues are $10 and can be paid by cash or check. Make checks payable to AHA! or Archivists of the Houston Area. If you can’t make it to the meeting, you can mail checks to:

Sandra Yates
Texas Medical Center Library
1133 John Freeman Blvd.
Houston, TX 77030

Grab your copy of the flyer here!

Call for RAO Session Proposals for SAA16

Sell It to Us!

Present at the RAO Annual Meeting!

The 2016 RAO Program Committee seeks Hot Topics and Cool Demonstrations for provocative conversation and deep thinking at the SAA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.  On Friday, August 5, from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm, RAO will host its fifth annual Marketplace of Ideas and seeks purveyors of hot topics and cool demonstrations to sell their wares to a savvy audience of RAO archivists. Vendors are asked to present a brief (3-4 minute) infomercial to all meeting attendees, before dividing into separate market stalls—we’ll have 3 rounds of shopping!

The 2016 RAO Program Committee is especially interested in hearing from vendors who’d like to present on the following topics or themes:

  • Access to Born Digital Collections – This could be a policy discussion regarding privacy or confidentiality, as well as access policy and procedural issues, or the technology and manpower needed to make it happen.
  • Assessment – What stats do you keep? What’s important? How do you track these stats? How do you use these at your institution?
  • Archival Outreach on a Shoestring – Do you use any project planning tools for outreach? What do you need to commit to outreach at a minimum level?
  • Designing Assignments – How to design/help design an archival research assignment or program that incorporates faculty and their students?
  • Lone Arrangers and Advocacy 101 – How to educate your host institution or non-archivist colleagues about what an archives is, what you/the archives does, and why it’s so darn important?

To submit an application, simply complete the application at http://bit.ly/1N0UTpr byMay 10th, 2016.

The RAO Program Committee will notify all applicants about the status of their proposal by May 30, 2016.

Thank you, and see you in Atlanta!

TODAY! AHA! Spring Meeting

April 7, 2016 at 6 p.m.
The African American Library at The Gregory School
1300 Victor St, Houston, TX, 77019

**Parking note**
There is amble parking in the lot behind The Gregory School. The parking lot can be accessed via Cleveland St.
Directions to the Gregory School

The meeting will feature:

  • Billy Glasco, Lead Archivist at The Gregory School, will provide a tour of the library
  • Sarah Gesell has proposed a website redesign. Please take a few moments before the meeting to review the new design here: AHA! Test Site
  • A call for committee members
  • Motion to officially retire the Yahoo! Listserv and to make it part of the AHA! Archives
  • Presentation by Marie Wise about the Astrodome Memories Project