All rooms listed below are in the Consortium Library unless otherwise noted.
Draft Schedule at a glance:
Monday, May 26 (Memorial Day)
NWDA Steering Committee
Tuesday, May 27
NWDA Committee
Wednesday, May 28
Preconference workshops:
9 am - 4 pm Bringing Primary Sources to the Classroom Day
1-5 pm Issues in Photograph and Film Collection Management Day 1 of 2
6-7 pm Progressive Archivists Caucus Meeting
7:30 pm Special evening movie screening
Thursday, May 29
8:30 am -4 pm ARMA Day (NWA Members are welcome to register for this conference!)
Preconference Workshop:
8:15 am - 4 pm Issues in Photograph and Film Collection Management Day 2 of 2
10-4 pm Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board Meeting
2-4 pm NWA Board Meeting
4-6 pm Joint ARMA/NWA opening reception
6 pm ff Hosted dinners
Friday, May 30
8-9:30 am Breakout Sessions 1 & 2
9:30-10 am Break
10-11:30 am Breakout Sessions 3 & 4
11:45 am - 1:15 pm Plenary Luncheon
1:30-3:30 pm Breakout Sessions 5 & 6
3:30-4 pm Break
4-5:30 pm Breakout Sessions 7 & 8
6:30-8:00 All-Attendees Reception
Saturday, May 31
8:30-10:00 NWA Breakfast Business Meeting
10:15-11:45 am Breakout Sessions 9 & 10
12:00-1:00 pm Closing Plenary Luncheon
1:00 pm - ? Saturday afternoon tours
Full Schedule:
Monday, May 26
NWDA Steering Committee
Location: Archives Reading Room (305)
Tuesday, May 27
NWDA Committee
Location: Lewis Haines Room (307)
Wednesday, May 28
NWA Preconference Workshops Day 1
Bringing Primary Sources to the Classroom, 1 day, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm (includes lunch)
Primary sources are very important to teachers. They help students with critical thinking and analysis, bring history to life and help students become excited about history. But teachers have trouble finding these resources. This workshop teaches archivists to find better ways to provide help and outreach to teachers. Participants learn how to work with teachers and how to help teachers to merge primary sources into classroom activities, as well as how to better help students doing research in the archives. Location: Lewis Haines Room (307)
Issues in Photograph and Film Collection Management, day 1 of 1 1/2 days, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm (maximum enrollment: 15)
This workshop is for anyone who works with photograph and film collections, and presents concepts critical to understanding the photographic medium beyond the basics of format identification and preservation that promote effective collections management of visual materials. Topics covered include: photographs and film as artifacts, visual literacy, collection development and appraisal, concepts of organization and description of visual materials, legal and ethical issues, and issues of film preservation. Through lectures, group discussions, and practical exercises participants will gain insight into how they may better establish processing priorities, plan preservation projects, and create more meaningful access to their collections of visual materials. Location: Dean's Conference Room (302A)
Progressive Archivists Caucus meeting 6:00 - 7:00 pm.
Location: Archives Reading Room (305)
Special evening screening of Eskimo
This classic 1933 film--shot on location near Teller, Alaska--depicts the daily life of the Inuit people and the scenic beauty of the region. Mala, the central character in the film, was played by Ray
(Wise) Mala, an Inupaiq Eskimo from Candle, Alaska. Together with leading lady Lotus Long, a Japanese-Hawaiian actress, they turn in performances that have been described as ”splendid,” and “very demanding.” Eskimo is a thrilling and timeless story exploring universal themes of love, wrath, and survival--and filled with beautifully shot scenes of traditional Inuit life. Directed by W. S.
Van Dyke (most well known for the series of Thin Man films), and based on the works of the Danish explorer and writer, Peter Freuchen (both of whom make on camera appearances in small, but pivotal, roles). To see a still and the original theatrical trailer, see: Turner Classic Movies film database. Location: Lewis Haines Room (307)
Thursday, May 29
NWA Preconference Workshops Day 2
ARMA Day (see www.anchoragearma.org for up-to-date information)
NWA Preconference Workshop:
Issues in Photograph and Film Collection Management, day 2 of 1 1/2 days, 8:15 am - 4:00 pm (lunch included)
Location: Dean’s Conference Room (302A)
8:00-4:00 National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Open House
Drop-in for an informal open house at the Anchorage regional branch of our National Archives and Records Administration. Highlights include building and stacks tour, and exhibits of selected textual and other records from NARA’s holdings which comprise over 20,000 cubic feet of permanent records from more than 50 Federal agencies and courts in Alaska. There will also be demonstrations on how to use the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) and Footnote.com.
Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board (ASHRAB) meeting (Room 304)
2:00-4:00
NWA board meeting (Room 207b)
4:00-6:00
Joint ARMA/NWA welcome reception, Consortium Library 3rd floor
a Wine & Cheese Reception, including Alaskan Artists – Grand Entryway
6:00-? Hosted Dinners
Join local NWAers at some of our favorite watering holes and restaurants. Sign-up sheets will be available day of conference.
Friday, May 30
NWA Conference Day 1
Breakout Sessions 8:00-9:30
Session 1: The Integrated Digital Special Collections (INDI)
This session introduces the Integrated Digital Special Collections (INDI), an open source archival management application developed at Brigham Young University. INDI is a Web-based system designed with an emphasis on archival workflow and distributed processing activities.
This session provides an introduction to the project and features a demonstration of the functional application modules, as well as a demonstration of the INDI sandbox and discussion of future directions for INDI development
Session 2: Usability Testing in Archives
Archivists everywhere are engaged in projects aimed at pushing more content out onto the web, whether it be the publication of EAD finding aids, sharing collections of digital content, or simply the creation of a web site introducing the archival repository to users. This session explores how archivists should consider the needs of the users who enter (willingly or by other means) this often complex landscape containing its own terminologies and structures. The presenters will discuss their experiences in conducting usability research and testing for the Northwest Digital Archives consortium and lessons learned in attempting to wed the power of the web with the power of archives in ways that are responsive to users’ needs.
9:30-10:00 Break
Breakout Sessions 10:00-11:30
Session 3: How Do We Keep from Getting Further Behind? Applying the Principles of Minimal-Level Arrangement and Description to New Accessions
In addition to addressing backlogs, repositories must address arrangement and description of new collections and incoming accessions so as not to add to the backlog. This session focuses on applying the principles of minimal-level arrangement and description (Greene and Meissner, 2005) to new collections and accessions in several regional repositories.
Session 4: Beyond the Day Job: Archival Consulting
Consulting can be a way for archivists to use their unique set of skills and experience to pursue processing and description opportunities beyond their day job. Businesses offering assistance in records organization and historical research and publication also demonstrate that consulting can be a source of entrepreneurial possibilities to those with archival backgrounds. In this session, two archival consultants will describe how they got started, the types of projects with which they worked, and offer advice to others interested in pursuing consulting work.
Plenary Luncheon 11:45-1:15 “State of the States”
In this session, State Archivists from each of the five states that make up the Northwest Archivists region will present a “State of the State” address. Content of addresses may include achievements and projects at the State Archives, and events and issues affecting the State Archives, the State Historical Records Advisory Boards, or archival work in the state. This will allow the State Archivists who are, for many states, the leaders of the largest archival organizations in those states, to bring the work of their institutions to the attention of their professional colleagues. Location: Lewis Haines Room (307)
Breakout Sessions 1:30-3:30
Session 5: From Projects to Programs: Integrating Digital Initiatives into Regular Operations
One of the challenges facing all institutions, regardless of the scale of their digital initiatives, is the integration of digital resources and services into normal operations.
Panel participants will discuss ways that archives and other cultural heritage institutions in the Northwest are adjusting their procedures and practices to accommodate the realities of the digital age. Topics will include significant regional trends and activities, digitization, electronic records, institutional repositories, digital rights management, and e-commerce.
Session 6: Archival Research: The History and Future of the Profession
This session showcases some of the outstanding archival research into archival theory, methodology, and practice conducted by graduate students in the Western Washington University archival education program. Graduate students have opportunities for in-depth research that many practicing archivists, with daily work responsibilities, sometimes lack. This session is of interest to archivists of all levels of education and experience. Senior archivists will learn from the research being conducted by graduate students, and gain fresh perspectives on archival theory and methodology. Students and less experienced archivists will gain ideas and inspiration for their own research projects.
3:30-4:00 Break
Breakout Sessions 4:00-5:30
Session 7: New Modes of Access: Challenges and Opportunities for Archival Collections
As repositories place more finding aids, access points and digitized content online, users are more likely to discover materials through Google, Wikipedia and collaborative portals such as NWDA. Breaking these discovery silos was a major impetus for the University of Washington Libraries to partner with OCLC in the development of WorldCat Local, a service that provides searches in the entire WorldCat and other databases. This presentation covers UW’s implementation of WorldCat Local and its resulting discovery and delivery trends as well as user experience.
Session 8: Archives at the Last Frontier: Collections of Alaska
Important Alaska collections from several Anchorage repositories will be highlighted.
6:30-8:00 All-Attendees Reception
This is still in the planning stages, but we’re going to have a family-friendly event at a local museum with lots of appetizer-type food. Free attendance for NWA Conference registrants and tickets for guests to attend will be available for purchase.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
NWA Conference Day 2
8:30-10:00 NWA Breakfast Business Meeting (Location TBA)
Breakout Sessions 10:15-11:45
Session 9: Managing Digital Photographs
Digital photographs have all the traditional problems associated with film-produced photos, but are also subject to difficulties encountered with electronic records.
This session covers aspects of collecting, identifying, managing, and preserving digital photographs and provides best practices based on the speakers’ extensive experience as records and information managers. Topics include how to use image-management software, databases, associated text files, and the image file header itself to associate metadata with digital photographs; how the creation, description, and management of digital photographs affects trustworthiness and acceptance as evidence; copyright management issues, tools, and resources; and standard procedures used by various institutions, including the National Archives.
Session 10: Breaking the Ice: Protocols for Native American Archival Materials and Archivists in the Northwest
The Protocols for Native American Archival Materials (the protocols) were developed in 2006 as a means for creating conversations between Native American and non-Native American archivists about the proper care and use of archival materials. In 2007, the Northwest Archivists board committed to a five-year program of discussing the protocols at each annual meeting in each of the five member states. This session outlines the development and content of the protocols, the need for guidance for both Native American and non-Native American archivists regarding the best practices for culturally responsive care and use of Native American archival material held by non-tribal organizations, and concerns archivists may have about the application of the protocols.
12:00-1:00
Closing Plenary Luncheon with Mike Doogan
We’re really excited about Mike Doogan speaking to us. His Legislative website (http://house.legis.state.ak.us/doo.php) says the following: Mike has worked as a Teamster, teacher, janitor and legislative aide, but for most of his adult life was a journalist, including nearly 14 years as a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News where he shared in a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism in 1989. He has published a number of books of nonsense about Alaska and currently writes mystery novels. Location: Lewis Haines Room (307)
1:00-?
Saturday afternoon optional tours
We're currently arranging for a number of guided tours for Saturday afternoon to some of our favorite spots in Anchorage. See our listing for details. We also have a number of suggestions for places to see and things to do in Anchorage on our Other things to do page (still under construction!)