Chicago Area Archivists

Lisa Labovitch greatly enjoyed her first experience as a Chicago Metro History Fair judge and urges other CAA members to participate in 2013. Labovitch felt that the website judging was a very simple and interesting assignment that most CAA members could do in their spare time. For those who have evenings or weekends free, the on-site judging affords volunteers the opportunity to interact with students to learn more about their research interests and methods and learn what motivates them to pick their topics.

The National Archives at Chicago is pleased to announce that two of its staff members, Glenn Longacre and Stephanie Phillips, passed the Certified Archivist exam in August 2011. Learn more about the Academy of Certified Archivists at www.certifiedarchivists.org/.

Samip Mallick, formerly of the Ranganathan Center for Digital Information (RCDI) at the University of Chicago Library, has accepted the position of the President of the Board of Directors of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). SAADA is a startup non-profit organization with a mission to document, preserve, and provide access to South Asian American history through a digital archive, available at www.saadigitalarchive.org

Rush University Medical Center archivists Heather J. Stecklein and M. Nathalie Wheaton contributed to the December 2011-January 2012 issue of Against the Grain: Linking Publishers, Vendors and Librarians (Volume 23, Number 6). The theme for the issue is “Trends in Health Sciences and Biomedical Sciences Information Provision.” Their article, “Mutual Advocacy: Developing Shared Outreach Programs with Institutional Partners,” encourages librarians and archivists to collaborate with other departments within their institution and take advantage of opportunities to participate in their events, publications, and committees. They provide examples from their own experiences at Rush University Medical Center. The archivists’ goal is to extend the Rush Archives’ visibility on campus and approach everyone on campus as a potential user or donor. Check out the article online, a password may be required: www.against-the-grain.com/2012/02/v23-6-table-of-contents/

The article also featured profiles on both authors. The Against the Grain website recently selected Wheaton as its “Star of the Week.” www.against-the-grain.com/2012/02/star-of-the-week-m-nathalie-wheaton-librarianassistant-archivist-rush-university-medical-center-archives/

Have you changed jobs, published an article, or presented at a conference? The CAA Outreach Subcommittee would like to spread the good news in next month’s Member News. We invite members to share their honors, appointments, and promotions. Please submit your information to info@chicagoarchivists.org; subject line “CAA Member News.”

Michael Arbagi recently published “The Catholic Church and the Preservation of Mesoamerican Archives: An Assessment” in Archival Issues (Volume 33, Number 2). The article examines the role of the Catholic Church in the destruction and eventual recreation of manuscripts, oral histories, and other records of the indigenous civilizations of Mesoamerica.

Valerie Harris, Associate Special Collections Librarian and Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), published an article in The American Archivist  (Volume 74, Number 2). “Politically Charged Records: A Case Study with Recommendations for Providing Access to a Challenging Collection” examines how the Special Collections Department implemented new collections management policies and procedures in the wake of a public relations crisis during the 2008 presidential election season. The article was co-authored with Kathryn Stine and adapted from a presentation at the MAC Annual Meeting in 2009. Check out the article online, a password may be required: http://archivists.metapress.com/content/f252r28174251525/.

Elizabeth Myers, Director of the Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University, has been appointed adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University. Myers will teach LIS 775: Archival Administration and Services this summer.

Scott Pitol has joined the University of Illinois at Chicago as the University Archivist and Assistant Professor. He was previously the Corporate Archivist at The Pampered Chef, Inc.

Congratulations to Michael, Valerie, Elizabeth, and Scott!

Have you been promoted, published an article, or presented at a conference? The CAA Outreach Subcommittee wants to applaud professional honors and accomplishments in Member News. Please submit your information to info@chicagoarchivists.org; subject line “CAA Member News.”