SAA 2015: The Issues & Advocacy (I & A) Roundtable Meeting

In advance of the 2015 Annual Meeting, we invited SNAP members to contribute summaries of panels, roundtable and section meetings, forums, and pop-up sessions. Summaries represent the opinions of their individual authors; they are not necessarily endorsed by SNAP, members of the SNAP Steering Committee, or SAA.

Guest Author: Caitlin Christian-Lamb, Associate Archivist of Davidson College

Outgoing Chair of I&ART Sarah Quigley called the meeting to order, opening with thanking the outgoing steering committee members and introducing the new steering committee members, new vice chair, and chair.

Lisa Mangiafico, the council liaison for I&ART, gave an update on the dues increase and changes to affinity groups proposals. Comments on these changes were due by September 1st. She also reported that there is no update on the legislation to eliminate NHPRC. Council has announced that SAA will not issue briefs on social issues, but only comment on issues that directly affect archives.

Aprille McKay reported from the Intellectual Property Working Group – the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement has chapters on intellectual property and copyright, proposing to extend copyright to 100 years beyond the life of the author. Because this legislation has been fast-tracked in the U.S., there is no way to amend the legislation and lobbying is difficult. McKay says the IPWP is monitoring the issue and will be in touch if there’s a way for SAA members to help. IWPG’s page on the SAA website contains more information.

Jeremy Brett gave updates on the Committee on Advocacy and Public Policy’s latest two issue briefs: “Strengthening of Authority of the National Archives and Records Administration” and “Confidentiality of Private Information held in Public Records.” Comments on the issue briefs should be sent to CAPP. CAPP has no set agenda for the upcoming year, so members are encouraged to get in touch with issues they want to see addressed.

I gave a quick update, as the Standards Committee liaison to the Technical Subcommittee on Guidelines for Reappraisal and Deaccessioning (TS-GRD) – the Guidelines for Reappraisal and Deaccessioning is undergoing its first formal review since being approved by Council in 2012, and TS-GRD is seeking comments from users. See the TS-GRD page on the SAA website for more information and to submit comments.

After the guest liaison updates, Sarah Quigley and the rest of the I&ART steering committee gave some internal updates:

• I&ART and the Regional Archival Associations Consortium are collaborating RAAC to set up procedures to better disseminate news about advocacy issues between the regional organizations and SAA throughout the year. Look for a Memorandum of Understanding on this collaboration this fall.
• I&ART Steering Committee continues to work on the Advocacy Toolkit – see their work in progress and submit comments on the I&ART page of the SAA website.
• The Steering committee also updated the I&ART Statement of Mission, Vision, and Core Values.
• Steering Committee also updated the I&ART bylaws, changes regarding election terms. See the website for more information.
• Incoming Chair Wendy Hagenmaier discussed her goals for the next year:
  • To continue gathering information on advocacy issues.
  • To continue and expand partnership with RAAC.
  • To continue outreach with blog series, “Archivists on the Issues,” and usage of social media.
  • To discuss proposed SAA affinity group changes.
  • The Steering Committee will meet monthly, with minutes made available via the website.

The meeting closed with updates on current issues within the archival community. Co-chair of the Archives and Archivists of Color Roundtable Aaisha Haykal updated the group on the possible sale of the Johnson Publishing Company photograph archives – AACR wrote a letter (approved by the SAA Council) to Johnson Publishing but have yet to hear a response. AACR willl report to I&ART when there’s any further news.

Alison Stankrauff read aloud a letter from Candace Falk, director of the Emma Goldman Papers. EGP are having funding issues and the are searching for a permanent home for the Papers. Falk suggests convening editors, historians, and archivists to work on a panel together discussing editorial papers projects, potentially presenting at the annual meetings of the various professional organizations (the Society of American Archivists, the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, and the Association for Documentary Editing were mentioned as possibilities).

Casey Davis, founder of ProjectARCC discussed why climate change is “a core issue for activism” within the archival profession. Davis shared a few ideas on how ProjectARCC and SAA can work together: by issuing a position paper on how climate change affects archives, by creating a template letter to to lobby legislators on climate change that can be used by archivists, and by promoting reducing personal carbon footprints at the annual meeting. Contact ProjectARCC with comments or to get involved.

After updates concluded, the floor was opened to questions, and then the meeting was adjourned.

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