This August, as I prepared for my last year as a student in the Archives and Public History program here are New York University, I had the privilege to attend the Society of American Archivists Annual conference in Washington D.C. I went to the conference with the goal of learning what professional archivists are currently doing with archival education and outreach. The theme of the conference was accessibility, which is truly at the core of education and outreach. While I dabbled in different areas of archival discussions on the first day attending a session on “Lone Arrangers” and gender dynamics in the field to get a well-rounded experience, I spent the rest of my time in sessions focusing on education.
I attended lightning rounds that specialized in strategies for teaching archives to students and new researchers, as well as sessions that set out with a call to action for a more formalized archival education which the field currently requires. The seminars I attended gave excellent examples of how archival professionals currently host educational sessions on an ad-hoc basis to classes and new users. What I learned is that we as archivists need to work on creating universal tools to engage our. As archivists, we have to get creative in how we engage users especially since we have official archival terminology and descriptive standards yet lack standardized educational strategies. This is especially important as instruction in the archives has increasingly become a core function of today’s archivists. Having a more formalized practice in archival education would allow us to better engage with new publics and give better accessibility to collections.
The sessions I attended were not only informative, they were inspiring. It was great to see how archivists from all different types of institutions such as corporate, educational, and cultural, engage with their user bases that varies so greatly. As a graduate student of the archives, I am still actively involved in learning what is going on in the professional field as I continue to take in archival literature through my coursework. However, as this academic year comes to a close I will be a part of the professional community and will not always have a professor to hand out the latest in archival literature. Instead, I will have to seek out new trends in the field, and if possible contribute accordingly. It was promising to see professionals so engaged with their community and excited about enhancing their field. The conference showed me that my interests and contributions in the field do not have to be confined to my solitarily work, but can become part of a larger initiative within the archival community. I left the conference feeling ready to tackle the challenge of archival education and outreach, which I will focus on for my capstone project this upcoming year. This was my first time at the SAA conference, but it certainly will not be my last. I hope to attend again next year as a way to continue enriching my experience within the field beyond my formal education.
SAA Badge and Program