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 Why join student chapters of professional associations for information professionals? For one thing, student organizations are a great way to connect with peers from all across the country. Distance education can be, well, lonely, and we all should be aware of how important it is to start networking early in your career, so having the chance to build relationships among peers and future colleagues is invaluable during the time that you are a student. Alongside the wonderful social bonding and professional networking student organizations provide, student organizations offer many opportunities to develop and demonstrate leadership skills that will help you later on in the job market and to further explore areas of your field that you feel most passionate about. San Jose State’s Society of American Archivists Student Chapter (SAASC) offers many opportunities for personal and professional growth. SAASC Executive Board members coordinate all kinds of on-site tours and virtual events with professionals in the field, communicate with members through various social media channels, organize and host regular meetings, and contribute to the production of Archeota, our chapter’s semiannual publication written by and for information students interested in archival studies. Kelli Roisman, 2019-2020 SAASC Chair, describes the benefits of taking on leadership roles through student organizations in this way: “I joined the SAASC team because I wanted to make personal connections with other iSchool students who share similar interests. I enjoy reaching out to professionals in the field to create new programming for our membership. There are so many benefits, but I’ll pick just one! Student leadership is a great opportunity for career growth. Employers are looking for ‘demonstrated experience’ in addition to coursework. You can build up your skills and boost your qualifications by taking on a leadership role in student organizations.” Students seeking to build up leadership and communication skills in a friendly and collegial environment should consider running for an executive board position. We’re now accepting nominations for our 2020-2021 SAASC Executive Board. Our new leadership team will be key to organizing chapter activities including site tours to Blizzard Entertainment and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Open positions: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Events Coordinator, Social Media Coordinator. Nominations will be accepted up to May 2. Send a brief bio to [email protected]. We’d love to have you join us. Please help us achieve our chapter’s goals for energizing our membership, creating new opportunities, and fostering career development! For more details, visit our website http://sjsusaasc.weebly.com/. Send us a message if you have any questions; we can be reached at [email protected].
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 It’s officially American Archives Month! Archives Month began in 2006 as an initiative to celebrate the work of archivists and raise awareness about the function, purpose, and cultural and historic value of archives. How many blank or quizzical looks have you received when you mention that you are (or want to be) an archivist? Increasing public knowledge about the importance of archives translates into increased attention, visibility, support, and even funding. We know what we do (or want to do) is important in the here-and-now. Now is the chance to share your passion for archives with the world!
We kick started the month with #AskanArchivist day on October 3rd, but keep an eye out for lectures, programming, and other events taking place throughout October in honor of Archives Month. If you are looking for inspiration as to how to get your own institution involved, the Society of American Archivists offers a wide range of tools to help practitioners brainstorm and prepare for engagement and outreach opportunities – check out their website for more info. One fun way to get involved in Archives Month is to attend or volunteer at an archives crawl event. According to ArchivesAware!, the Society of American Archivist’s blog, “Archives Crawls are multi-repository tours that allow participants to visit several institutions throughout a day or month and become acquainted with the range of resources held by local cultural heritage institutions. Similarly, Archives Bazaars or Fairs bring together several institutions into a single space, allowing attendees to learn more about local archival resources.” Cities and counties from across the county host these kinds of events, often annually. For those of you in California, there is still time to attend one of these events this month: the Monterey Peninsula Archives Crawl (Saturday, October 12th), the Los Angeles Archives Bazaar (Saturday, October 12th), the San Francisco Archives Crawl (Saturday, October 19th), or the Sacramento Archives Crawl (Saturday, October 26th). If you can’t make one of these, don’t worry – there are archives crawls or bazaars that take place throughout the year all over the country, so check out the libraries and archives in your local area to see what is happening near you.  SAASC’s 2019-202 Executive Committee elections are coming soon. Have you thought about running for a position with SAASC or another iSchool student group? Not sure what you would be getting into? What are the benefits? But what if you're on the East Coast? And what if you're an introvert?
Leaders from iSchool's student organizations came together for a special collaborative event to talk about what their experience has been like, what benefits they've enjoyed most, and how they've managed to fit this important work into their busy lives. Before the event, current and former officers participated in an informal survey to answer questions like, “How much time per week do you spend on student organization work?” The survey revealed some interesting things. For instance, most participants emphasized a few important benefits to participating in student groups. The experience translates directly to your resume/CV, and your experience can provide great talking points for interviews. A few student leaders shared during the event how they were able to use certain experiences for e-Portfolio competencies. Survey participants also pointed out the importance of getting involved in professional associations for career development, and many leaders found that their student chapter experience helped them understand and access these professional organization benefits more fully. Some students were able to receive financial help to attend professional conferences, as well. Above all, student leaders pointed to the very valuable networking opportunities that student association work provides. The event’s participants also had some insights into some of the challenges that come with student leadership. They stressed the need for developing time management skills and a team mentality. Also, although many students self-identify as introverts, most of them claim that their experience in student groups helped them gain confidence in their ability to manage their tendencies toward introversion and shyness, both now as students and also in their future professional life. Furthermore, the event participants stressed that the various “challenges” such as lack of experience and introversion, should not prevent students from getting involved. Indeed, student groups provide the perfect environment to learn, to gain experience, and to grow into your professional life. A full recording of the event is available at on our Past Events page, and also on our YouTube channel. Check it out. For more information, get in touch with your student organizations directly: SAASC: [email protected] FirstGeneration: [email protected] ASIS&T: [email protected] ALASC: [email protected] SLASC: [email protected] And keep an eye open for upcoming information about nominations and elections!  By Melissa Pankuch On October 3rd, SAASC was honored to have Lynn Downey in conversation to share her experiences as an archivist, historian, and author. After an early position as an archivist for the real estate developer Mason-McDuffie, Lynn spent over 20 years as the corporate historian for Levi Strauss & Co., the iconic American institution famous for its denim jeans. During her time at the company, Downey sought out a variety of opportunities to hone her writing skills. Her position included marketing activities such as working with reporters who were researching the company. She also learned to embrace social media as a tool for sharing the heritage of Strauss & Co in short form entries such as Facebook posts and tweets. Downey traveled the country to promote the company at events and on television, including a spot on Oprah! Most importantly, Downey had strong communication with company leadership, and was able to pursue a lot of writing that she had personal interest in by illustrating its connection back to the company. This communication was certainly a factor when Downey negotiated to write the official Levi Strauss biography after her time with the company. Downey also provided quality advice for archivists who are looking to become writers. She explained that she processes a book project much like she would process an archival collection. She first studies and reads as much as she can about the subject, and uses that information to create an organizational structure for the book. This compilation of materials can often be a tricky task. When writing the Levi Strauss biography, Downey hit a roadblock in the process because many of Strauss’ personal records were destroyed in the San Francisco 1906 fire. Therefore, she traveled to Germany and Panama to gather information from other sources to complete the organizational structure for her book. She also stressed the importance of creating a timeline in order to see the topic develop over time. For the Strauss project, Downey’s timeline is over 100 pages long! She also stressed that aspiring writers should read and write as often as they can, citing Stephen King’s On Writing and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life as transformative texts in her journey as a writer. Downey also recommended that authors seek to work with university presses as opposed to seeking representation from a literary agent and working with larger publications. With university presses, the author-archivist is able to maintain a level of ownership over their project that other publishers may not provide. Her current project, Life in a Lung Resort, tells the story of her grandmother’s time in Arequipa, a tuberculosis sanitorium, in 1920’s California. The site of the sanitorium is now the home of a Girl Scout camp. Downey tracked down the institutional records that were saved by a man who kept them in his shed so they would not be thrown away. Downey obtained the records, processed them, and donated them to the Bancroft Library (finding aid can be found here.) We look forward to reading Life in a Lung Resort, set to be released in the fall of next year, and to reading more from Lynn Downey in the future!   Are you interested in writing? Would you like to add publication to your resumé? Archeota is looking for original articles to publish in our upcoming issue. We invite you to send us your ideas. If you’re interested in submitting something, but need some suggestions for what you could write, here are some ideas to get you inspired:
Or find inspiration in any of our previous issues, archived on our website, at: http://sjsusaasc.weebly.com/archeota.html. Please note, you DO NOT need to be a member of SAA to contribute to Archeota. Submission deadline: Friday, November 16, 2016 @ 11:59 pm PST Submit your idea or article to: [email protected]  October is American Archives Month! It’s an entire month dedicated to spreading awareness and bringing attention to archival institutions. Whether it’s your first semester learning about records and retention schedules, finding aids and metadata, or it’s your last semester and you’re looking forward to beginning your career, you probably already know that there is not a lot of understanding out in the world about what archivists do. There seems to always be confusion when I say to someone, “I’m studying to be an archivist.” Common responses I’ve gotten range from, “What’s that?’ to “Hasn’t the Internet made it so we don’t even need archivists anymore?” This gap in understanding and awareness needs to be bridged.
In 2006, the Society of American Archivists created this month-long celebration to provide the “opportunity to tell (or remind) people that items that are important to them are being preserved, cataloged, cared for, and made accessible by archivists.” Archives Month is so important because it gives us a chance to spread the word about what we do, what we’re studying, and why archives are necessary. It also gives us the chance to feature some incredible archives doing important work! This month we will be posting items using #ArchivesMonth and we hope you’ll search through the hashtag on Twitter and Facebook. Spend some time exploring what archives are doing across the country to celebrate and educate. On October 3, we’ll be taking part in Ask an Archivist day, where we’ll be asking questions of archivists and sharing responses. We’ll also be featuring 10 archival institutions this month that we think should be getting attention and praise for the work they do. Follow along as we explore our featured archives and spread awareness of the archival profession. We’re hopeful that activities like these can change minds, create inspiration and foster excitement in archival institutions, and maybe (just maybe) next time you say to someone, “I’m studying to be an archivist” they’ll say, “Archives are essential parts of our collective cultural and historical memory. We should be supporting them as much as we can. I love archives! SAASC invites you to join us for an online event: "The Archivist as Author: A Conversation with Lynn Downey" Wednesday, October 3rd, 6pm - 7pm  Former Levi Strauss & Co corporate historian Lynn Downey shares her experiences as both a published author and an archivist. She'll provide insights on her writing process and how her background in archives influences her writing, followed by a Q&A.
Check out more about our guest on her website: www.lynndowney.com Please register for this event using the Zoom link: https://sjsu.zoom.us/j/498196257 Individuals requiring real-time captioning or other accommodations should contact Dr. Sue Alman as soon as possible. September 21, 2018 @ 3:45 The Archives of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was established through the generous support of planning and implementation grants awarded by the Getty Foundation in 2004 and 2007 through the special initiatives “On the Record: Art in LA 1945-1980” and “Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980.” It is the repository for LACMA’s institutional records of enduring value; collecting, preserving, and making them available through the Balch Art Research Library. Tour begins at 4pm and should last a little over an hour. Stay after to explore the museum with your fellow students (open until 8pm) and mingle at the free jazz concert in the outdoor plaza (starts at 6pm). Space is limited.
RSVP to: https://goo.gl/forms/W5OrL7geJvKUecME3 Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year! We are already two weeks into the semester, and I hope everyone is having an exciting start to their Fall classes. My fellow SAASC officers and I have been working to prepare some exciting events for the upcoming year, and we can’t wait to start announcing these. Keep an eye on our Events page!
Recently we have several students reach out to us to find out how they can get involved with SAASC, so I thought I’d share with you some information about that. We currently have three main “Teams” and we are looking for team-members for ALL of them. Our Events Team is coordinated by our vice-chair, Courtney. She's spending several hours a week sending emails and tracking communication with people with whom we're trying to arrange upcoming webinars and site-visits. If you have ideas for webinars or site-visits in your area, and are willing to reach out to people via email or telephone in order to arrange those kinds of events (it's not terribly intimidating, really, and it's kind of a nice way to "meet" people and make connections), we would love to have your help. We could also use some people adept at Zoom to help us run online events, if that’s your area of expertise. Our Social Media/Web Team is led by our secretary, Anna Belle. It would be great to find people to help her organize some social media posts -- maybe seek out interesting blog posts to share with our Facebook group, fun or funny Tweets to RT, or news stories to share. If you’re interested in writing or editing, we would love for student members to get a chance to contribute short original posts about school, jobs, and internships here on our blog. We could also use help writing event announcements, or even adding interesting content to our website. We also have need for students to help out with Archeota, our online bi-annual publication. Archeota is currently managed by our former chair, Jennifer. If you’re interested in writing a short article, we are especially interested in students’ experiences with internships and conferences. Or submit an interview with an archivist you know or work with. We would also appreciate help with planning for content and getting in touch with contributors, as well as editing and proofreading before publication. It may seem that student organizations just run on their own, but in truth they all require the time and effort of students like me and you! As they say, “Many hands make light work.” Getting involved in a student organization has certain benefits, of course: it helps you build a network of friends and peers (which is a real challenge in our online environment); it provides experience that you can use on a CV, resumé or your ePortfolio; and it gives you the satisfaction of helping make our student chapter of SAA exceptional. If you want to learn more, our Annual Members’ Meeting is coming up next week, Wednesday September 5 @ 6pm, and we would love for you to join us. We plan to talk about how you can get involved, attend events, and get some great membership benefits! Join us on Zoom: https://sjsu.zoom.us/j/865317282. Also, we would love to get your opinion on what you would like to see from us this year - members’ input is extremely valuable to us as we continue planning events. Please fill out a quick survey here: http://sjsusaasc.weebly.com/2018-fall-planning-survey.html or even just email us your ideas. I hope to see you next week! Sarah Thornton Chair, SAASC The Society of American Archivists Student Chapter would like to formally congratulate the incoming officers for the 2018-2019 academic year!
Please welcome: Chair - Sarah Thornton Vice-Chair - Courtney Hopkins Secretary - Anna Belle Peterson For all of you with archivist inclinations, please don't hesitate to get involved! SAASC is always looking for people to participate on our Events Team, Web Team, or to write an article for our online publication Archeota. Contact us at: [email protected]. Or check out our website: http://sjsusaasc.weebly.com/ |
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