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March 27th Meeting
Wrestling with the Backlog: Implementing Greene-Meissner in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University
The implementation of Greene-Meissner processing in established institutions has not been without controversy. Questions surrounding description, workflow, access, and a direct challenge to “the way it’s always been done” are shared among institutions embracing this revolutionary approach to processing. This talk will focus on the implementation of Greene-Meissner to organizational archives as well as to manuscript collections at Columbia’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the challenges inherent in the initiative, the flexibility afforded processing priorities in the unit, and the successes experienced in making more collections accessible in relatively short periods of time.

Susan Hamson was appointed Curator of Manuscripts and University Archivist in October 2006 after serving as Director of the University Archives and Columbiana Library since December 2004. In this position she oversees the management and stewardship of one of the largest and most distinguished manuscript collections in North America, including the Columbia University Archives and human rights collections; she also directs the RBML's technical services that includes an ambitious processing and legacy finding aid project. She is chair of the Committee for Library and Information Professionals at Columbia, and founded the Columbia Archivists Roundtable, which seeks to promote professional development and interaction among Columbia's professional archival community.

Susan comes to this position with more than 10 years of progressive experience in non- profit historical organizations and academic and research libraries managing archive collections. Before coming to Columbia, she served as the project director for the Princeton University Archives Processing Project. She coordinated the processing of some 1000 linear feet of the University's archives and served as part of the three-person team that spearheaded the implementation of EAD for Special Collections at Princeton.

Susan has also held positions at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Photographic Archives. Ms. Hamson has taught and lectured on American and world history and continues to publish on topics in women's history. She is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archivists Conference, for which she served as Associate Editor for the Mid-Atlantic Archivist for six years, the Society of American Archivists, the American Historical Association, and the New York Archivists Roundtable. She has a B.A. in Historical Studies from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and received her M.A. in American History from Rutgers University.

Date: Thursday, March 27, 2008

Time: Social - 5:30 - 6:30 pm ; Program - 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Place: Columbia University International Affairs Building
420 W 118th St., 7th Floor Lindsay Rogers Room
Directions: By Subway/bus: Subway 1 to Columbia University; Bus M4, M5, M11, M60
Member fee: 5$
Non-member fee: 7$
RSVP: Leilani Dawson by Friday, March 21, 2008 ldawson@brooklynhistory.org (recommended) or telephone: (718) 222-4111 x295. Please be reasonably sure that you can attend before responding.
If you are person with a disability and need reasonable accommodations to attend this meeting, please contact Vanessa Cameron at veep@nycarchivists.org at least 7 days in advance so that we can make the appropriate arrangements.