Learn about the Advocacy Committee
Please visit our Resources Page for financial, professional development, and other resources for cultural heritage workers.
If you are unable to attend our meeting, you can vote by proxy via email. Please send an email to membership@nycarchivists.org by 5pm on June 18th, attaching the ballot sent to you by the ART Membership and Nominating Coordinator and including your full name. You must vote using the email address registered with your ART membership account.
Thank you to all, and good luck to our candidates!
Archives and Activism: Call for Participation
“The rebellion of the archivist against his normal role is not, as so many scholars fear, the politicizing of a neutral craft, but the humanizing of an inevitably political craft." -- Howard Zinn "Secrecy, Archives, and the Public Interest," Vol. II, No. 2 (1977) of Midwestern Archivist.
The boundaries between "archivist" and "activist" have become increasingly porous, rendering ready distinctions between archivists (traditionally restricted to the preservation of records, maintaining accountability, and making critical information available to the communities they serve) and activists (who, with greater frequency, look to archives or adopt elements of archival practice as a means of documenting their struggles) virtually unsustainable. In the past year, archivists and citizen activists collaborated to document the Occupy Wall Street movement, and archivists committed to open government worked with the New York City Council to advocate for keeping the Municipal Archives as an independent city agency. While the apparent convergence of archival and activist worlds may appear a timely and relevant topic, these distinct communities often deliberate their roles separately with little dialogue.
The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York and the New School Archives and Special Collections are sponsoring a symposium to bring together a diverse group of archivists, activists, students, and theorists with the aim of facilitating discussion of their respective concerns. Among its proposed topics, the symposium will address potential roles that archivists may engage in as activists, as well as how archivists can assume a greater role in documenting and contributing toward social and political change.
Possible areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: -Archivists documenting the work of activists and activist movements -Activists confronting traditional archival practice -Possible models for an emergent “activist archives” -Methodologies for more comprehensively documenting activism -Archivist and activist collaborations -Community-led archives and repositories operating outside of the archival establishment -Archives as sites of knowledge (re)production and in(ter)vention -Relational paradigms for mapping the interplay of power, justice, and archives -Critical pedagogy in the reference encounter -Interrogating preconceptions and misunderstandings that obscure common goals
Date: Friday, October 12, 2012 Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, The New SchoolAll individual presentations will be 20 minutes long (10 page paper).Submissions must include a title, name of author and institutional affiliation (if applicable), abstract (250 words max), and indication of technological requirements.Individual papers or entire panel proposals accepted. Deadline for Proposals: Proposals should be emailed to admin@nycarchivists.org by August 1, 2012.
The ART Advocacy Committee is helping disseminate information about the formation of the United States Chapter of Archivists without Borders (AwB-US), whose stated mission is currently to “unite archival professionals through education, outreach, and advocacy to support human rights, underrepresented populations, and endangered archives both in the United States and in collaboration with international chapters.”
The AwB-US organizing working group has posted the first phase of their founding documents online, and call upon the archives community to review and comment upon these documents. The first phase of the proposal, including background information and mission statement, are open for comments until June 1.
A second phase of the proposal, consisting of a statement of financial organization, goals, and membership qualifications, will be made available for comments beginning on June 1, 2012.
Documents are available for review and comment on the AwB-US website: http://awbuschapter.wordpress.com.
Nominations Open for ART Board Elections
Submitted by: ART Membership and Nominating Committee
ART's newest bylaws were accepted by member vote on May 10, 2012. A copy of the ART bylaws is available for download here. As a result of our new bylaws, Board positions have been amended to better support our organization (descriptions of all positions may be found in the bylaws).
This realignment coincides with our elections for this year-- please find listed below the Board positions available for the 2012-2013 election, along with their descriptions (all positions are for two-year terms, excepting the President, Director of Education Committee, and Director of Programming for this year only, which will be one year):
President
The President shall be the chief executive officer of ART and shall have general supervision over the business of the organization, subject, however, to the control of the Board. The President shall be the official spokesperson for ART. The President shall, if present, preside at all meetings of the Board; shall be an ex officio member of all committees; and, in general, shall perform all duties incident to the office of President and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Board.
Vice President
At the request of the President, or in the absence of the President, at the request of the Board, the Vice President shall perform all of the duties of the President and so acting shall have all the powers of and be subject to all restrictions upon the President. The Vice President shall solicit nominations for Director, officer and committee positions; inform the nominator and nominee of the nomination; prepare ballots with candidates’ biographies and statements; and appoint an independent election committee to receive and count the ballots. The Vice President shall serve as liaison with the President to national, regional and local professional associations; prepare a report for the Annual Business Meeting; and perform such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Board or by the President.
Director of the Communications Committee
The Director of the Communications Committee shall identify the communications requirements of ART; update and produce publications for ART, as needed, or as requested by the Board; communicate the concerns of ART on 9 various subjects as needed; and perform other duties applicable to the office as prescribed by the Board.
Director of the Outreach and Advocacy Committee
The Director of the Outreach and Advocacy Committee shall conduct outreach by coordinating community programs and promoting awareness of ART to other organizations and community groups, promote the archival profession to new audiences, advocate for the preservation and increased use of historical materials, and influence policy decisions that affect the archives profession.
Director of the Programming Committee
The Director Programming Committee shall recommend to the Board topics and venue locations for regular programs; distribute the notice of the program topics and venue locations to the Members; and make all arrangements for regular programs, including alternate arrangements, as necessary. The Programming Committee shall coordinate with other Members of ART to insure that at least one program per month will be offered between the months of September and June, or as otherwise determined by the Board.
Director of the Membership Committee
The Director of the Membership Committee shall encourage institutional and individual membership in ART; develop and update an orientation packet for new Members; collect and maintain personal information submitted by Members, and document the reasons Members have not renewed their membership.
Director of the Education Committee
The Director of the Education Committee shall determine the continuing educational needs of the archival community; make recommendations to the Board for both short-term and long-term projects for ART sponsorship; and propose topics and make arrangements for a minimum of three education programs annually. Education events may be offered in addition to the regular monthly or offered as the regular monthly program, but must be coordinated with the Programming Committee.
Secretary
The Secretary shall act as secretary of all meetings of the Board, and shall keep the minutes thereof; shall be custodian of the seal of ART and may seal with the seal of ART; shall have charge of the books, records and papers of ART relating to its organization and management as an organization, and shall see that the reports, statements and other documents required by law are properly kept and filed; shall manage the archives of the Archivists Round Table according to the Records Retention Policy and Schedule of the Corporation and shall, in general, perform all the duties incident to the office of Secretary and such other duties as from time to time may be assigned by the Board or by the President.
At this time, we would like to open nominations for the election to our members-- please contact us at membership@nycarchivists.org if you would like to nominate someone, including yourself, for a position on the Board, and that name will be included on the official ballot to be voted on at the annual business meeting in June. Serving on the ART Board offers numerous benefits, such as gaining leadership experience, the experience to manage committee projects, and most importantly serving as a representative for your colleagues and for ART membership.
If there are any questions about the open positions, or this year's election, feel free to contact the Membership and Nominating Committee at membership@nycarchivists.org.
ART's newest bylaws were accepted by member vote on May 10, 2012.
A copy of the ART bylaws is available for download here.
Photograph by Bradly Brown.
During her free time, Tiffany likes to attend music festivals and concerts. A native of Montreal, Quebec, she also enjoys traveling throughout the United States, and exploring New York City. ART members are encouraged to join the Advocacy Committee to work with Tiffany on future endeavors. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Tiffany at advocacy@nycarchivists.org.
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