Learn about the Advocacy Committee
The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (ART) is offering three scholarships, each in the amount of $175, to help students, archivists, librarians, and others with archives or records management responsibilities attend the NEA/A.R.T Spring Meeting in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22-24, 2018, with the theme “Rise Up” focusing on concepts of archival advocacy.
Please see the announcement for more information about scholarship eligibility, application requirements, scholarship selection, and fund distribution. All application materials must be received by 5 p.m. on November 1, 2017.
Last night the Advocacy Committee's event "Endangered Archives" took place at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Douglas Cox, Professor and International Law Librarian at CUNY School of Law, gave a wonderful talk on archives, archivists, and international conflict. To see more from Mr. Cox check out his article in The American Archivist entitled, "National Archives and International Conflicts: The Society of American Archivists and War."
Endangered Archives was an event in honor of International Archives Day. The International Council on Archives mapped events from all over the world to mark the significance of this very important day.
Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017 was passed by the House on April 26, 2017.
The bill amends federal copyright law, which will limit the authority of the Librarian of Congress. To date, the Librarian has been solely responsible for selecting the Register of Copyrights. The bill will open up the process to Congressional leadership to recommend candidates, who are then nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Visit Congress.gov for further information about this bill.
The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (ART) is comprised of individuals who recognize the importance of equality, diversity, and inclusion both in our profession and in our communities. We believe regardless of our various social and political opinions, we can come together, democratically, as an inclusive and informed citizenry ensuring a core value that rejects any acts of hate, discrimination, and intimidation.
ART strongly opposes any opposes any executive orders, regulations, bills and legislation that limits access to information, undermines preservation of government records, compromises privacy rights and confidentiality, and discriminates or persecutes individuals or groups.
It is the mission of ART to be a unifying voice and to report on local, state, national, and international issues that impact archives and archivists. We will continue to stay informed of relevant policies and legislation, and to provide resources and knowledge that can be used to strengthen the archival community, its repositories, and the public at large.
Sincerely,
The Board of the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc.
(Sent to ART membership on April 11, 2017)
Please see the links below for information and ways to contact your elected representatives.
American Historical Association (AHA) Action Alert
Information about the proposed cuts & suggestions for contacting your representatives
National Humanities Alliance
Information about the proposed cuts, a form for sending a message
to your elected representatives, and an opportunity to sign up to receive updates.
The Board of Directors
Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc.
Congress has reached a bipartisan agreement to continue to fund NEH, NEA, and IMLS through the remainder of 2017. This is great news, our voices we heard! However, there is still much uncertainty surrounding the FY 2018 budget. We should continue to take action to prevent any future cuts to funding.
For more information please read the National Humanities Alliance's statement.
The Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. strongly opposes the Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposed by the Trump Administration. The proposed budget eliminates funding for National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and National Heritage Areas program at the National Park Service. Elimination of these agencies and programs would greatly undercut the work of archivists and places preservation and access of records in peril.
Check out Rachel Mattson's piece Police-Worn Body Camera Footage: A Public Record? on the Issues & Advocacy Section (I&A) of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) Archivists on the Issues blog.
A.R.T. has also weighed in on this issue, our advocacy action on the subject can be found here.
Yesterday, Nancy Beaumont released the SAA Council’s statement concerning the recent executive order restricting entry in the United States.
"January 31, 2017—The Society of American Archivists strongly opposes the discriminatory executive order, issued by the Trump Administration on Friday, January 27, 2017, that restricts entry into the United States by individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States" directly affects members of our community with whom we work and serve, including archival colleagues, students, faculty, researchers, donors, and their families."
Read the full statement here.
News broke this morning that the in-coming Trump Administration has a budget blueprint that proposes the elimination of NEH, along with other cultural agencies, and a major downsizing of others.
This news has elicited great concern from the humanities community, and it is undoubtedly time to rally support for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
That said, this blueprint is not an official proposal. The Trump Administration will be shaping its budget request over the coming months with broad input and we look forward to an opportunity to demonstrate the value of federal funding for NEH.
We are also heartened by Republican support in Congress, which has been strong over the past few years. Indeed, Republican-controlled appropriations committees have supported increases for both NEA and NEH for the past two fiscal years. More broadly, many Republicans have opposed far more minor cuts to the agency.
Consistently, Members of Congress have been compelled by advocacy that points out that:
We ask you now to send a message to your Members of Congress and the President-Elect to make clear that you, as a constituent, value the humanities.
Going Forward
Going forward, we will call on you again as the Congressional appropriations process for FY 2018 begins.
We also encourage you to join us for our Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day on March 13th and 14th. Our goal is for constituents to visit Members of Congress from all 50 states to ensure that Congress serves as a stopgap to any efforts to defund NEH.
Finally, we encourage you to spread word on social media. The more advocates receiving our alerts, the stronger our collective impact!
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