In 2021, the research study titled “Everybody is Welcomed, Everybody is Needed: Using Archives in Interdisciplinary K-12 Teaching and Learning” placed a call in the SeArch newsletter for archivists’ perspectives on teaching with archival materials on topics related to Climate Change. As a pilot study, the doctoral student researcher, Itza Carbajal, sought to identify and assess the role archival records play in K-12 education specifically when discussing and highlighting issues regarding environmental change and perceptions on the Climate Crisis. For Environmental Change or Climate Change discussions present day realities that continue to surprise, shock, disappoint, and scare many of us drove the researcher to explore the use of the past to understand these current reactions, emotions, and behaviors. Also given the researcher’s focus on youth and records, there existed a desire to help young people like those in K-12 educational settings better understand today’s realities as a result of past decisions while also acknowledging that the future can be different. Through the use of historic records, young people may be able to better grasp their inheritance of life that they are by no means entitled to but rather are gifted with and expected to treat with care and respect.

The pilot study included a survey distributed to Washington based archivists as well as 1 on 1 semi-structured interviews with high school students, educators, and archivists. Preliminary survey results from a small pool of 11 Washington based respondents showed a positive inclination from archivists towards K-12 education with at least 50% agreeing that archival records functioned as useful K-12 teaching tools. Others expressed curiosity but no notable confirmation of usefulness perhaps due to lack of experiences in this area or notable barriers. Some shared barriers included limited staff resources such as time and instructional expertise as well as new or not yet established relationships with K-12 educators. Despite these hurdles, archivists also recognize the immense potential of using archives as primary sources in educational pursuits from an increase in student research skills, enrichment of learning experiences as well as a gained appreciation of historic records and hopefully the people and institutions that maintain these resources.

Today’s newsletter post hopes to provide a brief update on the results from that study as well as disclose the limited reach the initial pilot had. Due to several pandemic related challenges including limited access to formal educational institutions and students, the research pilot study did not adequately answer some of the researcher’s primary questions. Now as the researcher gears up to finalize their dissertation, pilot study results and setbacks influenced a number of project design choices and possibilities moving forward. In the coming months, the researcher will be seeking archival and educational partners with a focus on joining either existing or emerging partnerships, specifically those existing in informal learning environments like after school activities or local competitions. More information on the call for project partners will be provided in next month’s SeArch newsletter. If you would like more information now, you can reach out to Itza Carbajal at itzac@uw.edu

By Patti Thibodeau

After exploring the museum itself and a behind the scenes tour, were the 2 days of sessions beginning with a session from the University of Washington with a discussion on the accessibility of digital games, setting the tone for a series of thought-provoking presentations. Jonas Rosland’s session, “More Than Just Code,” reminded everyone that preserving games is about more than just the software—it’s about the stories and experiences they encapsulate.

The Video Games Foundation presented on their paper “87 Percent At Risk”, a wake-up call, revealing that a staggering 87% of games released in the US are now out of print. This statistic underscored the urgency of the preservation efforts. Chris Hatala’s talk on fan-driven ROM hacking highlighted the incredible contributions of fan communities, while Garrett Burke’s session on the heritage of video game packaging brought a nostalgic touch, reminding us of the tangible aspects of gaming history.

As the symposium progressed, a recurring theme emerged: there is work being done at the academic and non-profit levels, however legal and intellectual property issues were identified as major roadblocks, preventing the sharing of assets at the studio level thus necessitating work to be done at the level of the creative.

Engaging sessions on emulation, ROM hacking, and solutions for preserving massively multiplayer online games provided valuable insights. A key takeaway was the importance of retaining the cultural context of games, including marketing assets, packaging, and supplementary content. This holistic approach ensures that future generations can fully appreciate the gaming experiences of the past.

The Save the Games Symposium was a fantastic reminder that preserving video games is not just about saving code—it’s about saving culture, memories, and the joy of gaming for future generations. As the event wrapped up, attendees left with a renewed sense of purpose and a wealth of knowledge, ready to level up their preservation efforts.

Interview Questionnaire for Seattle Area Archivists for Gergana Abernathy

Gergana Dimitrova Abernathy is a Seattle-based archivist with 10+ years of experience working in special collections and private archives. She is currently serving as the project archivist for the Paul Dorpat Collection at The Seattle Public Library. During this two-year project, which started in August 2023, she aims to process, preserve and make available the extensive assortment of photographic materials in all formats, research files, ephemera and much more donated by local historian, author and photographer Paul Dorpat.

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Questions:

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What sparked your interest in the archival profession?

My mother worked at a library across the street from my elementary school in Bulgaria. Every day after school, I’d get into library nonsense – books, records and tapes, card catalogs, the kid’s section, visiting her coworkers’ offices. It was a second home for me, and as I grew up with many ambitions for careers, ultimately, I realized libraries and archives were always going to be the place for me.

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Can you share a memorable experience or project you’ve worked on?

One of my favorite parts of the job is not knowing what new information I’ll learn over the course of a project. Since starting work on the Dorpat Collection, I’ve learned a lot about downtown Seattle buildings, how to build custom glass plate negative sink mats for broken plates, and which adapters to use for 30-40-year-old hard drives.

One of my favorite projects I’ve worked on is digitizing rare materials for University of North Carolina’s Special Collections including letters by Edgar Allan Poe, Leon Trotsky, and Langston Hughes. 

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What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to those new to the field?

Try to spend time finding opportunities to expose yourself to various aspects of archives like acquisition, processing, reference, and preservation. Find out what you really enjoy doing and if you want to specialize in any specific area. There are lots of ways to be an archivist, so explore them all! And join a union! 

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Outside of work, what are some of your hobbies or passions?

I am always learning how to do new things. Over the years I’ve picked up wall weaving, cross stitching, digital art, birding, kayaking, and learning new languages. I do whatever looks fun to me!

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Are there any particular topics within archiving that you’re keen to explore further?

I think it’s been pretty clear that putting things on the internet does not, in fact, last forever. It’s actually quite a dire situation for preserving political and cultural resources. Companies are selling publications for scrap parts, resulting in huge losses to our digital history. Most recently, the MTV News website closed down, taking with it its entire 30-year archive, which notably hosted vast historical hip-hop content. The same company has likewise shut down the CMT, home of extensive country music journalism, all Daily Show and Colbert Report clips from the past 25 years and others. In 2018, Freedom of the Press partnered with Archive-It to launch an archival collection focusing on preserving “Threatened Outlets” before they are taken down or manipulated.

As most information bypasses a physical medium, digital preservation, particularly preservation of online content, is imperative to fund and build. The burden on the Internet Archive to be the sole platform for internet preservation is significant and they are facing major concentrated efforts to destabilize it, including lawsuits from publishers and DDoS attacks. 

It is especially pertinent to provide access to primary sources with the prevalence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) mis- and dis-information circulating regularly in online spaces.

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What’s the most challenging aspect of being an archivist, and how do you navigate it?

For me, it can be the swing between tedium and intellectually challenging work not matching up to my mood that day. Some days, I don’t have the mental capacity to do the intellectually demanding work of reading, researching, writing, and arranging materials. Other days, the banality of rehousing or spreadsheet work has me longing for a complicated box. It helps to have multiple projects or parts of projects to do so I can focus on what task is the right fit for me that day while still moving projects forward. 

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What’s a common misconception people have about your job?

The most common remarks I get are that people don’t actually know what an archivist is, what we do or that it’s a job at all. I usually bring up the National Archives because that’s sort of common knowledge (thanks, National Treasure!) and then explain that one needs people in order to have an archive. For those who do know what archives are, I find that there’s an underestimation for how much time and effort goes into preserving, processing and providing content. 

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What’s one archive or collection you wish more people knew about?

The Tatreez Archive is a crowd-sourced archive for traditional Palestinian embroidery motifs to preserve Palestinian identity across generations. Those submitting motifs can add context by specifying the villages or cities, themes, history, or other aspects of life that the motif represents. The motifs are traditionally passed down from mothers to daughters and can vary widely to tell specific stories in the design. Tatreez is recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and reminds me of the many cultures who use textile arts, mostly created by women, for storytelling, community and identity, such as the Hmong’s Paj Ntaub needlework, the deep history of Black and Indigenous quilters in America*, and my own Bulgarian culture’s embroidery practices. 
*Check out the recently acquired quilt “Home of Good: A Black Seattle Storyquilt” by Storme Webber, a Two Spirit Sugpiaq/Black/Choctaw poet and interdisciplinary artist, at the Douglass-Truth library branch!

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Gergana working on the Dorpat Collection. Photo by Sean Lanksbury.

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Want to participate in the Seattle Archivist Highlight? Introduce yourself to this wonderful community, share your thoughts and stories!

By Libby Hopfauf

Processing audiovisual materials can be intimidating. It requires specialized expertise, antiquated equipment, and hard-to-come-by funding. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Understanding what you have and how to care for it will empower you to make informed decisions on how to proceed.

As part of the Northwest Archivists (NWA) 2024 conference (held May 8-10 at the Historic Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington), Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS) and the University of Washington Libraries (UW Libraries) taught AV102, the second in a community archiving educational workshops series devoted to training professionals in the care and preservation of our region’s visual heritage. The workshop was geared towards those unfamiliar with audiovisual materials or seeking a refresher on working with these collections but ready to learn the practical application of audiovisual best practices and workflows.  

In 2023, MIPoPS and UW Libraries began teaching AV101, the entry-level course in the series. This workshop was designed to teach archivists, librarians, and heritage professionals with audiovisual materials in their collections to identify formats, make basic condition assessments, advocate for funding, talk to vendors, determine costs, develop preservation plans, and create access using simple DIY techniques. The first workshop was part of the 2023 NWA conference in Salem, Oregon. The creation and implementation of this workshop series were made possible, in part, by funding from 4Culture and support from the Washington State Historical Society. 

Building on AV101, AV102 covered format basics and risk factors in an abbreviated introduction before delving into practical application. Participants rotated between stations for film, videotape, and audiotape to learn various methods and techniques, including detailed inspection and appraisal of 16mm film, digital preservation basics (such as generating checksums and bagging files), adjusting audio cassette azimuth for proper sound quality, physical repair of videotapes, and videotape deck (VCR) cleaning. At each station, an instructor provided demonstrations to small groups, followed by the opportunity for participants to try it out themselves. 

The goal of AV102 was for participants to walk away from the workshop armed with resources and techniques to help them care for their audiovisual collections and serve as the foundation for developing sustainable in-house workflows. Fourteen archivists from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington participated in the workshop, and interest was expressed in MIPoPS and UW Libraries teaching a more extended version of the seminar at regional archives. If your institution is interested in hosting or if you would like to attend a free AV101 or AV102 workshop, please contact info@mipops.org.