Archives Month

October is Archives Month!

The Washington State Archives is celebrating Archives Month! This year’s theme is Washington’s Historical Bridges.

In honor of Archives Month, King County Archives has created a new online exhibit titled “The Bridges of King County Through the Lens of T.P. Blum, 1931-1934”. Blum, the County Bridge Engineer, took photographs of many bridges throughout King County as part of his work, and did so with an artist’s eye.

Please click here to enjoy this online exhibit!

Archives Fair Pics

Thanks to everyone who came to Seattle Area Archivists Archives Fair last week.  We had 11 repositories participate and over 100 fair-goers (by some estimates).  Some of those who stopped by to talk to archivists were just passing by and curious about what was going on, but others had specific questions they wanted to pose to the experts!  All in all, it was a successful event and we hope that next year will be even more so.  Thanks to Seattle Public Library for hosting the event and to Janette Gomes for organizing!

Here are a couple of photos from last week’s Archives Fair. Anyone have others to share?

Archives Fair

Archives Fair, Seattle Public Library

Archives Fair

Archives Fair, Seattle Public Library

October 30th Action Alert: Virtual Advocacy Day, Preserving the American Historical Record

Please pass this message along to help raise awareness about this very important issue that affects archival repositories both in this state, and throughout the whole country.  See the Preserving the American Historical Record (PAHR) website for more info.  The letter below is from Kathleen Roe, Chair of the PAHR Task Force:

“As the budget axe falls for many of us, and as Archives Month reminds us of the need for support and awareness of archives, it’s time to make a big push for PAHR.

Here’s the situation: We have 42 sponsors in the House, but we need to have at least 50, better 60-70, for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to be willing to take it up on their agenda as a serious piece of legislation. Only four more sponsors came in after the SAA/CoSA annual meeting, although we plugged, pushed, and pleaded with many, many people.

So the PAHR Task Force has decided to hold a Virtual Advocacy Day on October 30th–see the attached materials describing what we are calling the “Fright Fest for PAHR”. Please work with your State Historical Records Advisory Board, your friends group, your researchers, or any other groups and individuals on whom you can call to help us with this effort. If we can’t get the additional sponsors we need by December, our ability to move this bill during this Congressional session will truly be in jeopardy.

Attached is an announcement you can circulate, as well as materials to make this easier for you/your constituents to do including a sample letter, talking points for calls/visits, and tips on making calls/visits. Adapt them as needed–If you need more or different, contact me.

If you can’t move letters, and particularly calls and visits on that day, please do so within one to two weeks. Members will be in the holiday season rush-to-get-done mode soon after–we have to do this now. Times really are getting frightening for all of us in state government archives–now, more than ever, we need to take action to change the status of our resources at the federal level.

What more can I say? Is there more we can do to help you or your constituents? Please contact me or any members of the PAHR Task Force if you have questions or need help.

Kathleen Roe, Chair, PAHR Task Force

PAHR Task Force members:
CoSA: Vicki Walch, David Carmicheal, Karl Niederer
NAGARA: Jelain Chubb, Tracey Berezansky
SAA: Steve Hensen, Sue Hodson, Ben Primer, Nancy Beaumont”

Archives Fair!

Please join us for the annual Seattle Archives Fair on October 30th, 2009, at the Seattle Public Library’s Central Branch. The Fair will run from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the 10th level, near the Library’s Hugh and Jane Ferguson Seattle Room. If your organization includes an archives collection that is open to the public and you would like to participate in the fair, table space will be available for display boards and literature. The Library also has Wi-Fi if you would like to bring your laptop to show off your repository’s Web site. Display space is limited, so please contact Janette Gomes at janette.gomes@kingcounty.gov or 206-205-1398 as soon as possible to reserve a table. We look forward to seeing you there!