Nicole H. Garrett

This year, the Michigan Archival Association met in Marshall, Mich.  The conference was held at Schuler’s Restaurant June 24-25.   I spoke again, with this year’s focus on the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial.

All of the sessions I went to were very informative.  I attended sessions on DSpace, The Archivist Toolkit vs. Achron, and Documenting the Undocumented.

I had never heard of DSpace prior to the conference and was amazed to learn how many institutions use it.  It’s great to have an open source digital asset manager, but I hope they improve the public interface.  Currently, everything looks muddled and is difficult to search through.  It made me thankful that the Archives of Michigan uses CONTENTdm and has been able to customize it so heavily.

As an archivist, I’ve heard The Archivists Toolkit and Achron around on listservs and such, but never had a clear idea of what they do and how they differ.  The presenters at MAA did a great job breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of each and showing how both make an archivists job much easier.  It was very cool to see software developed specifically for archives and I hope to use either of these programs (or something new!) in the future.

Documenting the Undocumented was a very fun session about how archivists are collecting materials on populations that are left out of most histories.  The presenters discussed (1) Circus and Carnival Performers,  (2) Minority Student Groups at Michigan State University (my alma mater!), and (3) Minority groups in Boston.  The talk on circus performers was very interesting and I learned new things about a fascinating topic.   The “professional” lesson I took away from this session was (1) visuals are very important and (2) don’t talk too fast!

Giving my presentation

The session I spoke in was, of course, first in the program.  I discussed the various Civil War collections that the Archives of Michigan is uploading onto Seeking Michigan.  These collections include Civil War service records, manuscripts, and photographs.  The service records and photographs are already uploaded and I am currently working on the manuscripts.  Stay tuned for my progress!

I also took a few tours while at the conference.  The Local Arrangements were a little disorganized, but I was able to see everything I signed up for.  The tour included visits to the Magic Museum, GAR Hall, and the Postal Museum.  Of the three, the Postal Museum was my favorite.  I went in thinking it would be really boring, but it turned out to be really interesting.  I think part of that is we all use the mail and thus, have a personal connection to draw us in.  Plus, the curator there is VERY enthusiastic and his enthusiasm spreads quickly.  I should also note it was the only museum with air conditioning, so that may have played a factor as well. 

Group outside of the GAR Museum

All in all, the conference was another great experience.  I am feeling much more comfortable with public speaking and it’s really fun to reconnect with archivists from across the state.  I met new people, saw old friends, and had a blast.

Next up–NAGARA in 2 weeks!

No Comments » Posted by Nicole / Blog Post

I just returned home from the Michigan Archival Association (MAA) Conference held in Mackinac City, Michigan.  This my first time attending an MAA conference and my first time presenting at any professional conference.  The last time I gave a presentation was in college, so it was a little nerve wracking.  At least this time I wasn’t graded!

I attended sessions on odd reference requests and do-it-yourself exhibits.  Both were very interesting and informative.  We don’t work with the media too often at the Archives of Michigan, so it was interesting to hear from institutions that the media frequently contacts.  The do-it-yourself exhibits session was particularly well done.  The presenters explored designing descriptive panels, borrowing artifacts from museums to compliment archival material, and exporting physical exhibits to the web.  They all provided step-by-step hand outs, so I’m excited to dig a bit and play around with the concepts.

I gave my presentation on the “Thank God for Michigan” Project that I am working on at the Archives of Michigan.  People seemed very interested in the project, so my presentation must have at least kept most of the audience awake!  I write a blog about the project, available here .  I try to update it fairly often (I’m much better about that one than my blog here!).  I’ll also write more about my projects at the Archives of Michigan in a new post.

Greg Kinney from the Bentley Historical Library also spoke at my session.  He announced that DLPS (from the University of Michigan) is interested in beginning a Michigan EAD consortium with all EAD guides hosted on their servers free of charge.  The Archives of Michigan was the first institution offered this free license for the “Thank God For Michigan” Project and I’m really excited to part of this pilot project.

This was MAA 50th Anniversary and I was glad to be a part of it.  Aside from doing well on my presentation, my other goal was to become more involved in this organization.  Everyone was very friendly and I am planning on joining the program committee for next year’s conference in Marshall, Michigan.

No Comments » Posted by Nicole / Blog Post