Society of American Archivists - UT Student Chapter

Society of American Archivists
University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter

Annual Report 1999-2000

The school year ending in May 2000 witnessed a dynamic, growing student chapter engaged in a number of professional and social activities. The Executive Board guiding the chapter consisted of:

President, Sarah Canby Jackson
Vice President, Mary McKay (Fall) and Maribeth Kobza Betton (Spring)
Treasurer, Matthew S. Darby
Secretary, Sarah Ziebell Mann
Events Chair, Mimi Dionne (Fall) and Mike Strom (Spring)
Web Page, Astrid Stimac

The Executive Board began to plan for an Archives Week Celebration in May 1999 and continued to work on the event throughout the summer. Originally conceived as a scheme to put banners on archival repositories in Austin, Archives Week soon mushroomed into an entire week of activities that spread the word about archives from as far away as Katmandu, Nepal, to as close as the West Mall on the University of Texas campus. The activities were financed with a monetary gift from Metal Edge, Inc., the donation of 1200 posters from K&M Graphics in Dallas, and the sale of "Archives - Worth Fighting For!" t-shirts.

The momentum developed while working on Archives Week continued throughout the year. An increased, enthusiastic, and participating membership fueled a number of highly successful activities including semester potluck dinners, career oriented programs, and social gatherings. The student members of the Society of American Archivists at the University of Texas during the 1999 - 2000 school year certainly dispelled the stereotypical view of archivists as mole-like creatures pouring over dusty documents.

The Executive Board implemented several changes during the past year:

Membership procedures were streamlined. A packet including all necessary membership applications is now provided to prospective members. After completing the local and national applications, the student writes one check, gives the entire packet to our treasurer, and the local chapter forwards all appropriate materials with a single check to the national headquarters. This procedure assures that all members are national SAA members and I believe resulted in a 75% increase in membership.

The Executive Board cultivated an informed, involved membership. Due to the number and complexity of the activities during the past year, participation by chapter members became absolutely essential. Executive Board meetings were held frequently and were open and well publicized with the minutes posted to the student listserv. Joining the chapter student listserv soon became an essential component of participation in the archives program at UT. Announcements of chapter activities were also made at the beginning of each of Dr. Gracy's classes.

The chapter promoted activities relating to the professional needs of students. Perceiving a void in career guidance with the loss of our longtime placement director, the chapter sponsored activities geared toward student job placement. An informational meeting concerning internships highlighting past student experiences was held in November. This summer four students won placement in internships in institutions other than those in Austin. We also held a career fair with three local archivists who had recently conducted searches for new employees. The archivists critiqued resumes, discussed application procedures, and conducted an interesting question and answer session. In addition, Kris Kiesling very graciously held an afternoon EAD workshop for SAA members using X-Metal at the IT lab at GSLIS.

The Executive Board determined to raise money to expand our activities. During the Spring 1999 semester, a new t-shirt was designed that has proven to be a great money-maker. The treasurer did an outstanding job of marketing the t-shirts and filling orders. T-shirt sales grossed approximately $1500 during the past year.

A concerted effort to reach out to the local archivists and involve them in the chapter activities was made by the Executive Board. Local archivists were invited to join the student listserv thereby providing real world advice to issues raised by students. They were also invited to the end of Archives Week Happy Hour and the First Annual San Jacinto Day Picnic. Members of the student chapter compiled an alumni list of archives students in April 2000 from Dr. Gracy's class lists. Over fifty invitations were mailed to alumni for our end of the year party. The effort to reach alumni has been mildly successful. The groundwork for outreach has been laid. Future participation will increase as the current membership perceives a continuing niche for them in the organization.

A List of the Activities:

September 1999

Fall Potluck Picnic at Deep Eddy Park -- 25 participants including the new Dean.
Tour of the David O. Selznik Collection and Film Archives at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.

October 11-15 - Archives Week - "Archives ~ Worth Fighting For!"

Organized and distributed approximately 1000 posters to archivists in Texas, primarily Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Houston.
Manned an information booth on the West Mall for 2 hours during lunch Monday through Friday. Distributed information on archives in general and archival repositories in Austin in particular.
Purchased and hung a permanent banner across the 21^st Bridge between the Business School and the University Teaching Center.
Developed a web site to inform the public about archives and archives week.
Monday - Dr. Gracy spoke on Fakes, Facsimiles and Forgeries at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center.
Tuesday - Sarah Canby Jackson participated in a panel discussion concerning archives with Chris LaPlant, State Archivist, Kinga Perzynska, Catholic Archives, and Mark Duffy, Episcopal Archives at the local ARMA meeting.
Tuesday night - Greg Lukow spoke at a well attended public colloquia, "From Silver Reclamation to Asset Protection: Moving Image Preservation and the Historiography of an Emerging Profession." Refreshments including popcorn and movie candy were provided by the chapter.
Wednesday - Grey Lukow spoke to Dr. Gracy's Introduction to Archives and Manuscripts class.
Thursday - The Student Chapter enjoyed a dinner with Susan Fox, Executive Director of the Society of American Archivists.
Friday - Tired archives students participated in a rousing, well-earned happy hour at the historic Scholtz Beir Garten. The history of the Texas Archives War was enthusiastically told by Dr. Gracy.

November 1999

Susan Box spoke to the chapter on Corporate Archives and continued her discussion over dinner. The following day she spoke to the Introduction to Archives and Manuscripts class.
Bowling night in conjunction with GLISSA.
Chapter program discussing student internships with Mary McKay and Mimi Dionne sharing their experiences at Yale and the Historic New Orleans Collection from the previous summer.

January 2000

Potluck dinner at Dr. Gracy's proved to be the largest turn out for any January dinner with 25 people in attendance.
Mark Duffy, Alison Beck, and Katherine Fox conducted a panel discussion concerning the current job market for archivists. This very well attended program had approximately 20 students in attendance.

February 2000

Kris Kiesling conducted a four hour afternoon EAD workshop.

March 2000

SAA Bowling at the Student Union.
Out of town field trip to the NARA facility in Fort Worth.

April 2000

First Annual San Jacinto Day Picnic [April 21] took place on the hill overlooking the LBJ fountain surrounded by the LBJ Presidential Library, the Center for American History, and the Benson Latin American Collection. Dr. Gracy entertained the picnickers with tales of the Twin Sisters, the Yellow Rose of Texas, and the Battle of San Jacinto.

May 2000

Potluck end of the year party with 45 participants including student members, guests, faculty, and alumni.

Respectfully submitted,

Sarah Canby Jackson
President, 1999-2000
SAA Student Chapter, University of Texas at Austin

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Society of American Archivists - University of Texas at Austin Student Chapter
E-mail: saa@ischool.utexas.edu