PEA Recruitment Drive

I just noticed that the last post was from over 1 year ago!  And that is why I am posting today: PEA seeks new members.  Over the past 2 years PEA has provided a platform for students and new professionals in archives to meet, chat and engage one another in discussion relevant to the profession.  We have had a lot of fun too, but in the midst of the fun and the inevitable getting-of-jobs it has become apparent that PEA needs more members and more students!

Here's the strategy moving forward:

-Regular monthly or quarterly meetings that provide a social anchor to archives in Portland
-Annual or twice yearly events coordinated by members
-Leveraging GoogleGroups, Facebook and other webtech to keep each other informed of opportunities and to make connections.

Sound fun?  Interesting?  Here's a little about PEA as we have been:

-Member-driven.  Even though PEA was started out of research conducted by Pete Asch (Oregon Jewish Museum) and Max Johnson (Multnomah County) it would not have gotten off of the ground without support from the steering members Jenn Keyser (Oregon Historical Society), Chris Fuller and Jenny Mundy (Multnomah County).  Furthermore without the assistance of Crystal Rodgers (City of Portland, Oregon Health & Science University, UW-Milwaukee), Katrina O'Brien (Museum of Speed) and Bryce Henry (Portland State University - Capital Projects and Construction) we would not have had such a successful second year.  This is all to say that individual members and their ideas are what drive PEA.  We are interested in getting back into a mode that fosters different members providing programming at different times based on interest and opportunity.  Not only does this grow the experience of the individual member, but provides valuable learning opportunities for the rest of the membership.

-Socially-oriented.  We frequently meet to just catch-up, see what others are up to and get suggestions for new projects and occasionally hear about new positions in the area.

-Innovative.  Our events have included a tour of a local Norwegian historical society, a group viewing of a presentation on Activism in Archives, a micro-conference designed to bring NWA sessions to Portland residents who were unable to attend the conference and lastly we did some practical volunteering as archivists for some local groups.

So, if any this sounds interesting and you would like to be notified of upcoming events, please send an email to Max Johnson (johnsonxm [at] gmail [dot] com) and I will add you to the GoogleGroup.  You can also find us on Facebook.

Cheers,
Max

Student Mixer - April 13th

The Portland Emerging Archivists is proud to announce our next event in 2013, a student mixer!  This informal gathering will serve to connect distance students in the Portland-area with other students and recently minted archivists.  Our goal is fostering communication, growth and interaction in Portland, in Oregon and in the Pacific Northwest in general, and we occasionally do tours, hold mini-conferences and host discussions on various topics in the archives world.

So if you have an hour or two and want to chat about archives and network with professionals in the area, then please stop on by!  Details below:

When:  April 13th, 2013 - 5pm
Where: MoMo's (725 SW 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97205)
***NOTE: We are going to be gathering at the back patio***
RSVP: Requested to johnsonxm [at] gmail [dot] com

We are also going to be sending out event invites through Facebook, so please go check us out on FB!

2013 Steering Meeting rundown

We had an excellent meeting on Sunday discussing some of the events for 2013, the timelines and some rough outlines.

We went through 2012's events and talked about what worked, what didn't and what we enjoyed.  There was a general consensus that the mini-conference in June was hugely successful and something in that vein would be interesting in 2013.  In addition, we had a lot of positive feedback about GSU Archives panel viewing and discussion.  Everyone liked the tour of the Grieg Library.

For 2013 we are looking at these events:

April  - Student mixer - Weekend (most likely a non-class weekend for ESU students).  We hadn't done one of these in 2012 and thought it would be a good idea to get folks together for a midday drink and conversation.

June - Mini-conference - We have some volunteers and speakers willing to discuss e-records, digital repositories and the structure of the Internet.

August - Tour - Location/details undecided.  We have some ideas we are floating around, but nothing concrete.

October - Archives Month - We are looking at several ideas for Archives Month, including a brochure and perhaps an events calendar highlighting the activities taking place in Portland.

Other business - We are going to host a student/new professional resource on job searching, resume writing, graduate education funding and more.  The resource was created by Josh Zimmerman of Seattle Area Archivists and an excellent one-stop for links to many relevant articles and resources for students and recent graduates.

We are looking at a Facebook Page in order to provide an easily-accessible hub for sending out blog posts and other news.  In relation to that we are also exploring creating a website.

We plan on having details for each event available on this blog at least 2 weeks beforehand, if not more.

If you are interested in supporting one of these events, or have ideas for making them happen, please let me know.

Best regards,
Max

Steering meeting - Feb 24th, Noon to 2pm+

The steering event for 2013 will be at the Fuel Bistro & Coffee Bar on NE 14th and Alberta.

Details:
When:  February 24th, Noon to 2pm +
Where:  1452 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211

Due to the flexible nature of PEA we are hoping to outline a basic idea for the year and determine a schedule for events.  We are hoping to have people interested in putting on events bring their ideas and discuss how we can bring them to fruition.

RSVP requested to: johnsonxm [at] gmail [dot] com

Best,
Max

Activism and Archives recap

Great event tonight and excellent way to kick off the New Year for PEA!

We were able to watch the GSU Archives video on Activism and Archives despite earlier "technical issues."

The panel was stimulating and touched on themes ranging from donor relations, trust, collaboration, advocacy and community outreach.  Following the video we had a good discussion on aspects of archivists' relationships to activism, communities and advocacy.  The discussion brought in viewpoints from all levels of archives, records management and library work for a dynamic and multifaceted exchange.

Special thanks to Crystal Rodgers for suggesting and organizing the material for tonight and introducing the Georgia State University Archives and providing background on their collections.

Special thanks to Anne Prahl and Pete Asch of the Oregon Jewish Museum for hosting the event.

And of course, special thanks to the members of PEA.

After the discussion we briefly talked about steering and programming for 2013, I'll send out an email in the next week or so and we'll set a time for a group meeting to talk about interests and projects moving forward.

Ideas, suggestions and proposals are always welcome.

UPDATE: Tonight, PEA Event - change in video

A quick update to advises everyone that currently GSU is experiencing an issue that does not allow the video to play. We will instead show an alternate video that is available through another source, here is a short blurb on this panel: "This panel discussion featuring Jenna Freedman, Alana Kumbier, Kate Eichorn, and moderator Emily Drabinski was recorded on September 23, 2011 during Activism & the Academy: Celebrating 40 Years of Feminist Scholarship & Action, a conference in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Barnard Center for Research on Women." All apologies for the last minute change in video, however we hope that this video will be equally as interesting and generate discussions on Portland-related archives themes. We still plan on showing the GSU panel as soon as the situation resolves.

Event: Activism in Archives Symposium

Happy holidays everyone!  PEA is excited to ring in 2013 - if we survive the impending apocalypse that is - with a film screening of the Activism in Archives Symposium held at the Georgia State University Special Collections and Archives Department.  Hosted by Assistant Archivist, Hilary Moorish and Women’s Collection Archivist, Morna Girrard, the panel presentation seeks to illuminate the current uses, future potential, and limitations of archives in aiding activist organizing.  The panel includes organizers from the American Friends Service Committee, Occupy Atlanta, and a local university professor.

The Women’s Collection and the Southern Labor Archive at Georgia State University contain material from a variety of grassroots organizations, non-profits, and labor unions.  These collections document the vibrant history of social justice movements in the South.  By providing access to these materials, archives become a valuable space for research and social justice organizing to come together.  But does the institutional constraints of an archive limit the possibilities for activists seeking to work outside of the system?  How might an archivist’s socio-political beliefs influence her/his methods of processing materials?  These are valuable questions the Activism in Archives Symposium seeks to explore.

With the Pacific Northwest being a past and present hub of progressive activity, PEA hopes that the film screening will spark much discussion and debate.  See below for event details.  Hope to see you there!

- Crystal Rodgers  

Event details:

Oregon Jewish Museum

1953 NW Kearney Street

Portland, Oregon 97209

When:  January 10th, at 6:00pm

RSVP:  REQUESTED - Please email johnsonxm@gmail.com