Society of American Archivists Conference, August 15-18, 2018

Hello from Washington D.C.!  Last week I was privileged to be able to attend the annual Society of American Archivists conference. This was an amazing opportunity to meet and interact with 2,200 archivists and records managers! 

As individuals we met in order to learn from friends and colleagues in order to shape the future of our respective archival institutions.  However, we also came together as a professional body in order to further develop and establish the best practices of our field.

Here are just a few of things I learned:

• There is a difference between a manager and a leader.  One is a job title and the other is a value system. If someday I become a manager, I should foster leadership from all levels of an organization.  Even a student worker can take leadership. 
• In current trends, academic archives are coming alongside community archives in order to show them how to preserve the histories of the underrepresented groups or individuals who would not otherwise be recognized in a government or higher education repository. 
• I need to think more critically about how undergraduates access the DSU archives.  How can the technical terms used in finding aids, er...I mean collection guides... be made clearer?  Are there changes I should make to demonstrate that my office is not purely for my uses but is also a reading room?

The conference was also a time to reconnect with old classmates and friends. We had a laid-back reception at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum where we snacked on donuts under the watchful gaze of dinosaurs, and pointed our sticky fingers at the hope diamond. We also made new friends a story hour where we regaled each other with humorous tales of our archival (mis)adventures.

At the end of it all, I came home a very tired archivist - a positive sign of a stimulated brain. I am already looking forward to the possibility of seeing my colleagues at SAA in Austin, Texas next year!