Category: Resources and Information

Building a Remote Work Toolkit and Panel Opportunity

Building upon the Archivists at Home remote work advocacy document, the SAA Accessibility & Disability Section is building a remote work toolkit to continue to advance hybrid or fully remote archival work options. With the COVID-19 pandemic, many jobs transitioned at some point to remote work and the Section continues to advocate for the continued adoption of this work approach. 

The benefits of remote work, particularly for archival workers with disabilities, can be truly transformational. Whether it is flexible work hours or personal control over work environment and set up, remote work can be beneficial for both employees and employers. For employers, remote work allows for a wider and more diverse job pool, regardless of geographic location.

The Section has begun compiling examples of remote work job descriptions and remote work policies. Would you like to help us build this toolkit? Volunteer for the team or please send along helpful resources! Contact us at SAAdisabilityarchivists@gmail.com or on Twitter @SAA_ADS.

Additionally, we are also seeking participants for a panel discussion in October for National Disability Employment Awareness Month on the intersection of archival work, disability, and remote work. If you’re interested in participating, submit this form by Monday August 29th.

Advertisement

Join the Accessibility & Disability Section blog editorial team!

Hello, everyone!

Are you passionate about accessibility and disability in archives? Do you love creating and sharing resources? The SAA Accessibility & Disability Section is recruiting for our section blog’s editorial team!

The editorial team develops, cultivates, and publishes content relevant to accessibility and disability in the archives through our section blog. We welcome all ideas for maintaining a thoughtful, creative, and rich blog presence. Some ideas might include event and resource roundups, member spotlights, allyship, and self-advocacy tips. 

This role would be an ex-officio role with the ADS steering committee. The term would be effective through August 2023 and is eligible for renewal. We welcome any current SAA members to apply. If you are interested, please email us at SAAdisabilityarchivists@gmail.com by April 16 with a brief note about yourself and what you would like to see the ADS blog cover over the year.

DEADLINE EXTENDED 4/1: Call for Abstracts – Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (Litwin Books)

Call for Abstracts – Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (Litwin Books)
Edited by Gracen Brilmyer and Lydia Tang

Key Details:
– Abstracts due: EXTENDED to April 1, 2022 Submit your abstract proposal
– Invitations to submit full papers: April 15, 2022
– Full papers due: August 1, 2022
– Estimated publication: September 2023

Looking for collaborators? Contribute your ideas and connect with others on our brainstorming document

Questions for the editors? Contact Gracen Brilmyer & Lydia Tang

We are inviting contributions from disabled archivists and disabled archival users to bring critical perspectives and approaches to the archival profession for a forthcoming book, Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (to be published by Litwin Books). This book aims to address disability, ableism, and accessibility as they intersect with the archival profession-through collection development, archival labor, and accessing historical records.

The deadline has been extended to expand representation of ideas and identities within the book. We particularly encourage contributions from disabled people of color.

We are especially are seeking submissions that address:

– Disability collection appraisal, acquisition, description, and preservation that explicitly addresses the nuances of archival theory and practice
– Surfacing disabled narratives in community-based archives that focus on other identities
– Post-custodial practices around disability collections
– Community archives, post-custodial practices, and/or reparative work
– Disability community engagement: creating and sustaining relationships with donors, creators, and community members for historical documentation, events, and outreach
– Funding and fundraising around disability and accessibility
– Navigating challenges with privacy and access for disability collections

Contributions could also address topics including:

– Historical overviews of disability and/or accessibility in the archival field and profession
– Overviews of accessibility, legal regulations, standards, and best practices across different types of archives-community, university, government, corporate, etc.
– Critiques of standards and policies that emphasize legal compliance over actual users
– Disabled users’ experiences of accessibility or inaccessibility of digital and/or physical spaces, archival content, and services
– Calls to action for archives to better support disabled archivists, users, and disability-related collections

Call for Abstracts – Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (Litwin Books)

Edited by: Gracen Brilmyer and Lydia Tang

Submission form: Please submit your abstract and author details

Looking for collaborators? Contribute your ideas and connect with others on our brainstorming document

Questions for the editors? Contact Gracen Brilmyer & Lydia Tang

Key Points:

– Abstracts due: February 19, 2022

– Invitations to submit full papers: March 1, 2022

– Full papers due: July 1, 2022

– Estimated publication date: September 2023

We are inviting contributions from disabled archivists and disabled archival users to bring critical perspectives and approaches to the archival profession for a forthcoming book, Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (to be published by Litwin Books). This book aims to explicitly address disability, ableism, and accessibility as they intersect with the archival profession—through collection development, archival labor, and accessing historical records. We seek submissions that cover topics including but not limited to:

  • Historical overviews of disability and/or accessibility in the archival field and profession
  • Overviews of accessibility, legal regulations, standards, and best practices across different types of archives—community, university, government, corporate, etc.
  • Critiques of standards and initiatives that emphasize legal compliance over actual users 
  • First-person experiences from disabled archivists or users working with disability collections and connecting with the past
  • Disabled archivists experiences in the workplace: job requirements, disclosure, accommodations, self-advocacy, and ableism
  • Professional values, ableist expectations, and job precarity for disabled archivists (for tenure, promotions, contract renewal, etc.) 
  • Funding and fundraising around disability and accessibility
  • Disability collection appraisal, acquisition, description, and preservation
  • Archival absences in collections and the evolving concept of who and what is worthy of remembrance
  • Navigating challenges with privacy and access for disability collections
  • Disabled users’ experiences of accessibility or inaccessibility of digital and/or physical spaces, archival content, and services
  • Gatekeeping and stigmatization: the policing of behavior, bodies, and disabled people in reading rooms
  • Disability community engagement: creating and sustaining relationships with donors, creators, and community members for historical documentation, events, and outreach
  • Proposals or best practices for disabled leadership and disability-centered hiring, inclusive workplaces, and job models
  • Calls to action for archives to better support disabled archivists, users, and disability-related collections

We welcome contributions especially from multiply marginalized or minoritized archival workers and users of archives as well as a broad representation of archival repository types. We also actively seek contributors from outside academia who reflect on their experiences in archives. 

Abstracts are encouraged to be under 500 words in length. 

Please submit your abstract and author details by February 19, 2022.

We are also recruiting peer reviewers for this book. If you wish to be considered as a peer reviewer, please fill out the Peer Reviewer Recruitment form. Possible peer reviewers will be contacted in late spring.

Introducing the Accessibility & Disability Section’s Mentoring Sign-up Sheet!

The SAA Accessibility & Disability Section Steering Committee is pleased to share this test pilot mentoring sign up sheet. Inspired by the mentoring sign up sheets by DLF and DigiPres, this sign up sheet is a lightweight and flexible tool for facilitating mentoring connections.

Eligibility:

Archival workers and students who share an interest or identity relating to disability and accessibility and an interest in the archival field. You do not need to be a member of SAA to sign up on this sheet.

How it works

Sign up!

Please sign up on this Google sheet. Anyone can volunteer to participate as a mentor or mentee.

Mentors, if you feel that you can work simultaneously with more than one mentee, please duplicate your line.

To support the confidentiality of Mentees, if you see a mentor who you would like to chat with, mark an “X” by your mentor’s line and contact your mentor.

If you have difficulty accessing, editing this form, or encounter other issues, please contact us at adsectionblogsaa@gmail.com

What is the time commitment?

Mentors indicate time commitment capacity on the form. Some may only be able to do a single informational interview while others may be able to meet regularly for an ongoing basis. When you make contact with your mentoring partner, you can establish expectations according to your mentoring needs and personal time commitment capacities.

Disclaimer

While participants do not need to be members of SAA, we expect all participants to adhere to the SAA code of conduct to ensure that this is a welcoming, supporting, and safe experience. If anyone encounters behaviour that violates the SAA code of conduct, please contact us (adsectionblogsaa@gmail.com). Thank you for doing your part to support your colleagues and make this a fun and educational experience!

July Updates

Happy Disability Pride Month and happy 30th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act!

Register to join the Accessibility & Disability Section for our first SAA annual meeting on Thursday, July 30th, 1-2:15 CT! This meeting is open to everyone, not only SAA registered attendees, and will be recorded. We are pleased to feature the following presentations:

  • Nicole Joniec: Universally Designing for Accommodation: Accessibility at the Science History Institute
  • Tyler Stump: Collecting Intellectual Disability Records in a Time of Deinstitutionalization

Following the presentations, we will hold a brainstorming session to identify section goals for this coming year. We look forward to seeing you there!

For SAA attendees, be sure to check out Archivists with Disabilities, Friday, August 7, 2:30-3:15pm CT, which features presenters Veronica Denison, Ann Abney, Michelle Ganz, and Chris Tanguay!

Learn more about disability and accessibility in new and recently released resources:

 

Not a member of the Accessibility & Disability Section yet? Join us in SAA Connect!

SAA Council Statement on Black Lives and Archives

On June 2, 2020, the SAA Council stated:

“We, the Council of the Society of American Archivists, unanimously condemn harassment and violence against the Black community. As archivists, we learn from history that this country was founded on genocide and slavery. We continue to witness the legacy of this history with systemic and structural racism that lead to marginalization, disenfranchisement, and death. The murder of George Floyd, and countless others, at the hands of the police manifest the continuing atrocities faced by Black Americans today. As a profession, we stand by our community and acknowledge, unequivocally, that Black Lives Matter.”

Read the full statement on the SAA website. Additional resources provided in the SAA Council statement are listed below. For further anti-racist actions archivists can take, consider reading the AWE Fund Organizing Committee open letter to the archival community.

SAA Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

Archives for Black Lives in Philly (A4BLiP), Statement of Principles

DocNow: Ethical Considerations for Archiving Social Media Content Generated by Contemporary Social Movements: Challenges, Opportunities, and Recommendations

WITNESS: Community-Based Approaches to Archives From the Black Lives Matter Movement

A People’s Archive of Police Violence in Cleveland

COVID-19 Resources and Information

Last updated March 19, 2020

Working From Home Resources

Archivists at Home began as brainstorming advocacy tool by the Accessibility & Disability Section of the Society of American Archivists for developing a more flexible concept of archival labor, whether it is archivists working from home due to COVID-19 or archivists with disabilities. The document has evolved in scope to address needs of the archival community grappling with COVID-19 broadly, ranging from the workplace, choosing to temporarily close an archives, to working from home, and notes on supporting student and contingent workers.

Archives Workers Emergency Fund (AWEF) is organizing support and mutual aid for contingent archival workers who may be affected by COVID-19, have limited workplace protections or sick time, and may suffer the loss of hours and income as institutions close, reduce hours, and move to remote work in response to the spread of the virus.

The Green Mountain Self-Advocates produced a plain-language booklet on COVID-19. It was created by and for people with disabilities and is shared by the Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center. A Spanish translation of the COVID-19 booklet is also available.

Disability Scoop reported on “unique [COVID-19] concerns for caregivers and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

Mental Health

General Resources

Managing Anxiety

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

The International OCD Foundation has compiled resources for dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and COVID-19. For parents, the site also shares information on talking to kids about COVID-19.

Addiction

For those unable to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, there is a google document compiling online AA Meetings.

Medical Care and Family Resources

The American Association of People with Disabilities has written about insurance restrictions and prescription drugs and the challenges people with disabilities are now facing to get necessary medication.

More information from the Administration for Community Living, including information for older adults and for disability networks.