Tag: #archives

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.

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.