Social media + conferences

With the promise of wifi throughout the hotel brings the challenge of serving all of the MARAC attendees social media needs! What services do you plan to use at MARAC - and more importantly, on which services do expect to see a presence by MARAC while you're at the conference? We don't need to be everywhere you are but if you're looking for us then we'd like to know about it.

I've created a poll, located to your right in the toolbar, where you can select the tools that you think you'll likely use or where you think our established presence would be helpful.

Here are a few tools that are already being used:

Google Calendar for MARAC events
This doesn't look like much unless you go to Nov 11-13, but there I've added all the workshops, tours, sessions, and other exciting events. We'll be adding more as they come along, including any unofficial meet-ups that are sent our way. To subscribe and add this public calendar to your own Google Calendar, select the icon in the lower right corner. Inspired by Mark Matienzo's SAA 2010 Google Calendar.

Twitter:
Stay tuned to the newly created MARAC Twitter account, @MARACtweets. You can also contribute to the conversation using the hashtag #marac.

Facebook Event page
You don't have to RSVP here, but why not? Could also be used as a space to share restaurant suggestions, swap related articles, and point to conference summaries. Looks like you need to be logged in to view the Event page.

View the conference program online now!

The final conference program has been posted to the MARAC Conferences webpage. In the program you will find all the information about the conference including the speakers, sessions, workshops, tours, and hotel and registration costs and information.

If you have additional questions, please feel encouraged to comment here or contact the PC or LAC co-chairs using the contact information listed on the MARAC Conference webpage.

Preserving the American Historical Records (PAHR)

The Plenary speaker at MARAC this fall will be Kathleen Roe, Director of Archives and Records Management Operations at the New York State Archives. One major compenent of her presentation will be the Preserving the American Historical Records (PAHR) legislation, which is currently under debate in Congress. If you would like to learn more about PAHR, including how to contact your Congressional representative and encourage their support for the bill, a good place to start is the webpage hosted by SAA: http://www.archivists.org/pahr/

Here you'll find an overview and current status of the bill, sample letters of support, how to contact your representative, and the listing of current supporters. The Plenary session with Kathleen Roe will take place on Friday, November 12th at 9am in the Carlise room. We hope to see you there!

Strangers in a Strange Land: Archives and Politics

Archivists document politics. Archivists observe politics. Archivists talk and argue about politics. Yet rarely do archivists become involved in politics on behalf of archives. Kathleen Roe, Director of Archives and Records Management Operations, New York State Archives, will deliver our plenary and discuss professional involvement with politics initiated recently on the federal level as we advocate for NHPRC, for Preserving the American Historical Record (PAHR), as well as a range of issues at the state level throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. What role should this play in the life of individual archivists, institutions, and our professional organizations? What have we learned so far about what we can really accomplish in political settings? As archives and archivists become further involved in politics and advocacy, we need to focus on becoming both comfortable and conversant in this strange land so we can better ensure the health of our organizations and profession.