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.