Archives and Public History Digital

Brooklyn Historical Society Othmer Library
Job Announcement: Survey Project Archivist Position
The Brooklyn Historical Society Othmer Library in Brooklyn, NY is seeking an energetic, team-oriented candidate for a temporary, two and a half year appointment, grant-funded Project Archivist position. The successful candidate will report to the Director of Library and Archives.

Job Responsibilities:
The successful candidate will lead a survey of the Othmer Library’s un- and under- described archive and manuscript collections over the course of a two and a half year grant-funded project. The survey, based upon the PACSL survey model, will involve physical inventorying of the collections in the archives stacks, as well as additional research and description work to supplement information gathered during surveying. All description information will be recorded using the Archivists’ Toolkit. Survey Archivist will also be responsible for importing legacy accession information out of MS Access and in to the Toolkit and all related data clean-up; for exporting descriptive records from the Toolkit and importing in to a variety of other systems for public access; for supervising 3 part-time survey staff; updating and maintaining procedures and policies; and providing information for reports to the granting agency. In addition to survey project responsibilities, Survey Archivist m
ay cover the reference desk during the library’s open hours up to 2 times a month, and other responsibilities as assigned.

Required Qualifications:
* Masters in Library and Information Science or History, or equivalent degree, with a specialization in archival studies and completion of a library cataloging course.

* Demonstrated understanding of archival collections and principles of arrangement and description through a completed finding aid or other description tool.
* Effective oral and written communication skills.
* Ability to work as both independently and as part of a team.
* Strong organization and time-management skills; attention to accuracy and detail is essential.
* Familiarity with MARC and EAD; AACR2 and DACS; and with the use and application of standardized vocabularies.

*Supervisory experience, either within an archive or another work setting.

* Ability to lift, bend, and reach boxes or volumes weighing up to 40 lbs repeatedly, including handling these materials while standing on rolling ladders and stepstools.

* Ability to work in library stacks in cold temperatures (60-65 degrees Fahrenheit) for up to an eight-hour workday, five days a week for two years.

* Demonstrated reliable attendance. Because survey work will be done in teams of two, timeliness and consistent attendance are essential to successful and timely project completion.

Preferred Qualifications:

* Previous archival survey experience.

*Experience with data mapping and transfer between databases; data clean-up and manipulation.
* Previous experience working with CMS and ILS systems; experience specifically with Archivists’ Toolkit and/or Ex Libris Primo and Aleph is highly desirable.

*Previous archival processing and description experience, including an understanding of pragmatic and efficient processing procedures.

* Undergraduate degree in history. A working knowledge of U. S. history is needed, to determine how collections fit into state and national issues for purposes of cataloging; knowledge of Brooklyn or New York history is preferred.

Compensation:

Salary is $40,000 a year. Benefits include full medical and dental benefits; sick and vacation days; and optional pre-tax public transportation payroll deduction. This is a temporary, grant-funded position which will not extend past the grant period, ending May 31, 2012.

To Apply:

Applicants should apply in writing, including with their letter a complete statement of qualifications; a full resume of their education and relevant experience; a sample finding aid; and the names, addresses, and phone numbers of three references who are knowledgeable about their qualifications for this position. Send applications to:

Chela Scott Weber
Director of Library and Archives
Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Or EMAIL: library@brooklynhistory.org

When emailing, please use the Subject line: Survey Archivist Application [your last name]

Applications received via email preferred. No phone calls, please. Application period closes 12/11/2009

The Brooklyn Historical Society is dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on any basis including race, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, the presence of any mental, physical, or sensory disability, sexual orientation, or any other basis prohibited by federal or state law.

About Brooklyn Historical Society and The Othmer Library
BHS’ Othmer Library and archives house the most comprehensive col­lection of Brooklyn-related materials in the world. In 1993, the U.S. Department of Education designated the Othmer Library as a “major research library” under Title II-C of the Higher Education Act. Today the collection includes more than 100,000 books and pamphlets, 60,000 photographs and prints, 2,000 feet of archival collections, and more than 2,000 maps and atlases. These materials include family histories, rare books, periodicals, serials, journals, personal papers, institutional records, and oral histories that document Brooklyn’s many different ethnic groups and neighborhoods.

We draw from these holdings to create interpretive exhibitions that prompt students, scholars and members of the general public to reconsider the fundamental facts of history in light of primary source documents and artifacts. BHS serves almost 80,000 people annually by providing opportunities for civic dialogue and community engagement for children and adults through exhibit tours, public programming, research opportunities, educational programs for New York City students, and professional development workshops and written curricula for teachers.

November 23, 2009

Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives/Public History Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-8601
Fax: (212) 995-4017

http://history.fas.nyu.edu/object/history.gradprog.archivespublichistory.html

Internship Opportunity at the International Center of Photography, Roman Vishniac Collection

We are seeking interns to work on the Roman Vishniac Collection at the International Center of Photography. We are currently building a comprehensive archive of the famed photographer’s entire body of work, which includes negatives, contact sheets, and thousands of unpublished prints, as well as personal correspondences and ephemera. The second stage of this project is a large-scale, traveling retrospective, including a catalogue, symposia, and educational programming, scheduled to open at ICP in 2012. This project affords a unique opportunity to participate on various levels in the nascent stages of building an archive. Tasks include: research projects, assisting in the creation of a comprehensive database, audio digitizing, translation of letters and documents from German, Russian, Yiddish, and Hebrew into English, and various other tasks as required for the creation and management of the archive.

We are seeking students in Art History and/or Jewish Studies departments. Students currently enrolled in BA or MA programs or recent graduates are eligible. We are particularly interested in interns with a working knowledge of German, Yiddish, or Russian who could assist in translating documents and correspondences. Photo handling or archive experience is helpful but not required, as we will be training interns to work with photographic materials and Jewish visual culture.

We are happy to work with academic departments to provide school credit for internships. Interns are also invited to attend ICP seminars and special events and are eligible for tuition discounts for ICP courses and workshops. We ask for at least a one semester commitment and 1-2 full days a week. Applications are rolling and dates of internships are flexible. Please email a resume and letter of interest to Rachel Travis at rtravis@icp.org.

Rachel Travis
Curatorial Assistant
International Center of Photography
1133 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10036
rtravis@icp.org
212.857.9768

Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives/Public History Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-8601
Fax: (212) 995-4017

http://history.fas.nyu.edu/object/history.gradprog.archivespublichistory.html

The following internship opportunities are available with StoryCorps. This track of interns will begin on January 11, 2010 and work through May 28, 2010. Please share this information with your students and alumni.

Winter/Spring 2010 internship opportunities at the StoryCorps offices:

Administration Intern
Communications Intern
Development Intern, Individual Giving
Development Intern, Institutional Giving
Information Technology Intern
Marketing Intern
Memory Loss Initiative Outreach Intern
MobileBooth Intern
Participant Relations Intern
StoryKit Intern
StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. Our interns are intelligent, curious, and resourceful individuals devoted to inspiring and assisting everyday Americans in recording their stories in sound. Internships are available in both the Program and the Operations side of our Peabody Award-winning nonprofit organization.
Unless otherwise noted, StoryCorps interns work in the morning (9:30 AM–1:30 PM) or in the afternoons (1:30 PM–5:30 PM) Monday through Friday for a total of 20 hours per week. StoryCorps provides a weekly stipend of $55 to help cover lunch and transportation expenses.

StoryCorps is a fast-paced, supportive, and creative work environment with offices in Brooklyn, New York.

To apply: please send cover letter and resume to internship@storycorps.org and include your last name and “Winter 2010” in the subject line. Include both cover letter and resume as attachments entitled “YourNameLetter” and “YourNameResume.” In your cover letter, please tell us how you found out about this opportunity, and identify the specific internship(s) in which you are interested. No calls please.

Best,

Human Resources
StoryCorps

–
Alexis Creer
HR Coordinator
acreer@storycorps.org
(646) 723-7020 ex. 25

StoryCorps | www.storycorps.org
80 Hanson Place, 8th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Help StoryCorps record more stories from communities like yours throughout the United States:
www.storycorps.org/donate

Participate in StoryCorps’ National Day of Listening Nov. 27, 2009
www.nationaldayoflistening.org

Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives/Public History Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-8601
Fax: (212) 995-4017

http://history.fas.nyu.edu/object/history.gradprog.archivespublichistory.html

Hello fellow Public Historians! I am an associate producer on the documentary, William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, and a recent graduate of the NYU Archives and Public History program. Our film opened on November 13th at Cinema Village in New York City, and due to overwhelming demand, has been held over for another week. The film is now playing through at least 11/26. If you haven’t seen the film, please join us this upcoming weekend – 11/20-11/22. We will have special guests at the 7pm and 9pm shows. Weekend ticket sales are really important – if enough people come out to see the film, it will be held over for Thanksgiving weekend. Spread the word!

WILLIAM KUNSTLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE

A documentary about the life of radical New York civil rights attorney William Kunstler
by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler

CINEMA VILLAGE
22 East 12th Street (btw. University and 5th Avenue)

Now playing through 11/26!
Special guests at the 7pm and 9pm screenings on 11/20, 11/21 and 11/22

For tickets and show times, please visit: http://www.cinemavillage.com/chc/cv/show_movie.asp?movieid=1713

“A wonderful, inspiring film.” – Howard Zinn
“A magnificent profile of an irrepressible personality.” – Indiewire
“Expertly put together and never less than compelling.” -The Hollywood Reporter
“A wonderful, weird, and very American story.” – The Stranger
“A well-crafted and intimate but not uncritical tribute to both a father and a legend of the Left” – The Indypendent

In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War. When the inmates took over Attica prison, or when the American Indian Movement stood up to the federal government at Wounded Knee, they asked Kunstler to be their lawyer.

To his daughters, it seemed that he was at the center of everything important that had ever happened. But when they were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins. This powerful film not only recounts the historic causes that Kunstler fought for; it also reveals a man that even his own daughters did not always understand, a man who risked public outrage and the safety of his family so that justice could serve all.

For more information on the film, visit: http://www.disturbingtheuniverse.com

Internship – ACLU National Office Archives, New York, NY

The Archives and Records Management Office of the ACLU National Office, located in downtown Manhattan, is seeking an intern for the spring semester.

The ACLU National Archives maintains records from the founding of the organization in 1920, and does its part to support the ACLU’s mission: to defend the United States Constitution, in particular the Bill of Rights. The primary goal of the Archives is to ensure access to our records through the application of sound records management and archival principles. In addition to the nearly 1,600 boxes of records we keep onsite, we have an extensive ephemera, publication, photograph, and audio visual collection.

We are looking for interns to assist on a variety of projects, including, but not limited to:

Processing archival collections
Updating existing Finding Aids for ongoing collections
Developing reference skills
Digitization of paper records and archives
Cataloging

Projects will be assigned to interns based upon their interests and experience. Students with an interest in archives and records management centers in non-traditional library settings are encouraged to apply.

Interns will also have the opportunity to learn from Archives staff during certain projects, such as staff training, document destruction, and software implementation meetings. The Archives has moved into renovated state-of-the-art archival facility this year, and we still have collections to arrange and organize in the new space.

We are asking for a minimum commitment of at least 1 day a week, during the regular 9:30 -5:00 workday, Monday – Friday, for a total minimum commitment of 100 hours over the semester. (We will consider two four-hour shifts per week on two separate days for eligible candidates.) Candidates must be currently enrolled in a MLS/MLIS program.
This is a volunteer internship.

Interested applicants should send cover letter and resume or direct any questions to:

Lindsay Turley, Assistant Archivist
lturley@aclu.org

The ACLU Offices are located at:
125 Broad St.
New York, NY 10004

Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives/Public History Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-8601
Fax: (212) 995-4017

http://history.fas.nyu.edu/object/history.gradprog.archivespublichistory.html

Those of you pursuing the dual degree program at Long Island University
might be interested in applying for the NCSU Libraries fellowship. I
worked in the NCSU Libraries for two years and thoroughly enjoyed my
time there. Here’s the short description:

“The NCSU Libraries Fellows program offers a unique opportunity to a
select group of M.L.S. and M.I.S. graduates who will receive the degree
in November 2009 or later. Fellows will be appointed at the rank of
librarian for a two-year term from July 2010 through June 2012. An
option for January or September placement may be available, depending
upon graduation date. The NCSU Libraries is particularly well known for
its digital library programs, its technological advances, and its
commitment to defining the future of librarianship. The NCSU Libraries
offers Fellows the opportunity for rapid professional growth through
assignment to an innovative project, combined with experience and
mentoring in a department. Fellows are appointed to the rank of
librarian for a two-year term.”

More information available here:

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/jobs/epa/fellows%202010/2010index.html

–
Amanda L. French, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Scholar, Digital Curriculum Specialist
Archives and Public History
New York University
King Juan Carlos Center
53 Washington Square South #507
New York, NY 10012

TEL: 212-998-8638
FAX: 212-995-4017
AIM: habitrailgirl
amanda.french@nyu.edu

http://amandafrench.net

http://twitter.com/amandafrench

I recently attended the National Tribal Archives, Museums and Libraries Conference in Portland, Oregon. I was able to attend this conference thanks to a generous grant from the IMLS-sponsored conference and as the fortunate recipient of the Paul H. Mattingly Award. The conference was brimming with exciting projects by and for native communities. One of my favorite projects included the Plateau People’s Web Portal, a project based at Washington State University which enables members of the Umatilla, Coeur d’Alene and Yakama communities to interpret historic photographs and documents in an on-line archive. The site includes oral histories and cultural restrictions created by and native communities. I was also impressed by the work being done at the University of Oregon on the Theodore Stern Collection. For those of you who work with tribal communities the IMLS has an extensive granting program for projects ranging from community outreach to professional development.

Re-Membering LOISAIDA:
A conference to member-in the cultural vitality and consequences of the Puerto Rican sector of the Lower East Side into the Downtown scene, past and present.

November 18th and 20th @ Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center,
107 Suffolk Street, 6pm

Free

Closing reception @ O.P. ART studios
(3rd floor CSV Center) Nov 20 | 8:30pm

The Centro Library and Archives at Hunter College holds the archives of several important writers and artists, notably, Clemente Soto Vélez, Pedro Pietri, Marlis Momber and Ed Vega, whose works reflect a supplemental narrative of `Loisaida’ to the ethos of the Lower East Side. This event will gather archivists, scholars, photographers, artists and activists who produce scholarship on the history and contributions of Puerto Ricans and Latinos to the revitalization of the Lower East Side, and will integrate connoisseurship with the relevance of the Centro’s collection. This conference falls within the activities celebrating the centennial of poet and community activist Clemente Soto Vélez.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18th, 6:00 pm
On Archiving and `Lure of the Retro Lens’: the technique and transaction to assemble the present through organizing the past. Historians and cultural critics discuss issues of institutional politics, material culture, artist community affiliations, different types of cultural belongings, and the shadow and situational sphere of peripheral players to the art-world canon.

Panelists:
Gregory Sholette- Artist/writer/founding member of REPOhistory, Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Queens College, CUNY.
Urayoán Noel- Poet/ critic/co-founder of `Spanic Attack/Assistant Professor of English, University at Albany, SUNY.
Marvin J. Taylor- Founder of the Downtown New York Collection, Director of the Fales Library and Special Collections at NYU.
Mario H. Ramirez- Project Archivist at Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
Carolina Gonzalez- Author, journalist.
Alfredo Irizarry- Former artistic director of El Teatro Ambulante and founder of The Quality of Life Magazine in Loisaida.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20th, 6:00 pm
Visualizing Loisaida: The panel will compare instances of local cultural practices within the phenomena of cultural appropriation that leads to the re-invention of place identity. Insiders, poets and documenters of everyday life from the 1970′s forward, will trace and re-present the Puerto Rican sway in the Loisaida scene.

Round Table:
Luis Aponte-Parés- Architect/urban planner/ Director of Latino Studies at CPCS, UMASS Boston
Ed Morales- Author/journalist/documentary filmmaker
Alan W. Moore-Independent Scholar, member of Colab, co-founder ABC No Rio

Panelists:
Edwin Torres- Poet/Performer
Marlise Momber- Photographer
María Dominquez-Muralist/visual artist
Clayton Patterson- Artist/documentarian.

CURATED/CHAIRED BY: Libertad O.Guerra and Yasmin Ramirez.

Sponsored by New York City Council Member Rosie Méndez and the Clemente Soto-Vélez Cultural Center. [category Public]

Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives/Public History Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-8601
Fax: (212) 995-4017

http://history.fas.nyu.edu/object/history.gradprog.archivespublichistory.html

A really interesting session on Encyclopedias in American Studies — yes, they are proliferating — took place on Sat. at the American Studies Association Conference in Washington, DC. The panelists were Miles Orvell (Encycl. of ASA), David Gerstner (Queer Encyc.), Simon Bronner (Encyl. of Am. Folklife), and moderator Cecelia Tichi. I found their comments on organizing knowledge a fascinating counterpoint to the way in which archives and museums gatekeep, update and arrange collections.

As you would expect, the panel reflected deep ambivalence about the authorizing implications of encyclopedic activities (jeez, Diderot never sweated that one), but nevertheless they went ahead and tried to represent both a picture of knowledge at the start of the 21st century and some of its dynamism.

The issue of making oneself conscious of priorities, theories of culture and everyday practices is one highly applicable to the field of public history. Good exhibitions and collecting policies thrive on this sort of self-scrutiny, and we can build on how others have gone through that process in assembling encyclopedias for the various fields. I use these sometimes to check on how our exhibitions at the New-York Historical Society, and sometimes collections interpretations dovetail with new work in the field.

I particularly appreciated how the panel noted that encyclopedias in the field differ from Wikipedia in many ways, but importantly in their determination to somehow address ideas and theory. Philosophy, epistemology and theory are customarily weak in Wikipedia entries but one needs to have that habit of mind to function well with the foundations of both archiving and public history.

For me, it was revealing to realize that encyclopedia editors are much like major collectors, assembling knowledge in a sampling that is meaningful, and reflects a taste and time. The problem of fixing knowledge at one point may be partially addressed by users such as ourselves realizing that these volumes are launching points for a dialogue about organizing knowledge.

A note on publishing: the most curious factoid to emerge from the panelists’ astute commentaries was that publishers have been having a vogue for reference works because markets for monographs have greatly diminished but library budgets for encyclopedias, etc. have remained strong. Thus these works have in all three cases above been commissioned by publishers for profit. Amusingly, Simon Bronner noted that publishers have inquired about mining his Encyclo. of Am. Folklife for its urban folklife to make a recombinate product assembled from the larger version for a niche market. Meanwhile, the Am. Studies Encyclopedia is dealing with the vicissitudes of commerce by having its contents now online under the control of the ASA, taking the product from commercial publishing to non-profit distribution and updating. (Joining ASA gives you entree to the every-expanding corpus of the Encyclopedia.).

Good news on a Friday afternoon. David Ferriero was confirmed by the
Senate. Below is our press release on the subject which tells you
everything but when he will start. That is because we don’t know yet.
Stay tuned!
David McMillen
External Affairs Liaison
The National Archives

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 6, 2009

David Ferriero Confirmed by U.S. Senate as 10th Archivist of the United
States

Washington, DC. . . Today, the United States Senate voted to confirm
David Ferriero as the 10th Archivist of the United States. Mr. Ferriero
was the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries and
is a leader in the field of library science. Mr. Ferriero, who was
nominated by President Obama on July 28, 2009, will succeed Professor
Allen Weinstein who resigned as Archivist in December 2008 for health
reasons. Deputy Archivist Adrienne Thomas is serving as the Acting
Archivist until Mr. Ferriero assumes his duties.

As the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries
(NYPL), Mr. Ferriero was part of the leadership team responsible for
integrating the four research libraries and 87 branch libraries into one
seamless service for users, creating the largest public library system
in the United States and one of the largest research libraries in the
world. Mr. Ferriero was in charge of collection strategy; conservation;
digital experience; reference and research services; and education,
programming, and exhibitions.

Among his responsibilities at the NYPL was the development of the
library’s digital strategy, which currently encompasses partnerships
with Google and Microsoft, a web site that reaches more than 25 million
unique users annually, and a digital library of more than 750,000 images
that may be accessed free of charge by any user around the world.

Before joining the NYPL in 2004, Mr. Ferriero served in top positions at
two of the nation’s major academic libraries, the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, and Duke University in Durham,
NC. In those positions, he led major initiatives including the
expansion of facilities, the adoption of digital technologies, and a
reengineering of printing and publications.

Mr. Ferriero earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English
literature from Northeastern University in Boston and a master’s degree
from the Simmons College of Library and Information Science, also in
Boston. After serving in the Navy during the Vietnam War, he started in
the humanities library at MIT, where he worked for 31 years, rising to
associate director for public services and acting co-director of
libraries.

In 1996, Mr. Ferriero moved to Duke University, where he served as
University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs until 2004.
At Duke, he raised more than $50 million to expand and renovate the
university’s library and was responsible for instructional technology
initiatives, including overseeing Duke’s Center for Instructional
Technology.

As Archivist of the United States, Mr. Ferriero will oversee the
National Archives and Records Administration, an independent Federal
agency created by statute in 1934. The National Archives safeguards and
preserves the records of the U.S. Government, ensuring that the people
can discover, use, and learn from this documentary heritage. The
National Archives ensures continuing access to records that document the
rights of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the
national experience.

Its 44 facilities include the National Archives Building in Washington,
DC, the National Archives at College Park, 13 Presidential libraries,
and 14 regional archives nationwide. The National Archives also
publishes the Federal Register, administers the Information Security
Oversight Office, the Office of Government Information Services, makes
grants of historical documentation through the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission.

Among the National Archives’ approximately 9 billion pages of materials
that are open to the public for research nationwide are millions of
photographs, maps, and documents, thousands of motion pictures and audio
recordings, and millions of electronic records. Every subject relating
to American history is covered in the records of the National Archives:
Revolutionary War pension files, landmark Supreme Court cases,
international treaties, legislative records, executive orders, public
laws, records relating to all U.S. Presidents and the papers of
Presidents Hoover through George W. Bush.

Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives/Public History Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-8601
Fax: (212) 995-4017

http://history.fas.nyu.edu/object/history.gradprog.archivespublichistory.html

Call for Graduate Student Poster Presentations

The Program Committee for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) Spring 2010 meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, is seeking poster session proposals from graduate students in archives, information studies, or public history programs in the region. Students must be currently enrolled in a graduate program or have graduated no earlier than Fall 2008.
Graduate Student Poster Session
The Graduate Student Poster Session welcomes submissions from individual students and groups of students.
Posters may describe completed or ongoing applied or theoretical research; discuss interesting collections with which students have worked; or report on archives and records projects in which students have participated (e.g., development of finding aids, public outreach, database construction, etc.).
Submissions that focus on research or activity conducted within the previous academic year are particularly encouraged. The committee will select participants based on the quality of proposals. Posters should not exceed 30 inches high by 36 inches wide and should not be mounted or laminated.
The posters for the accepted proposals will be on display during the MARAC conference in Wilmington, Delaware, April 29-May 1, 2010. Poster abstracts will be printed in a program supplement and will appear in the conference schedule on the MARAC Website.
Submission Instructions and Deadlines
Submissions must include the following:

Twitter, a social networking service founded in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, has quickly ballooned into a micro-blogging phenomenon in just a few short years. The 2008 presidential election sparked a movement among American politicians to voice their personal and political opinions using Twitter. The growing popularity of Twitter among politicians seems to be a result of the fight for the youth vote during the 2008 campaign season. Creating Twitter accounts was an easy way to reach a massive and largely youthful audience. Politicians began using Twitter not only to spread their own political ideologies, but also to reach out to younger voters by creating personable and technologically savvy self-images. Charles “Chuck” Grassley, a Republican Senator from Iowa, is one such politician who is using Twitter to reach a broader and more youthful demographic of American voters. By analyzing the purpose and social implications of Twitter as a networking tool, I intend to show how politicians like Senator Chuck Grassley are appropriating Twitter for their political benefit and are doing so without focusing solely on political issues in their tweets.

Twitter is a free social networking site that allows users to upload and read messages, or “tweets,” of up to 140 characters. A user may submit tweets via the web, text message, or instant message. The Twitter homepage is comprised of a live feed of tweets written by users that an individual user has chosen to follow. Conversely, a user’s own tweets are published on the homepages of their subscribers. Non-users have access to public tweets, but users are given the option of restricting access by adjusting privacy settings. Unlike other social networking sites, for example MySpace and Facebook, Twitter offers very limited profile space. Users are allowed one profile picture and can present only the most basic information: name, location, and a mini-biography of up to 140 characters. This profile is displayed on a side bar next to the live feed. Statistical data is displayed below the profile and includes how many people a user is following, how many members are following them, and the number of tweets they have posted since the account was created. Aside from tweets, other users are given little information about individual members. The deliberately limited amount of space for users to describe themselves emphasizes the site’s innovative take on social networking. Twitter explains the inspiration and mission of the site simply and succinctly: “Jack Dorsey had grown interested in the simple idea of being able to know what his friends were doing” (http://twitter.com/about#about). Twitter users are painting a picture of their personality based not solely on thoughts or opinions, but also on where they are and what activity they are performing at any given moment of the day.

Twitter allows followers to learn the idiosyncrasies of particular users, but also compiles and presents its own statistical data in a way that keeps followers in tune with the millions of users worldwide. For example, there is a search engine tool on the side bar which allows users to search for tweets using keywords. If  users search for the term “dog” in the search bar they will be shown a live stream of tweets which include that word. Below the search bar is a heading called “Trending Topics.” This displays the current top ten most popular words or phrases tweeted by users. Clicking on the links to any of the trending topics will take you to a live feed of tweets containing that word or phrase.

Given massive popularity of Twitter and its ability to display the most popular topics among the millions of users who post daily, it is unsurprising that politicians have jumped on the bandwagon and created their own Twitter accounts. Politicians are using Twitter as a tool for spreading political views to a larger audience and also for creating  personable, down-to-earth images of themselves, which they hope will reverberate with the American people.

Chuck Grassley’s (www.twitter.com/chuckGrassley) account is a good example of how politicians are attempting to balance politics with personality by alternately tweeting about topics of political and personal interest. It is important to note that Chuck Grassley’s Twitter stands apart from the pack. While most politicians have aides or interns posting on their behalf, it is evident that Senator Grassley is composing his own tweets. For example, the time and means by which the tweet was sent are displayed below each post. When comparing Senator Grassley’s tweets to Senator John McCain’s (www.twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain) for instance, one notices that all of McCain’s tweets are sent via the web while nearly all of Grassley’s tweets are sent via text (txt). Senator Grassley’s over-use of abbreviations and lack of punctuation, commonly referred to as SMS language, also suggests that his posts were self-composed. On August 27, 2009 at 1:17pm he tweeted: “thnks to Sibley Kiwanis for hostng mtg. Abt 100 came out to tlk about issues. Hope othrs are hldg twn hall mtgs. Is democracy in action.” While the simplified form of the tweet borders on extreme, Senator Grassley is clearly trying to emphasize the fact that it is authentic. He is presenting himself as a simple-speaking member of the American mainstream rather than an elitist, over-educated politician. To uphold this self-image it is beneficial for him to mix political and light-hearted tweets. For example, on September 5, 2009 at 5:02pm he tweeted: “Saw Ia U beat my school 17/16. UNI played best I proud of my team Pres Mason came up 22pts short of her prediction 4 victory. She good Prez.” In this instance, Senator Grassley fashions himself as a football loving, all-American, but is also asserting his political support for Iowa University.

Despite the unpretentious appearance of Senator Grassley’s Twitter account, it is apparent that he is trying to create a certain persona for himself. He creates a show of authenticity by sending his tweets from a mobile device and composing his tweets using SMS language, but also by presenting his personal and recreational habits alongside his political activities and opinions. Regardless of the individual politician’s motivations, Twitter is offering the American public a more intimate relationship with lawmakers than has ever been possible. Moreover, political Twitter accounts raise questions about the importance of these records for future use by historians. An off-the-cuff remark on Twitter may someday be as relevant as a political speech when thinking back on the career of a certain politician. With such reasonable future uses, it is imperative that archivists take notice and incorporate notable Twitter accounts into digital archives.

National Council on Public History

2010 Annual Meeting – “Currents of Change” – Portland, OR

Call for Posters

The Poster Session is a format for presentations about projects that use visual evidence. It offers an alternative for presenters eager to share their work through one-on-one discussion, can be especially useful for work-in-progress, and may be a particularly appropriate format where visual or material evidence represents a central component of the project. The Call is open through December 10, 2009. Click here for more information, or visit www.ncph.org.

Awards

We also invite you to make nominations for the 2010 NCPH Awards program. Information about the following awards is listed at http://www.ncph.org/Awards/tabid/279/Default.aspx. Submissions are due December 10, 2009. Awards will be presented at the conference in Portland.

• Outstanding Public History Project – $1,000

• Excellence in Consulting Award – up to two $450 awards

• NCPH Book Award – $1,000

• G. Wesley Johnson TPH Article Award – $750

• Michael C. Robinson Prize for Historical Analysis – $500

• NCPH and HRA New Professional Awards – two $500 travel grants

• Student Project Award – $500 travel grant

• Graduate Student Travel Award – five $300 awards

Be a part of the 2010 NCPH Annual Meeting! Please let us know if you have questions.

For full details, visit http://www.ncph.org

All,

Sorry that I didn’t learn about this earlier, but today I’ve glanced
once or twice at a fascinating project: Museum in a Day. You can learn
more about it at http://museuminaday.com.

Basically, two IT professionals who work in the cultural heritage sector
in the UK have given themselves one day to build a museum website for a
fictional museum — except now the museum is sort of real, in a virtual
way. Using Omeka and WordPress, they took one day, today, November 2, to
build a website for “The Future Museum,” an online museum of fictional
technologies such as teleporters and hoverboards, “the technologies and
ideas that humankind thought would change the world . . . and didn’t.”
The point, they say, was to prove that “making (museum) websites should
be easy.”

You can see the “dev” (i.e., draft) version of what they built today at
http://dev.thefuturemuseum.com, and you can read about what they did
today on an hour-by-hour basis on the Twitter feed at
http://twitter.com/museuminaday, and you can take a look at their
planning document on their public Google Docs spreadsheet at

http://bit.ly/museuminadaygoogledoc.

Neato!

Amanda

–
Amanda L. French, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Scholar, Digital Curriculum Specialist
Archives and Public History
New York University
King Juan Carlos Center
53 Washington Square South #507
New York, NY 10012

TEL: 212-998-8638
FAX: 212-995-4017
AIM: habitrailgirl
amanda.french@nyu.edu

http://amandafrench.net

http://twitter.com/amandafrench