Category: Highlights

Beyond the Elevator (no. 1)

2 Comments

Beyondthe Elevator012016-MastrovitaSevern

Welcome to the inaugural Beyond the Elevator Cartoon!

Mandy Mastrovita and Jill Severn created the strip to express, through illustration, their heartfelt belief that the magic of archives can and should be worked into ANY conversation or situation. The prospect of this axiom has exhorted the two into paroxysms of giggles, chortles, and howls despite the sober and noble subject matter. Indeed, they have spent hours cooking up likely scenarios to bring to life in future cartoons, illustrating the varying places and situations in which archivists may find opportunities to explain their work to non-archivists. These little gems will appear monthly for the foreseeable future, but never ones to let greed guide them, Mandy and Jill would be delighted to have ideas for this comic from archivists and archivist enthusiasts everywhere. They welcome scenarios both real and imagined–based on actual interactions that archivists have had, or on dreams (nightmares?) haunted by the all-too-familiar “What is an archivist?”  question. To share your idea, please send a description of your concept, relevant details, and contact information (your name and your email address) to beyondtheelevator@gmail.com.

Welcome to ArchivesAWARE!

Leave a comment

DWC_sm
This post was authored by guest contributor David Carmicheal, State Archivist, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Chair, SAA Committee on Public Awareness (COPA)

Yet another archival blog? Really?! Who has time for one more? We hope you have time because this might just be the most important archival blog you ever read. Really.

If you’ve hung around archival conferences and listservs for the last few years, or even had drinks with a few archival colleagues in the past month, you’ve probably heard the familiar lament: ‘My archives is misunderstood. No one knows what I do. My work is important but my institution keeps cutting my budget.’ But over the past couple of years the groans have been joined by a more exciting sound: the voices of archivists who are determined to do something about public perceptions of archives.

There have always been archivists who have a passion for archival outreach, and we all know individuals who are great at spreading the message that archives change lives, but lately those lone voices seem to be growing into a groundswell, an entire chorus of archivists working together to harmonize their message and express the value of our work in ways that a lone individual cannot. This blog intends to be an outlet for those who want to join that chorus. People like you. So, you should

Read this blog. Want to learn how to better express the importance of archives to colleagues, friends, or even strangers? Want to learn tips and techniques to help you make the case for archives to your boss or your board? Can’t quite get the hang of that elevator speech? Keep your eye on this site. You should find plenty of good advice here.

Write for this blog. Had a great outreach success or an advocacy disaster? Share it here. We’ll all learn from each others’ triumphs and failures. Care to talk about upcoming events related to outreach, advocacy, or awareness? This is your place.

Share this blog. Do you have friends or colleagues who might like to read  this blog or write for it? Maybe even some non-archivists who have experience or expertise in public relations or outreach? Share the link!

If you join us in this venture—if we work together to share our experiences and build new skills in advocacy and awareness building—this could easily become the most important archival blog we’ll ever read. Are you ready to join the chorus?

Want to join the conversation on ArchivesAWARE? The editors are always looking for additional content! Read more about the submission process on the About page, and contact the editors at archivesaware@archivists.org.