CARA Spring Meeting at the Robert M. Myers Archives

Province Center of the Chicago Province, Society of the Divine Word,
which houses the Robert M. Myers Archives, in Techny, IL.
Photo by Kathleen Gormley.
On April 21, 2015, CARA members gathered for their Spring Meeting at the Robert M. Myers Archives, Society of the Divine Word in Techny, Illinois. One of the first orders of business was to announce the results of the recent Steering Committee election. Through a majority vote, the slate of five candidates was approved, and the Steering Committee members for the 2015-2017 term are as follows:

Anna-Kajsa Anderson, Interim Director of Archives and Special Collections at North Park University

Audra V. Adomenas, Director, Film and Audio Archives, Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture and Director, Lithuanian Archives Project

Jerice Barrios, Archivist, North American Province of the Cenacle

Patricia Carroll, Archivist, Sacred Heart Church Archives Project

Malachy McCarthy, Archivist, Claretian Missionaries USA

After the business meeting, Patricia Carroll and Jerice Barrios shared presentations on the topic of disaster preparedness and recovery. Patricia's talk focused on how small religious archives can anticipate disaster and create a culture of preparedness. Jerice spoke about dPlan, an online disaster planning tool that helps archivists with limited time and resources create a disaster plan that is customized to their collections. If you would like a copy of these presentations, please contact cenacle.archives@gmail.com.

After the presentations, CARA members were escorted on a tour of the Robert M. Myers Archives.
Peter Gunther leads a tour of the Robert M. Myers Archives,
Society of the Divine Word.
Photo by Kathleen Gormley.
Of particular note was a color-coded system that the Archives staff had developed to show the location of the different classes of material.
A color-coded map of the Archives shows where the different types of material are stored. In case of emergency, the more high priority items can be located quickly.
Photo by Kathleen Gormley.

Special thanks to Marcia Stein and Peter Gunther of the Robert M. Myers Archives for hosting this meeting, which proved to be very informative and thought-provoking.

2015 CARA Spring Meeting, April 21 at Robert M. Myers Archives, Society of the Divine Word

Society of the Divine Word, Techny, Illinois

The CARA Spring Meeting will be held Tuesday afternoon, April 21, 2015. We will be hosted by Marcia Stein at the Robert M. Myers Archives, Society of the Divine Word.

When: April 21, 2015, 2-4pm

Where: Robert M. Myers Archives, Society of the Divine Word, 1985 Waukegan Rd., Techny, IL. Driving instructions. Please contact Jerice Barrios at cenacle.archives@gmail.com for details about parking.

What:
2 pm Networking and light refreshments
2:20 pm CARA business meeting (Steering Committee election results, Treasurer's report)
2:30 pm Presentation and discussion, "Disaster Preparedness and Response for Small Religious Archives" by Patricia Carroll and Jerice Barrios:
  • The abundance of information available on the topic of disaster preparedness and response for libraries, archives, and museums is of limited help in preparing a specific plan for a specific collection in a specific location. For those archivists who have not tackled digesting this daunting body of literature, this presentation will be an introduction to thinking about the unthinkable.
  • How-to topics to be discussed include assessing your unique facility for reasonable threats, gaining institutional support for developing a disaster recovery plan, training, identifying resources to rely on in case of an emergency, and responding if a disaster strikes your collection.
3:30 pm Tour of Robert M. Myers Archives

This meeting is free. Space is limited, so please RSVP by April 15, 2015 to Jerice Barrios, cenacle.archives@gmail.com.

We will also be collecting annual dues, so please bring $10 cash or check (payable to CARA) to the meeting. If your details have changed since last year, please fill out a membership form; otherwise, you do not need to do so. Receipts will be available at the meeting.

Hope to see you there!