Boston College
is pleased to announce
Envisioning the Future of Catholic Religious Archives: A Working Conference
July 11-13, 2018 (finalized dates) – Boston College campus
The archives of religious communities in the United States are becoming endangered as communities come to completion. To address the need to preserve their invaluable records, Boston College is organizing a working conference to bring focus to the issue and prepare a course of action.
The conference will seek to engage leaders of religious communities, archivists, and historians who are committed to safeguarding their legacy. Speakers and panels will address the preservation, accessibility, and interpretation of unique archival resources held by religious communities. Each presentation will raise specific questions for audience discussion.
The conference will also aim to identify various options for permanently housing religious archives and providing appropriate levels and means of access. Following the conference, a white paper will be drafted and circulated among attendees for input as a step toward developing a national strategic plan to preserve the archival heritage of religious communities in the United States.
The conference will include the following session topics:
- Archives at Risk: An Overview of the Issues Facing Religious Communities
- Revising the American Story: Utilizing Catholic Resources to Challenge the Narrative
- Finding the Treasure: Unlocking Hidden Collections to Enlighten the Past
- Forging a New Partnership: Religious Archivists and Historians
- Take the Lead: How Leadership Matters in Preserving the Legacy
- Descriptive Standards: Why Catholic Metadata Matters
- Interim Archives: A New Understanding of Archival Limbo
- Continuing the Story: How Legacy Gains Everlasting Life
- Break-Outs: Determining a Course of Action
- We welcome your comments and suggestions for additional topics. Please contact Michael J. Burns at michael.burns.7@bc.edu to be added to our mailing list for further information.
