Call for Session Proposals for 2015 ACWR Conference

Archivists for Congregations of Women Religious (ACWR) have put out a call for proposals for papers for the upcoming Triennial Conference,“ACWR at 25: Bridging Tradition with Technology,” to be held in Pittsburgh August 27-30, 2015. They are soliciting proposals from members, independent researchers, historians, archivists, and others related to the field of expertise. Traditional sessions and panel discussions are welcome, but multimedia presentations, workshop sessions and roundtables are highly encouraged.

Based on the results of a recent membership survey, the following topics are particularly relevant:

• Technology, including digitization and born-digital materials
• Storage and handling of object collections
• Exhibits and heritage rooms
• Oral history programs
• Project management
• Capturing community history and fostering charism
• Role of archives within the administrations of religious communities
• Archives 101, including disaster plans, finding aids, and collections policies
• Planning for the future, including mergers, closures, and transfer to lay staff
• Access, including issues of privacy and confidentiality

A program committee will evaluate proposals on the strength of a 300-word abstract, the speaker’s experience, and relevance to the above topic list. Please include a title for the proposed presentation, a brief bio for each presenter, and any technology requirements. The program committee will select the strongest proposals and place them in the session that best reflects the topic. Complete session proposals are welcome but the committee reserves the right to make suggestions about their content in order to best meet membership interest as indicated by the survey results. When considering the number of speakers for a complete session, please remember that a session runs for a total of 75 minutes, including time for questions.

Applicants may submit multiple proposals but speakers will only be invited to present at one session.

Please send your proposals to archivistsacwr@gmail.com by March 31, 2015. The ACWR look forward to hearing from you!

Nominations sought for two archival awards

Do you know someone who is doing outstanding work in archives? You may want to nominate them for one these awards: the Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award or the J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award. Nominations for both awards are due on February 28, 2015.

The Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of religious archives. It is named in honor of Sister M. Claude Lane, the first professionally trained archivist at the Catholic Archives of Texas in Austin, who served there from 1960 until her death in 1974. Criteria for nomination include:

· Involvement and work in the Archivists of Religious Collections Section (ARCS) of the Society of American Archivists.

· Contributions to archival literature that relates to religious archives.

· Participation and leadership in religious archives organizations.

· Evidence of leadership in specific religious archives.

To nominate an archivist for the Lane Award, please follow the guidelines provided in the Nomination Form.

The J. Franklin Jameson Archival Advocacy Award honors an individual, institution, or organization that promotes greater public awareness, appreciation, or support of archival activities or programs. The individual's or institution's contributions may take the form of advocacy, publicity, legislation, financial support, or a similar action that fosters archival work or raises public consciousness of the importance of archival work. Contributions should have broad, long-term impact at the regional level or beyond. Up to three awards may be given each year.

Eligibility: Nominees must be from outside the archives profession. Individuals directly involved in archival work, either as paid or volunteer staff, or institutions or organizations directly responsible for an archival program are not eligible for this award. Please see the nomination form for details.

Survey of Chicago Religious Repositories

For a project funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, is conducting a survey of Chicago repositories to identify material relating to American art/artists and design/designers in the fields of painting, sculpture, drawing, illustration, printmaking, photography, crafts and decorative arts, graphic art, conceptual art, performance art, video art, and installation and environmental art, created by American artists established by 1990. 

The project is looking for information about likely collections and materials in Chicago churches, synogogues, mosques, and other religious institutions that would allow access for outside researchers. Lack of processing or organization is no barrier to inclusion! Please contact Wendy Greenhouse, Project Coordinator, at 708-848-2789 or wgreenhouse@sbcglobal.net.