CARA Fall Meeting: October 27, 2016 at American Theological Library Association

CARA FALL MEETING

Thursday, October 27, 2016, 1-3pm

American Theological Library Association (ATLA)

300 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2100

Chicago, IL

CARA's Fall Meeting will be held October 27, 2016, in downtown Chicago at the offices of the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). Our host, ATLA Digital Projects Manager Andy Carter, will give a presentation on "Controlled Vocabulary, Library of Congress Subject Headings, and Indexing." Andy will be discussing the importance of controlled vocabulary for archival finding aids, as well as ATLA's work on creating religious genre/form terms for Library of Congress Subject Headings. Also, ATLA's staff indexers will explain the work that they do on the association's theological publications databases.

Space is limited, so please RSVP to Jerice Barrios (cenacle.archives@gmail.com) by October 12, 2016.

We hope to see you there!

Chicago Open Archives, October 6-8, 2016

Over thirty local archives, research centers, and cultural institutions in the Chicago area will offer special events open to members of the public on October 6-8, 2016. Chicago Open Archives: Yours to Explore is an opportunity to discover unique historical materials and engage with archivists, librarians, and museum curators. You won't want to miss this opportunity to see sites, spaces, and materials that are normally not open to the public!

Visitors will enjoy activities such as behind-the-scenes tours, film screenings, and exhibit talks designed to showcase each site’s collections, programs, and services. Visit the Chicago Open Archives website for a map of all locations, as well as a succinct list by date. Clicking on the institution name will give you more information about each specific site and clicking on the event name will take you to the detailed event page for each activity.

Please note that some sites require advance registration. Sites reserve the right to cancel an activity 24 hours prior to the scheduled event due to low registration. If a site requires an admission fee, the fee will be collected on the day of the activity by site staff. Details about required fees are provided in the registration information, if applicable. Registration closes Tuesday, October 4th, at midnight.

If you have additional questions about Chicago Open Archives, send an email to info@chicagoarchivists.org.

CARA Members Train Religious Archivists

Introductory Archive Workshop for Religious Communities, Class of 2016
Sisters of Charity Motherhouse, Leavenworth, KS

Thirty-four early career religious archivists gathered recently at the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse in Leavenworth, KS to learn the basic processes and procedures of managing a small archive. CARA member Malachy McCarthy led the Workshop, sharing teaching responsibility with Colleen McFarland Rademaker, head archivist of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth.

Sponsored by the Claretian Archives, the Workshop provides focused instruction for those with little or no previous experience. The training is intense because of the amount of material that has to be covered in a short time frame.

Patricia Carroll, a member of CARA, coordinated the Workshop. “We marketed the Workshop across the country at meetings and through regional organizations. It was not difficult at all to reach our maximum enrollment. There is an ongoing demand for training.” An important goal of the Workshop is to give participants the opportunity to form personal connections with others who face similar challenges and issues. “The Workshop provides a wealth of reference material to take home,” said Patricia. “The secret sauce is bringing people together to form bonds of support and reliance in their professional journeys. As archivists and Lone Arrangers, we all need others to help us figure things out.”