Well, what will come next?

Kate Theimer, master of all things Archives and Next, rightly asks, “What’s next for this group?” Below is sort of an outline of the topics we need to discuss as we put together a proposal. In the coming weeks, we’ll have a whole post dedicated to each of these topics.

Do suggest additional topics in the comments, and if you’d like to write a guest post about any of these, let us know!

• Name: What should we call this group? New Archivists Round Table doesn’t acronym well.
• Purpose: Why does SAA need a roundtable for new archivists? (We sort of answered this one in the last post, but we need to create a formal statement of purpose.)
• Activities: What activities will this group engage in?
• Relationships: How can the group work with other SAA groups, like sections, other roundtables, and student chapters?
• Leadership: What administrative positions should we have? How should we choose leaders?
• Defining “new”: The group will be open to anyone, including non-SAA members, but I’d like to see leadership roles reserved for new archivists. How should we define new archivists for this purpose? (Age is not an acceptable criterion–we’re new archivists, but not necessarily young archivists.)
• Annual meeting: What should we use our annual meeting time for?
• Remote participation: How will RT members who can’t come to SAA participate in our meeting? How will members participate the rest of the year?

Why we need a new archivists roundtable

Friday morning, those of us attending SAA heard outgoing president Helen Tibbo talk about the future of the archives profession, and the problems it currently faces. She talked about the archivists who have been laid off, or who have had to lay off employees, or who have lost their jobs and been unable to find new ones. And I applaud her for reminding the audience about our colleagues who are struggling.

But conspicuously absent from this talk about the future of archives was any mention of new and future archivists. The archivists who wonder why they’re taking on tens of thousands of dollars in debt to enter a profession that doesn’t seem to have room for them. The archivists who are 6 months or a year or more than a year out of school who still can’t find jobs within the profession. The archivists who spend years in project positions and have no job security. The archivists who have the tech skills that our profession needs, but can’t break into the field to use them. The archivists who can’t afford to come to the annual meeting.*

New archivists are a growing force within SAA. At the business meeting on Saturday, we heard that 27% of SAA’s members are students. Add to that the number of members who are new professionals or still looking for their first professional job, and the ratio becomes even more significant.

We are the future of the archives profession. We are the future of SAA. And without official representation within SAA, which this roundtable would provide, I worry that our current and future leaders will keep ignoring us.

 

*(Obviously, some of these apply to less-than-new archivists too.)

Update: No RT meeting, come to the SAA Tweetup/Beer RT instead

I don’t think there’s a time that works for everyone, or almost everyone, for an informal RT meeting at SAA this year. But Lance, Jessica, and I will all be at the SAA Tweetup/Beer RT, so if you’re interested in this RT, please come find us there! (No Twitter account necessary to attend or RSVP.)

What’s the value of an in-person meeting?

So, that last post generated a few comments about organizing an informal meeting at SAA to discuss this roundtable in progress. I’ll be at SAA, and so will Lance and Jessica, and we’re all open to the idea (as long as it doesn’t conflict with the SAA 2011 Tweetup and Beer Roundtable). Please post your ideas for times and/or locations in the comments!

 

But I also want to use this post to talk about the value of meeting in person. One of the benefits of getting this group approved by SAA by January (we hope!) is that we can request a roundtable meeting room and time at SAA12. And it’s an especially important topic for a group for new archivists, because many of us can’t afford to attend the SAA annual meeting or other professional events in person.

 

So I pose the question: what can this group accomplish with an in-person meeting at SAA–either an informal one, like we’d have this year, or a formal one, like we might be able to have next year–that we can’t accomplish remotely? If we do have an in-person meeting, formal or informal, how can we make sure that archivists who can’t attend aren’t out of the loop?

Why a roundtable for new archivists?

Other professional organizations have established groups to meet the needs of new professionals. ALA has a Young Professionals Working Group. The Society of Archivists has a Section for New Professionals. We think the Society of American Archivists needs a similar group for new archivists.

Here are some things we think an SAA roundtable for new archivists could accomplish:

• Advocate for new archivists within SAA and within the archival profession
• Provide a space for discussion of issues affecting new archivists
• Allow new archivists to gain leadership experience through roundtable service

And why a roundtable, as opposed to some other type of group? Check out the SAA Council Handbook section on roundtables. We think our goals fit the description of a roundtable pretty nicely.

What do you think?  Does SAA need a roundtable just for new archivists? What might it accomplish? (And if you’re wondering what makes someone a new archivist…don’t worry, that’s an upcoming post.)