3020 October is American Archives Month: Celebrate the American Record

So I'm a bit late in announcing this, since tomorrow is the last day of October, but I've had such a good time looking at the SAA (Society of American Archivists) site. Here's the message for their members:

"American Archives Month is intended to boost everyone’s current efforts and encourage even more participation. It is a tool that may be used to raise awareness among a variety of audiences, including policy makers, "influentials" within your community, resource allocators, prospective donors, researchers, future archivists, the media (including newsletter editors and community relations departments within your own institution!), and the general public. We encourage you to target your audience carefully, and focus on providing a consistent message that will be most likely to influence the thinking or behavior of that key audience."

I'm much more interested in archives now than I ever was when I was employed as a librarian. But even then, I often had things donated that were not for the library record. Fortunately there was a group in Columbus preserving artifacts, school work and memorabilia of veterinarians. I think every church, business, museum, government department, ethnic group, town, city, club, and family probably has an archive whether or not they realize it. When the oldest member of your family dies, often the history goes with them.

There's a very interesting "Introduction to the principals and practices" of archives next Monday and Tuesday in St. Meinard, IN (practically next door!) which "provides an overview of the core archival functions of appraisal, accessioning, arrangement and description, preservation, reference and access." Looks like it would be a wonderful way to become acquainted with the field, and although the registration is pricey, you sure can't beat the housing and food costs.