Blogs

CoSA Congratulates Dr. Colleen J. Shogan on Archivist of the United States Confirmation

By Anne Ackerson posted 11 days ago
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Dr. Colleen J. Shogan, 11th Archivist of the United States In the wake of the recent Senate confirmation of Dr. Colleen J. Shogan to be the 11th Archivist of the United States, CoSA President and Utah State Archivist Ken Williams was asked to share his thoughts about the lengthy and, at times, contentious process. “As the current CoSA President I'm thrilled that Dr. Shogan has been confirmed as the next AOTUS,” he exclaimed. “Members of our Council have enjoyed several opportunities to meet Dr. Shogan during the lengthy confirmation process where we expressed our support for her appointment, shared ideas and possibilities for future collaboration, ...
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Announcing Two Exciting New Programs This Spring!

By Anne Ackerson posted 04-13-2023
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APRIL 17 + JUNE 22 | 3 - 4:30 PM Eastern Planning a facilities renovation or new construction? Wrestling with managing a project that's already underway? Join your CoSA colleagues for a two-part conversation about facilities project planning and implementation. Each session will feature state archives representatives sharing real-life lessons, successes, and pitfalls. Keynote: Chris Woods, Architect with the SmithGroup, Washington, DC OPEN TO ALL WITHOUT CHARGE For more information and to register Part 1: Planning phase Part 2: Construction phase MAY 18 | 12:30 - 4:30 PM Eastern The Council of ...
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Is Everyday Advocacy on Your To-Do List?

By Anne Ackerson posted 03-23-2023
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There's an important difference between advocacy and lobbying, but many people conflate the two. While lobbying is the active attempt to influence legislation or ballot issues, advocacy is the umbrella term that encompasses a range of activities, of which lobbying is just one piece. Even though government employees are generally barred from lobbying for funding and/or legislation, what we can do is consciously and continuously educate elected and appointed officials, and the general public, about what state and territorial archives do and why that work is important. A chunk of that education relies on data -- the quantifiable picture you create from the ...
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Meet Florida State Archivist and CoSA Board Member Beth Golding

By Becky Julson posted 02-21-2023
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Beth Golding joined the CoSA Board in 2020. She is a member of the Education and Training Committee. Tell us a bit about your career journey. I started as an undergraduate history major with no career direction other than “anything but teaching.” An undergraduate internship at the New York State Archives in my final semester introduced me to the wonders of archives and archivists, and from then on, I knew exactly where I wanted to be. Thanks to training provided by some amazing professional mentors (now long-time friends), I had the good fortune to secure a couple of grant-funded project archivist positions. Those led to a full-time position at the NYS ...
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CoSA President Ken Williams Shares His Thoughts for the New Year

By Anne Ackerson posted 01-04-2023
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Ken Williams, Utah State Archivist and CoSA President There are a couple of things you need to know about CoSA President Ken Williams: the first is his optimism, which pervades pretty much every aspect of his life, and the second is that he’s a man on a mission for CoSA. Taken together, it’s an unbeatable combination for an organization that is navigating a crossroad in its organizational life. Read more of Ken's interview
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Let's Celebrate American Archives Month!

By Anne Ackerson posted 10-17-2022
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Throughout the month of October, state and territorial archives use American Archives Month to raise awareness about their work and the importance of that work on the lives of residents across the country. Many archives choose a theme to highlight such as music, women’s rights, climate change, transportation, or architecture and then showcase related materials during the month as part of exhibits, tours, and special events. Here are a few examples of American Archives Month themes for 2022: The State Archives of Florida is exploring how citizens engage in shaping government and how historical records illustrate that engagement with its theme, Your Archives, ...
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Advocacy Alert: Urge your Senators to confirm the Archivist of the United States

By Becky Julson posted 10-14-2022
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The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) joins with EveryLibrary in calling for the swift confirmation of Dr. Colleen J. Shogan, the presidential nominee to be the next Archivist of the United States (AOTUS). The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is entrusted by law to keep and maintain open and equal access to government records by all citizens while safeguarding their integrity. Throughout her career and in her recent confirmation testimony , Dr. Shogan has demonstrated her commitment to NARA’s mission and support of democratic principles, ideals, and governance through the critical work of the agency. The archival community agrees ...
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Nashville 2022: Annual Meeting Recap

By Anne Ackerson posted 10-03-2022
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Immediate Past President Eric Emerson (L) and Current President Ken Williams (R) Successful Transfer of the leopard Cape of Power By Taylor Hummel, CoSA Intern It has been three years since the last in-person annual CoSA meeting. This past Monday marked the first in-person annual CoSA meeting since 2019 and it was the first CoSA meeting I have ever attended. I wasn’t alone in experiencing an in-person CoSA meeting for the first time as there were many other new faces in attendance due to numerous staff changes since the 2019 meeting. Things were silly and a little awkward as we relearned how to interact with other people face-to-face instead of the small ...
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CoSA Honors 2022 Awards Recipients

By Anne Ackerson posted 09-20-2022
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The Council of State Archivists Awards Program acknowledges institutions, individuals, and programs that have enriched and strengthened our nation's state and territorial archives. It rewards innovative efforts and provides encouragement for the development of new and remarkable projects. By recognizing exemplary achievements, the Council of State Archivists hopes to inspire others to make similar contributions. The RISING STARS AWARDS acknowledge outstanding contributions by individual staff members or teams to their state archives and constituencies. Rising Star: Clare Horton, Deputy State Archivist, Indiana State Archives Implemented several ...
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PREPARE Project Publishes Results of Email Preservation Software Testing

By Anne Ackerson posted 09-07-2022
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"Standardizing formats and structures for email preservation (or even short-term management) can provide large leaps in efficiency in preserving email." The Phase 2: Testing Report from the CoSA PREPARE Project summarizes the findings of volunteers who tested three email preservation software packages -- ePADD, DArcMail, and libratom -- for use in email appraisal, acquisition, processing, and discovery workflows. The report includes tester insights and recommendations, and provides the basis for the next phase of the PREPARE project, which entails creation of templates, workflows, and other documentation that will support a direct assistance program to ...
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NEW Guidance Documents from the PREPARE Project

By Anne Ackerson posted 08-22-2022
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Two new guidance documents from CoSA’s PREPARE: Preparing Archives for Records in Email project were published this month. PREPARE is a program of capacity-building services for email management and preservation CoSA is providing to state and territorial archives as part of the State Electronic Records Initiative (SERI). The project is funded by a two-year grant from the University of Illinois/Mellon Foundation. Much of PREPARE’s published guidance is applicable to institutions and agencies with responsibilities for managing and preserving email. To learn more about PREPARE and explore other publications from this project, please visit CoSA’s website . ...
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CoSA Presents Cultural Competency Update to IMLS Staff

By Anne Ackerson posted 08-07-2022
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At the invitation of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), CoSA Executive Director Joy Banks, SERI Coordinator Michelle Gallinger, and cultural competency consultant Helen Wong Smith joined 25 IMLS staff to share an update on cultural competency activities that are part of CoSA's IMLS-funded BACKER* project. Anthony Smith, Associate Deputy Director/Office of Library Services/Discretionary Programs, began the conversation by stating that cultural competency is "important work with far-reaching implications." Helen Wong Smith provided an overview on the broad topic of cultural competency: definitions, challenges, and constructive approaches to incorporating ...
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"In Conversation With...." Discusses Reparative Description/Conscious Editing

By Anne Ackerson posted 07-20-2022
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Valencia Johnson, Princeton University Dawne Howard Lucas, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill The latest edition of "In Conversation With..." features Valencia Johnson, Archivist for Student Life at Princeton University’s Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, and Dawne Howard Lucas , Technical Services Archivist for Collection Management at the Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discussing reparative description/conscious editing practices in their respective institutions. The unfolding landscape of reparative description, also called conscious editing or ethical description, is a topic of great ...
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CoSA/SERI Release Digital Preservation Capability Maturity Model Self-Assessment Results

By Anne Ackerson posted 07-19-2022
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The CoSA 2022 Digital Preservation Capability Maturity Model Self-Assessment Survey was administered between January and March. Forty-five states and one territory completed the survey. This report highlights the gains state and territorial archives have made since the last self-assessment (2015), the areas where they have held fast, and the topics where they have lost ground. CoSA will utilize this data to target outreach, training, and advocacy efforts to strengthen electronic records management and digital preservation at the state and territorial government level. The 2022 Digital Preservation Capability Maturity Model Self-Assessment survey revealed relatively ...
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"In Conversation With...." Discusses Reparative Description/Conscious Editing

By Anne Ackerson posted 07-11-2022
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Valencia Johnson, Princeton University Dawne Howard Lucas, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Reparative description/conscious editing is the topic of this edition of "In Conversation With..." featuring Valencia Johnson , Archivist for Student Life at Princeton University’s Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, and Dawne Howard Lucas , Technical Services Archivist for Collection Management at the Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There’s been a quickening drumbeat around the topic of reparative description/conscious editing/ethical description, but the fact of the matter is these aren’t simply ...
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Join Us in Nashville for the BPE & CoSA Joint (un)Conference: September 26 - 28

By Anne Ackerson posted 06-21-2022
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After a three-year hiatus, CoSA members will be convening in person in Nashville this September as part of the Best Practices Exchange (un)Conference. The schedule of CoSA annual meeting activities has been finalized and can be found here . Highlights include: Sunday, September 25: CoSA member welcome dinner and tour of Tennessee State Library and Archives All state archives staff are invited to attend. Dinner sponsored by Iron Mountain. Monday, September 26: CoSA Business Meeting*, Awards Program, and Work Session* The Awards Program is sponsored by FamilySearch. The Work Session and lunch are sponsored by Ancestry. Tuesday, September 27: CoSA Member ...
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Announcing the 2022 CoSA Award Program Recipients

By Anne Ackerson posted 06-16-2022
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The Council of State Archivists proudly announces the following recipients of its 2022 annual awards. Rising Star: The Rising Stars awards acknowledge outstanding contributions by individual staff members or teams to their state archives and constituencies. Claire Horton, Deputy State Archivist, Indiana State Archives Implemented several crowd-sourced transcription projects using From the Page. Her work towards developing a virtual volunteer program led the Indiana Office of Technology in 2018 to recognize the initiative as the "Best Application Serving the Public." In response to legal restrictions, oversaw the creation of an administrative rule ...
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Council of State Archivists Announces New Executive Director Appointment

By Anne Ackerson posted 05-18-2022
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Council of State Archivists Announces New Executive Director Appointment The Council of State Archivists (CoSA) announced today that Joy Banks will be CoSA's new executive director as of J une 1, 20 22 , succeeding Barbara Teague after her successful four-and-a-half-year executive director tenure. Ms. Banks' selection was the culmination of a f ive -month nationwide search conducted by CoSA's Executive Director Search Committee. Ms. Banks comes to CoSA from her position as a Program Officer with the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR ), an Alexandria, VA-based sponsor-supported organization, where she ...
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Looking Back at a Year of Robust Humanities Advocacy

By Anne Ackerson posted 05-03-2022
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By Alexandra Klein, National Humanities Alliance Communications and Government Relations Manager In early March, five months after Fiscal Year 2022 began, Congress finally passed a funding package for the year. The package included significant increases for federal humanities programs—most significantly, the largest increase we’ve seen in a decade for the National Endowment for the Humanities. This success followed a full year of robust humanities advocacy. In addition to many other engagements with members of Congress and their staff throughout the year, we followed Humanities Advocacy Day with two congressional briefings to highlight the impact of ...
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MayDay Preparedness is Everyone's Business

By Anne Ackerson posted 05-02-2022
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MayDay Preparedness is Everyone’s Business Did you know that, in 2021, the U.S. experienced 20 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, putting 2021 in second place for the most disasters in a calendar year, behind the record 22 separate billion-dollar events in 2020? ( Climate.gov ) Tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes and tropical storms led the list of significant weather events last year. NOAA adds, “It is concerning that 2021 was another year in a series of years where we had a high frequency, a high cost, and large diversity of extreme events that affect people's lives and livelihoods—concerning because it hints that the extremely high activity ...
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