Blogs

CoSA Cultural Competency Programming: A Pause, A Pivot, and A New Direction The broad topic of cultural competency was identified as an important element of CoSA’s IMLS-funded BACKER: Building Archival Capacity for Keeping Electronic Records grant, particularly as it related to public access of electronic records. As we stated in our baseline report, Relevant, Responsive, and Respectful: Government Archives in the 21 st Century – An Overview of Cultural Competency in State and Territorial Archives in 2022, “ A key outcome of the BACKER project is to integrate electronic records access with an intentional awareness of current ...

2023 CoSA Awards Program Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient The Lifetime Achievement Award was created by the CoSA Awards Committee this year to recognize a peer who has performed dedicated service to CoSA and, in so doing, elevated the work and the voice of state and territorial archives. The recipient will be nominated by and chosen at the discretion of the committee, and may not be given every year. The recipient of the inaugural CoSA Lifetime Achievement Award 2023 is Thomas J. Ruller, Retired New York State Archivist and former CoSA President. Tom is a vocal and passionate voice for the important work of ...

We continue our month-long celebration of CoSA's 2023 Award Recipients! This week we feature two CoSA-NHPRC SHRAB Award of Merit recipients and the Advocacy for Archives recipient. Congratulations! CoSA-NHPRC SHRAB Award of Merit South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board In 2022, the South Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board (SHRAB) re-established its regrant award program with funding from the NHPRC State Board Programming Grant program to respond to the needs of smaller, rural, and traditionally-underserved archival repositories throughout the state. The 2022-2023 SC SHRAB Program allowed the board to fully ...

Victoria Irons Walch Emerging Leader Award Joshua Hackel, Electronic Records Archivist, Illinois State Archives Joshua Hackel serves as the Archives’ technology subject matter expert, assisting state and local agencies with their records-related technology questions and manages the Archives’ digital preservation efforts. He is currently providing the technical expertise for two ongoing major projects: a shared digital preservation platform and an archive management platform. Both projects require extensive planning, researching potential vendors, liaising with both internal and external stakeholders, and ensuring a smooth transition ...

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, ...

Putting the Digital Preservation Capacity Self-Assessment Results to Work for You by Veronica Martzahl In the lead up to the 2022 Digital Preservation Capacity Self-Assessment survey launch, several blog entries have highlighted how the round of self-assessment by CoSA members will help identify resources needed to manage electronic records and to establish and sustain digital repositories. The survey results will also guide the SERI subcommittees in their ongoing efforts and potentially suggest areas to work collaboratively with CoSA’s partner associations. While these are important and impactful benefits for the state and territorial archives community ...

Images: Graves County Courthouse, exterior and interior of clerk's office, Mayfield, KY (provided by KDLA) The Council of State Archivists and the Friends of Kentucky Public Archives, Inc., recently joined together to assist the Kentucky State Archives with funds to aid in disaster recovery for the many government offices that were affected by the December tornados that hit Western Kentucky. The CoSA Executive Committee approved an emergency allocation of $2000 from CoSA’s Disaster Relief fund, and the Friends group double-matched that amount, allowing for $6000 to use before FEMA funds, insurance, and grant funds from the Kentucky Local Records grant program ...