CoSA Blog

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 ...

Victoria Irons Walch Leadership Awards: Ashley Selima (RI) and Allen Ramsey (CT) Ashley Selima, Rhode Island State Archivist and Public Records Administrator Since her appointment in 2017, Ashley has demonstrated an incredible ability to meet multiple complex challenges and opportunities both creatively and effectively. Under her leadership, the State Archives has initiated a new Digital Archives program, making all historical state vital records and other in-demand records available online through our Digital Archives. Just in 2022, over 100,000 new items were added for Rhode Islanders to access! In addition, she has been proactive in meeting ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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