Archival Agitators and Advocates Lecture Series
hosted by the iSchool at the University of Pittsburgh
Co-sponsored by the Institute for Information Ethics and Policy and the Society of American Archivists Student Chapter
Meet the Speaker Coffee will be held at 10:30 AM, followed by the lectures from 11:00 AM - noon.
All events will be held in Room 501 of the IS Building, 135 North Bellefield Avenue.
Over the past couple of decades, the archival profession has mostly seen digital technologies as its greatest challenge, and with good reason. These technologies have threatened both the ability of archivists to preserve records and the basic nature of archival work and identity. Today, however, the most prominent problems for the foreseeable future may be ethical and accountability issues involving personal privacy, government and corporate activities, and intellectual property. All of these kinds of issues involve equipping a new generation of archivists to become more effective advocates for their programs and the archival mission.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Anthony Clark, freelance scholar
"Presidential Libraries: The Last Campaign; How Presidents Rewrite History, Run for Posterity and Enshrine their Legacies."
Abstract: Mr. Clark is completing a history of the Presidential libraries, a project taking him to every library; evaluating the experiences of visitors to these institutions; interviewing docents, guards, and library staff, including their directors and high-ranking staff at the National Archives; attending public events; working in their public research rooms; and examining the administrative and other files in and about these institutions.
link to : [ video ] To view this video please use the login: lectures and password: public
link to : [ podcast ]
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Friday, February 20, 2009
David L. George-Shongo Jr., Seneca Nation Archivist and member of the Society of American Archivists Native American Archives Round Table
"The Protocols for Native American Archival Materials and the Future of Archival Work."
Abstract: David L. George-Shongo, Jr. will be discussing the creation of the Protocols, the challenges of having the archival profession implement the Protocols, and how educators can assist in pushing forward the adoption of the Protocols through their incorporation in the educational curriculum.
link to : [ video ] To view this video please use the login: lectures and password: public
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Friday, April 10, 2009
Bruce Montgomery, Associate Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder
Dr. Montgomery is the author of The Bush-Cheney Administration's Assault on Open Government (Praeger, 2008) and Subverting Open Government: White House Materials and Executive Branch Politics (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2006).
"From Richard M. Nixon to George W. Bush: Government Secrecy and the Archival Profession."
Abstract: The Nixon years witnessed a sweeping historical indictment against the presidency and abuse of power in the Watergate scandal. Above all, the insistence on executive secrecy precipitated Nixon’s fall from grace and ignited a furious Congressional backlash in the 1970s, resulting in the passage of numerous new laws to make government more open and accountable. While subsequent presidents fought to weaken these new laws, the administration of George W. Bush escalated these battles to unprecedented heights to roll back or eliminate the nation’s key open government measures to reassert presidential power. For more than 30 years, as the three branches of government fought over the proper limits of open government and secrecy—issues that should have been of vital concern to archivists—the archival profession traveled mostly a timid path. But the question now is whether the profession has sufficiently emerged as a vibrant field that is willing to address the most salient issues of the day involving government secrecy and the public’s right to know what has been done in its name.
link to : [ video ] To view this video please use the login: lectures and password: public
