Blogs

CoSA Cultural Competency Programming: A Pause, A Pivot, and A New Direction

By Anne Ackerson posted 11-03-2023
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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 ...
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Introducing the 2023 CoSA Awards Program Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

By Anne Ackerson posted 07-17-2023
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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 ...
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Introducing the 2023 CoSA Awards Program CoSA-NHPRC SHRAB Award of Merit and Advocacy for Archives Recipients!

By Anne Ackerson posted 07-10-2023
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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 ...
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Introducing the 2023 CoSA Awards Program Walch Emerging Leader and Rising Star Recipients

By Anne Ackerson posted 07-05-2023
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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 ...
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Introducing the 2023 CoSA Awards Program Walch and CoSA-Ancestry Leadership Recipients!

By Anne Ackerson posted 06-26-2023
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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 ...
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CoSA Congratulates Dr. Colleen J. Shogan on Archivist of the United States Confirmation

By Anne Ackerson posted 05-16-2023
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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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