[SOA] Fwd: [AALL] Responding to Hurricane Katrina: Archival Team to Visit Mississippi

[Janet Carleton]

From: "Vicki Walch" <vwalch@coshrc.org>
To: <archival_leaders@aall.archivists.org>,
         "Archives listserv" <archives@listserv.muohio.edu>,
         <RECMGMT-L@LISTS.UFL.EDU>, <archive-educate@forums.nyu.edu>,
         <COSHRC-L@lists.Maine.edu>
Subject: [AALL] Responding to Hurricane Katrina:  Archival Team to 
Visit Mississippi
Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 21:32:12 -0500
Sender: archival_leaders-owner@aall.archivists.org
Reply-To: archival_leaders@aall.archivists.org

This message is being posted to a number of lists.
Please excuse cross-postings.

==================================================

September 17, 2005

The archival community expressed its support and concern for the people of
the Gulf Coast states devastated by the effects of Hurricane Katrina in a
September 2nd joint statement encouraging colleagues to contribute financial
resources and volunteer to assist in relief efforts.  As the essential needs
for shelter, food, and protection are addressed, conditions are beginning to
develop to allow assessment and response to archives and records issues.

Conditions in Mississippi have now improved sufficiently to allow for
initial exploration of how the archives and records community can be of
assistance to our friends and colleagues in that state.  On September 18-20,
a team will travel to Mississippi to meet with Hank Holmes, Director of the
Department of Archives and History, State Archivist Julia Young, and other
colleagues to assess how archivists in the United States can help their
colleagues in areas struck by Hurricane Katrina.  The team includes David
Carmicheal, President of the Council of State Archivists (C0SA) and State
Archivist for Georgia; Richard Pearce-Moses, President of the Society of
American Archivists (SAA) and Director of Digital Government Information for
the Arizona State Library and Archives; and Debra Hess Norris, Chair of
Heritage Preservation and Chair of the Art Conservation Department at the
University of Delaware.  Holmes welcomed the group's trip, expressing his
appreciation for the profession's concern and efforts to help in ways that
meet their needs.  Other partners in organizing this trip include the
National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators
(NAGARA), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the
Council of State Library Administrators (COSLA) and the Society of Southwest
Archivists (SSA).

Continuing restrictive conditions necessitated both a very limited number of
participants and duration for this initial visit.  The team will be briefed
on the existing conditions based on preliminary assessment work undertaken
by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History staff and assisted by
conservators from the Georgia Archives and Emory University working in the
area this past week.  Norris will provide a workshop for local staff
focusing on disaster-recovery techniques for photographs.  The team will
then travel with members of the Department of Archives and History staff to
coastal areas hit hardest by the storm.  The team will focus on the
conditions and assistance needed for local government records,
archival/historical records and special collections.  Finally, the team will
discuss with professional colleagues in Mississippi the types of assistance
most useful to support their recovery efforts over the coming weeks, months
and years.

The team will return with photographs and stories to raise awareness in the
federal government, the media, and the general public of the need for funds
to recover from this disaster and to be prepared for future disasters.  The
collaborating organizations for this trip will work with our Mississippi
colleagues to coordinate offers of resources and volunteer time needed.

The organizations mounting this effort are pursuing routes for undertaking a
similar trip to Louisiana when conditions permit to offer support and
assistance to colleagues in the archives and records
communities there.  Individuals interested in volunteering should enlist
through the SAA website.

Further information on this trip and future efforts will be posted on the
following websites:
Society of American Archivists:  www.archivists.org
Council of State Archivists:  www.coshrc.org


o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

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________________________
Janet M. Carleton - <carleton@ohio.edu> - 740/597-2527
Digital Initiatives Coordinator / Women's Studies Bibliographer
Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections
Alden 504, Ohio University Libraries, Athens, Ohio
<http://www.library.ohiou.edu/>