“Willamette University’s first archivist puts a face on history”

<<from the Statesman Journal>>

Amid the Wallulah yearbooks, the old senior theses, reel-to-reel tapes and the plastic seal balancing a gold dollar sign on its nose, Mary McKay is in her own kind of heaven.

“The most fun part of my job is you get sucked in,” said Willamette University’s first archivist.

“You just get to explore and learn.

“I get to work with history on the back end.”

The West’s oldest university, founded officially in 1842, is a treasure trove of history, but the Salem school only got serious about the past when it hired someone from the present, McKay, who joined Willamette a year and a half ago, as its first real historian.

<<full article at the SJ>>

A pioneering volunteer

<<from the Statesman Journal>>

Daraleen Wade of Keizer began her interest in history — and genealogy — with childhood curiosity about the Oregon Trail.

As a volunteer with the state Archives Division, which recently honored her and other volunteers, Wade is helping compile information on everyone who lived in Oregon before statehood on Feb. 14, 1859.

“I think it’s good for me, mentally and physically,” she said. “I enjoy the people I work with, the contacts — and the chance to have a laugh or two. I have no intention of quitting, until I cannot get here.”

With 15 years as a volunteer and still going strong, she has made history herself.

<<full article at the SJ>>

Web exhibit celebrates the 150th anniversary of the framing of the Oregon Constitution

This exhibit explores the development of the Oregon Constitution, particularly events surrounding the 1857 constitutional convention. In the process, it examines life, politics, and important issues in the years before and after the convention. It also looks at how the constitution has evolved during the 150 years since the convention.

http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/1857/

Disaster workshop in LaGrande

<<via heritage-l>>

The Western States & Territories Preservation Assistance Service will provide training in preserving library and archive collections as part of a series of workshops related to disaster preparedness, response and recovery. The first two-part workshop in Oregon will take place Sept. 21 and Oct. 26 at the LaGrande Public Library.

Participants in the workshop will complete a disaster plan by the end of Part 2; learn how to train staff to implement the plan effectively; set pre- and post-disaster action priorities for collections; learn how to use practical decision-making skills during an emergency; and experience salvage procedures for books, documents, and non-print media.

Administrators and staff responsible for emergency preparedness, response and decision-making, in all types of libraries and archives are encouraged to attend. By registering for the workshop, the institution commits to supporting the attendee(s) to achieve the workshop’s disaster preparedness goals. There is no charge to organizations. Funding has been provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and co-sponsored by the Oregon State Library. Project planners include Normandy Helmer of the University of Oregon and Kristen Kern of Portland State University.

 

Additional workshops will be held in Eugene in Fall 2007 and in Bend Summer 2008, and in Washington (Kennewick,  Sept. 25 and Nov. 30, 2007; Seattle, Oct. 23 and Dec. 14, 2007).

Pre-registration is required. Register online at: WESTPAS workshop. For registration assistance contact Kathy Krause (krause at plsinfo dot org).

For general and content information contact Julie Page (jpage at westpas dot org).

NEH grants available for digital initiatives

<<via heritage-l>>

The National Endowment for the Humanities is seeking grant proposals for the planning or initial stages of digital initiatives in all areas of the humanities. The deadline for applications is Oct. 16.

These Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants may involve research that brings new digital approaches to the study of the humanities or that examines the implications of the use of emerging technologies for humanities scholarship; new digital modes of publication facilitating the dissemination of humanities scholarship in advanced academic as well as informal or formal educational settings at all academic levels; exploration of digital methods or approaches to preserve, archive, and make accessible traditional (i.e., analogue) and “new media” resources in the humanities; planning new digital tools for preserving, analyzing, and making accessible humanities data; and programs addressing the innovative use of emerging digital technologies in formal and informal educational settings, including public forums such as museums, libraries, historic sites, and broadcast media, and K-12 schools and post-secondary institutions.

State governments, school districts, city or township governments, colleges and universities, special district governments, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, individuals, and federally recognized tribes may apply.

For more information, visit http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/digitalhumanitiesstartup.html.

Oregon Heritage Grant applications now available

<<via heritage-l>>

Applications to receive Oregon Heritage Grants are now available from the Oregon Heritage Commission. The deadline to apply for the 2007-2009 cycle is 4 p.m. Oct. 5, 2007.

Oregon Heritage Grants support projects that conserve, develop or interpret Oregon*s heritage resources. In the past, supported projects have included conservation and cataloging of archival and museum collections, development and interpretation of historic sites, and education about community and state history. Heritage Grants are available to assist with statehood sesquicentennial projects, and projects with a sesquicentennial link or incorporating sesquicentennial elements can be considered.

Descriptions of some past projects are available on the commission’s web site at http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/OHC/heritagegrants.shtml
Grants provide up to 50 percent of project costs. Awards in the previous cycle ranged up to $20,000. A minimum of $204,000 is available to be awarded. All awarded projects must be completed by April 1, 2009.

Eligible applicants include non-profit organizations, agencies of local government, and federally recognized tribal governments located in Oregon. Individuals, religious organizations, for-profit organizations such as partnerships, companies, and corporations, state agencies, school districts, state-supported colleges and universities, and federal agencies are not eligible to apply. The next opportunity after this grant cycle is expected to be the summer of 2009.

Heritage grant application information and application forms may be obtained by calling the Oregon Heritage Commission at (503) 986-0673, requested by sending an e-mail to heritage.info@state.or.us, or downloaded from the grant web site at http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/OHC/heritagegrants.shtml

NWDA merges with Orbis Cascade Alliance

For details see page 13 of Descriptive Notes (Summer 2007). NWDA’s page at  the OCA web site can be seen here while the main NWDA site remains the same.

Call for presentations – ARMA Great Northwest Region Conference – April 2008

<<source: RECMGMT-L@LISTS.UFL.EDU>>

The Great Northwest Region of ARMA International announces its Region Conference to be held in beautiful Portland, Oregon April 7 – 9, 2008.

We invite you to join us as a presenter at the conference. Our conference theme is “LINKS: Leveraging Information, Networks, and Knowledge Successfully.” LINKS was chosen to illustrate how records & information management is an integral part of an organization’s well-being and how it is our duty as records professionals to establish, grow and maintain links not only with our customers and organization’s management, but also with our partners in technology services, legal services, and with our vendors and fellow RIM professionals.

For details on submitting a proposal, please visit the Great Northwest Region website and click on the Call for Presentations link or contact me offline. Thank you.

Tim Hunt, CRM
Chair, Speaker and Program Committee
2008 ARMA Great Northwest region Conference
Phone: (503) 823-4565
tim dot hunt **AT** ci dot portland dot or dot us

SB 554 and SB 671 open records bills signed by governor

<<source http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?…>>

Two open records bills signed by Oregon governor
6/22/2007, 7:25 p.m. PDT
The Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed two bills Friday to accelerate requests for public records and require the release of some information that would be confidential otherwise under attorney-client privilege.

Afterward, Kulongoski said Oregon needs to put the public back into its 1973 public-records law, which has been eroded over the years by exemptions approved by lawmakers putting various records out of the public’s reach.

“This is a change in direction,” Kulongoski said at Friday’s signing ceremony. “Maybe it is the first step that we will try to correct a number of these problems.”

One of the bills signed by Kulongoski requires government agencies to respond without delay to requests for public documents.

The other requires government agencies to release a condensed version of information that agencies otherwise could withhold from disclosure because of confidentiality of communications between agencies and the lawyers who represent them.

<<more at The Oregonian>> <<other source: 1>>

Holy Names Heritage Center opening

<<source : http://www.westlinntidings.com/news/…>>

The public is invited to attend the grand opening celebration of the new Holy Names Sisters Foundation Heritage Center from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday (6/21).

The 15,000-square-foot center, which is located near Marylhurst University, features historical material from 146 years of the Holy Names Sisters in Oregon and the Archive of Oregon Family Histories.

The center, which broke ground in September 2005, cost $5 million to build and is open to the public.

Its mission is to be a resource for the conservation and retelling of significant stories, historical development as well as the social impact of the Holy Names Sisters in the Pacific Northwest communities since their arrival in Portland 146 years ago.

The center will also be home to the Family History Project showcasing how Northwest families have impacted and contributed to the life, culture and society of the Pacific Northwest.

Staffed by professionals and volunteers, the center will host programs for children, adults and seniors. Exhibits, family history research and cultural programs will focus on local history, cultural preservation and traditions.

After the celebration Saturday, the center will host a series of informational sessions on the Family History project and workshops on preserving family archives and artifacts.

The center is located at 17425 Holy Names Drive in Lake Oswego. Admission to the celebration is free.

For more information, contact Executive Director Tamra Brosseau at 503-607-0595 or e-mail her at tbrosseau –AT– holynamesheritagecenter dot org

www.holynamesheritagecenter.org