Special Collections & Archives Interest Group (SCAIG)

SCAIG 2021

Management in Many Forms: Coordinating People and Projects in Remote and Hybrid Environments

Wednesday, May 26, 2021, 9:00AM - 11:30 AM, virtual workshop

We are excited to announce the SCAig 2021 Annual Workshop, “Management in Many Forms: Coordinating People and Projects in Remote and Hybrid Environments.” This workshop will take place virtually on Zoom, and will consist of two one-hour panels, each with two to three speakers and a break in between the panels.

Panel 1 will focus on managing teams and projects within a special collections/archives department in a remote/hybrid environment:

Resource Mapping in Special Collections: Managing Remote Digital Projects Across
Library Departments
Alia Levar Wegner
Digital Collections Librarian, Miami University

Resource mapping is a strategy for identifying partnerships and aligning resources for specific outcomes. Although more commonly used in the non-profit sector to create impactful partnerships with limited resources, it is also an effective way to create and manage remote special collections projects across library departments. This presentation discusses how Miami University’s Walter Havighurst Special Collections & University Archives harnessed the power of resource mapping to create 8 remote digital projects for 18 library staff members and 11 students over the course of a year.

Alia Levar Wegner is the Digital Collections Librarian at the Walter Havighurst Special
Collections and University Archives at Miami University. She is responsible for coordinating the digitization of special collections materials, developing digital collections, and consulting on digital humanities projects. Before joining Miami University Libraries, she was the Rare Book Collection Assistant at the University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill and spent two years working as an editorial assistant with the William Blake Archive. She holds a BA in History from Clemson University, an MS in Information from Florida State University, and a MSc in Book History and Material Cultures from the University of Edinburgh.

Remote and Hybrid Projects with Student Employees
Kayla Harris, Marian Library Librarian/Archivist
Henry Handley, Marian Library Collections Librarian
University of Dayton

This presentation discusses the initial move to remote work for student employees in the Marian Library at the University of Dayton in Spring 2020, and applying strategies from remote management to a hybrid environment for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Kayla Harris is an archivist and assistant professor at the Marian Library at the University of Dayton. She manages the archival collections, including manuscripts, visual resources, and religious ephemera, as well as providing reference, outreach, and primary source instruction. Kayla directs the archival projects for undergraduate student employees and has previous experience supervising full time employees, graduate students, and volunteers.

Henry Handley is collections librarian and assistant professor at the Marian Library at the University of Dayton. He stewards published materials in the Marian Library, including circulating books, pamphlets, the juvenile collection, rare books, and journals/periodicals. He also supervises undergraduate student employees projects with these collections, including inventorying new accessions, updating metadata, and other collections management.

Panel 2 focuses on managing projects with people outside of the library and archives, including donors, community members, and other stakeholders:

CWRU COVID-19: Tell Your Story
Helen Conger, Archivist
Julia Teran, Archivist
Case Western Reserve University

In spring 2020 the CWRU Archives launched a project to collect personal stories of members of the university community during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The Archives staff will describe how they started this program while working from home. They will discuss how they communicated with university staff and donors, what approvals were needed, how the program was advertised, the process developed for donor submissions, and plans to make the collection accessible.

Helen Conger is an archivist at the Case Western Reserve University
Archives. She is responsible for collection development and management activities, administers the web archiving program, coordinates digitization, manages the departmental website, and provides research and reference services. She is a member of the Society of American Archivists, Midwest Archives Conference, Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, Society of Ohio Archivists, and recently completed a two-year term of office as chair of the Cleveland Archival Roundtable. Helen is a Certified Archivist and holds an M.A. in History and Archives Administration and a B.A. in History and English.

Julia Teran is an archivist at the Case Western Reserve University
Archives. Before joining CWRU, she worked as a project archivist at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an M.L.I.S., M.A. in History, and Graduate Certificate in Archival Administration from Wayne State University. Julia is a Certified Archivist, and is a member of the Society of American Archivists, Midwest Archives Conference, Academy of Certified Archivists, Society of Ohio Archivists, and the Cleveland Archival Roundtable.

When Life Hands you a Pandemic: Navigating Donor Relations during COVID-19
Kristina Schultz, University Archivist
University of Dayton

Work acquiring the collection of the late humorist, Erma Bombeck, had already begun prior to the pandemic. This presentation will focus on a brief overview of Bombeck’s work and relationship with the university and the steps taken during the pandemic to ensure the completion of the process of acquisition and transfer of the collection. The presenter will also talk briefly about their work with a local artist and the use of technology to continue conversations while working through preliminary assessment of the personal papers the university hopes to acquire.

Kristina Schulz is a graduate of Miami University and received her Master of Arts degree in Public History at Wright State University. After spending over fifteen years as a museum archivist, Kristina made the jump to academic archives in 2013. One of her favorite things about her work is uncovering stories within the many collections at UD and sharing them with the campus community. When not at work, Kristina enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters, two stepsons, and their goofy Labrador retriever. Post-pandemic, Kristina is looking forward to traveling to the beach.