Update on Labor Dispute

On Tuesday, an update was posted on the SAA website concerning the Chicago hotel labor dispute. An agreement was reached on March 4th and a final settlement is expected soon. SAA also reiterated its desire avoid such a problem in the future as well as their reasons for continuing to hold the annual meeting as planned. Interestingly they noted that a certain number of members must actually stay at the Hyatt Regency in order for the meeting space to be provided free of charge.

Public Workers Will Have Public E-mails

This week's post is a little different from the usual topic. Instead of news, I have an article concerning the e-mails of public workers that was posted to the Archives and Archivists listserv. It is stating that all public workers may someday find that their e-mails are subject to review by the public. Since some of us work for the State Library and many of us may eventually work in government this is an issue that will someday affect us. The article underscores the value of self censorship. Click on the link to view the article.

On a lighter note, SCSAA is having its bake sale on Tuesday from 11 AM to 4 PM. Everyone is encouraged to check it out.

New Exhibit at Nixon Library

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library unveiled the Watergate Gallery this week. It seeks to portray the scandal that led to Nixon's downfall in honest and clear terms. An article describing it was recently posted to the Archives and Archivists listserv. Click on the link to view it.

The Cutting Edge of Archival Development

An article was recently posted to the Archives and Archivists listserv that offers a glimpse into the latest technology being developed to handle large amounts of digital records. The gist is that the National Archives turned to the Texas Advanced Computing Center to create a way to analyze the huge amount of files they received from the previous Presidency. The result was a system that uses treemap visualization to represent metadata, file formats, and preservation levels. Click on the link for the full article.

Also, I posted a new discussion on the Facebook page. With summer coming up, my attention has turned to the projects that I would like to accomplish between semesters. Your feedback is greatly appreciated in evaluating my progress and in suggesting changes that you feel need to be made.

Government Secrecy Goes Too Far

This week's article is a bit longer than usual. An article from the Columbia Journalism review was recently posted to the Archives and Archivists listserv. It discusses the unnecessary overuse of classifying government documents and how WikiLeaks is undermining that. Click on the link for the full article.

In other news, the officers at SCSAA can officially announce that the Special Libraries Association and us will be able to visit the JFK Library on April 21st. There are plan in the works is or us to get a behind the scenes tour and even visit the museum for free! More information will be given when the details are finalized.

Government Does Not Comply with FOIA Memo

For those of you unable to make the question and answer session on Friday, we will recap what was said at the meeting tomorrow. Also, a more detailed summary will be posted on the website as soon as possible.

In other news I am proud to announce that the Society of American Archivists has accepted our student chapter's proposal. As mentioned we will be presenting it at their annual meeting in August. If anyone would like to help in creating it, feel free to send an e-mail to scsaa@albany.edu.

Finally, there is some news related to the Federal's Government's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act. An article posted to the Archives and Archivists listserv found that only half of all federal government agencies have complied with President Obama's standards. Click on the link to view the full article.

Some Updates

There are two things to be reported today. First of all, the Society of American Archivists announced recently that the annual meeting will continue to take place at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. Click on the link for the full announcement. Also, click here for a website operated by UNITE HERE (the union representing hotel workers in Chicago that is involved with the dispute) detailing disputes with other Hyatt locations.

The second update concerns the Capital Area Archivists Q&A session. We here at SCSAA are pleased to announce that it will take place next Friday, March 11th at 6 PM in the Levitt Room on the downtown campus. We hope to see you all there.