New website changes

A new design and layout for the SCSAA website is now up! The navigation bar has moved from the side to the top and some of the background colors have changed. The biggest changes, however, are that some of the pages have been consolidated and some information has been moved around. News as well as information about upcoming trips is now available directly on our home page. Contact information and a list of current officers is now on the about page. There is also a new archives page which contains links to past meeting minutes as well as trip recaps. Finally the academic and professional resources pages have been consolidated into one section.

The changes are designed to combine pages with similar functions as well as to make information easier to find. For example, if you want to find out when the date for an upcoming trip is, you do not need to navigate away from the home page. These changes will also pave the way for the addition of further information at some point in the future. In general, I envision the site as a repository of information pertaining to SCSAA and the new layout reflects that. Be on the look out for additional changes throughout the summer. Comments are encouraged! I very much appreciate feedback on the new design.

The Environmental Impact of Electronc Records

There was an interesting article in the New York Times examining the potential environmental impact of using electronic medical records. Basically they could be either positive or negative depending on how they are implemented. The article does not address archives, but it raises the question of what the impact of digital records will be on them. Will they reduce trips to the archives and therefore reduce gas consumption? It is difficult to tell for certain since making records available digitally allows for access by users who might not have set foot in the archives in the first place. Clearly more research is needed.

Have a Great Summer

We here at SCSAA would like to wish you a great summer. For those of you who are taking summer classes or have internships, good luck. Likewise we wish the best of luck to anybody graduating this semester. We hope to see everyone else in the fall.

Trip Summary

As many of you probably know on Thursday SCSAA and SLA took a trip to Boston to visit the JFK Archives and the Massachucetts Historical Society. We took a behind the scenes tour of archives and were able to get a close up look at their processing and digitization areas plus they let us into the museum for free! The MHS gave us a tour of their collections and work areas. Both talked about their digitization projects. We ended the trip with dinner at a local Pizza place called Woody's. Stay tuned for pictures and a full summary on this website. I will see you all at the last meeting of the semester.

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.