2019 MAC Annual Meeting Workshops

All workshops will be held at the conference hotel.

Records and Information Management: The Archivist’s Loyal Friend

THURSDAY, April 4
8:00 am– 12:00 pm

This workshop will provide an overview of the field of records and information management (RIM) and its important relationship to the archival profession. The instructor will cover how the functions of RIM professionals are changing in today’s digital environment and discuss the challenges presented by the shift from paper-based to digital-only recordkeeping practices. The instructor will lay out the fundamental elements of a records and information management program including

  • Identifying and conducting an assessment of business functions
  • Developing retention schedules
  • Creating training resources
  • Offering records storage options
  • Building strong ties with the archives
  • Maintaining institutional support

You will have the opportunity to work on drafting a plan to create or enhance an existing RIM program for your own institution.

Who Should Attend?

This workshop should be of interest to anyone who wants to provide guidance on identifying records that should/should not come to the archives or to those interested in building support for a RIM program.

What Should You Know Already?

You should have at least a basic understanding and appreciation for the business value of records.

Instructor: Joanne Kaczmarek, Director of Records and Information Management Services and Archivist for Electronic Records, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Cost: $50 

Enrollment: 30–35

Text and Data Mining Basics for Beginners Using Open Source, Off-the-Shelf Tools 

THURSDAY, April 4
8:00 am–12:00 pm

Digital humanists and historians are expanding the use of digitized materials in new and exciting directions. As the availability of large collections of OCR-ed documents and associated metadata become available, researchers interested in using computational algorithms to find patterns across hundreds or even thousands of documents look to archives not only to understand these methods, but also to provide documents and corpuses for analysis. In this workshop, you will get your feet wet in the theory and methods of text and data mining, preview an off-the-shelf tool that performs text mining on a set of documents, and discover how to translate knowledge of these new research methods into strategies and programs that extend digital collections to new audiences. You are encouraged to bring your own laptops to participate in hands-on exercises. 

Who Should Attend?

Anyone curious or interested in text and data mining research methods. No coding skills required!

What Should You Know Already?

No text mining experience necessary

Instructor: Alexandra Sarkozy, Science/Medical Librarian, Wayne State University

Cost: $50

Enrollment: 30

 

Digital Preservation Peer Assessment Workshop

THURSDAY, April 4
8:00 am–12:00 pm

Archivists recognize the need to preserve digital materials, but the decisions surrounding how to plan and implement a digital preservation program can be daunting, especially at smaller and underrepresented institutions. An assessment can be a powerful tool to document the decision-making processes and create an action plan for achieving goals. A peer assessment goes one step further to create a community of support for building and sustaining a digital preservation program. In this workshop, you will learn how peer assessment can encourage institutions to assess each other and reflect on practices and goals with the guidance of an outside perspective. You will leave this workshop understanding the challenges of digital preservation, the ways that assessment can make those challenges more manageable, the steps in digital preservation assessment, and the tools to perform a basic peer assessment.

Who Should Attend?

Open to anyone interested in evaluating current digital preservation practices at their institutions.

What Should You Know Already?

A basic understanding of digital preservation activities and best practices is expected; intermediate and advanced learners welcome.  

Instructor: Danielle Spalenka, Preservation Specialist, NEDCC

Cost: $50

Enrollment: Limited to 20 participants