MAC 2021 Fall Symposium

Local Collections in the Digital Age

November 4-5, 2021

Virtually hosted by Kansas City

About the Symposium

Archives in public libraries, colleges and universities, and historical societies are the locus of where local history is found. As part of their communities, they document and share what defines and characterizes a place. As the profession has more generally sought how to make the collections we build more diverse, inclusive, responsive and relevant, approaches and tools have changed. More often than not, those tools and approaches involve technology in some way. With a focus on digital collecting and digital storytelling, this symposium will focus on how the Digital Age and technology have changed what and how we collect and how we share those collections.

Registration

Registration fees:

MAC Members: $45.00
Non-members: $55.00
Students: $10.00

Contact one of the Symposium Co-Chairs for information on alternate forms of payment. Contact information is below.

Meeting Virtually

The Symposium will be held via Zoom Meetings to foster greater interaction between presenters and attendees and to create more opportunities to socialize. Registration is limited to 75 regular attendees (non-scholarship winners) to maintain a smaller, more intimate atmosphere. We have hired a professional who will provide live captions during our event; the Symposium will not be recorded.

Participants will receive an email with details about how to connect, schedule reminders, and more beginning one week prior to the meeting and on each morning of the event. Please make sure that your email address is correct when you register; if you do not receive an email regarding Zoom access within the week prior, please contact the MAC Vice President (contact information below) so that we can troubleshoot the problem prior to the Symposium.

All participants in the Symposium are expected to abide by the MAC Code of Conduct. MAC does not tolerate harassment in any form and is committed to providing a harassment-free environment for its members and others who participate in the Symposium.

Schedule

Thursday, Nov. 4 

9:00-9:15 CT

10:00-10:15 ET

Welcome

9:15-10:15 CT 

10:15-11:15 ET

“Community Partnerships: Sharing Expertise to Promote Access and Preservation”

Dr. Copeland will share the benefits of and strategies for local individuals and groups and cultural heritage institutions partnering to preserve and provide access to the primary sources critical to ensuring comprehensive histories of communities through digital community archives.

Andrea J. Copeland, Ph.D. Indiana University

10:15 - 10:35 CT

11:15-11:35 ET  

Break 

10:35 - 12:05 CT

11:35-1:05 ET

“Web Archiving for Local Collections” 

As a participant in the Internet Archive Community Webs project, the Kansas City (Missouri) Public Library archives websites of local interest. This session features an introduction to and rationale for web archiving and explores collection development, considerations in archiving such current content, and software and strategies, including a demonstration of Archive-It.

David LaCrone, Kansas City Public Library

About the Presenters

	Andrea J. Copeland, Ph.D. Andrea Copeland is associate professor and chair of the Department of Library and Information Science in the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University in Indianapolis. Prior to IU, she worked for over a decade in libraries, including The New York Public Library, Hunter College Libraries, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Library. Her past research focused on the role of public libraries in personal and community digital collection preservation, which led to a multi-year collaboration with the Bethel AME Church of Indianapolis. This project greatly informed her understanding of co-creative processes in informal and formal heritage settings. During this time, she co-edited the volume, Participatory Heritage, which explores how community groups and formal institutions can work together to the benefit of each other. Her current research examines community data and public library services that encourage equitable access and use of data to promote more socially just communities.
	Suzanne Hogan Suzanne Hogan has been a producer at KCUR 89.3 FM since 2007. She's worked on talk shows, reported features, announces, and hosts the podcast A People's History of Kansas City. She's passionate about finding new creative ways to use sound and tell stories. Her documentary studies background helps guide her general storytelling philosophy which is that everybody is an expert of their own life.
	Dr. Anthony J. LaBat Anthony LaBat is a writer and musician living in Kansas City, Missouri. He has presented lectures at the Educate-Organize-Advocate Conference, the Missouri Library Association, the American Musicological Society, and Nerd Nite Kansas City. Most recently, he authored and curated the exhibit Eight Days in April: The Story of the 1968 Uprising in Kansas City. He received his doctorate in music from the Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City specializing in flute performance and has studied at the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University. As a flutist, Anthony has performed with the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, Midwest Chamber Ensemble, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Ensemble Troost, FuseBox New Music, and the Shifting Perspectives Project (Minneapolis, MN). Anthony is the founder of DiaKCritical: Kansas City online arts magazine and works as an Operations Assistant for LaBudde Special Collections at the UMKC University Libraries.
	Stephen Lane Stephen Lane is the Special Collections Librarian for the Indianapolis Public Library. His collection involves collecting and preserving the history of Indianapolis. Lane received his Master’s in Library and Infrmation Science and a Master’s in Public History from IUPUI in Indianapolis. He has been with the library for eight years and really enjoys educating the public about the rich history of Indianapolis.
	David LaCrone David LaCrone is the Digital Branch Manager at Kansas City (Missouri) Public Library where he coordinates digital platforms and services for patrons and staff. He oversees web development, digitization, end-user support and third-party integrations for most of the Library’s digital outlets. He holds an M.S.I. from the University of Michigan School of Information and a B.A from Oberlin College.
	Sandy Rodriguez Sandy Rodriguez is the Associate Dean of Special Collections & Archives for the University of Missouri-Kansas City University Libraries, responsible for leadership and oversight of the Libraries’ rare books and manuscripts, university archives, sound archives, cataloging and metadata management, digital projects, and equity initiatives. She was recently appointed as Provost Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Fellow, and is engaged in implementing inclusive faculty hiring practices for the UMKC Office of Faculty Affairs. Committed to DEI throughout her career, she co-founded the Women in Recorded Sound collective, initiated and co-chaired the UMKC Libraries’ Equity Committee, co-facilitates the Digital Library Federation’s Labor Working Group, and is a recipient of the UMKC Chancellor’s Award for Embracing Diversity. She recently served as a Co-PI for the IMLS-funded National Leadership Grant, Collective Responsibility: National Forum on Labor Practices for Grant-Funded Digital Positions, focused on defining ethical labor practices for grant-funded digital libraries, archives, and museums.
	Jason Roe Jason Roe is the Digital History Specialist at the Kansas City Public Library. He is content manager and editor for the website The Pendergast Years: Kansas City in the Jazz Age and Great Depression,k winner of the Autry Public History Prize from the Western History Association, and Civil War on the Western Border: The Missouri-Kansas Conflict, 1854-1865, which won the Roy Rosenweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History from the American Historical Association, among other recognition. With Drs. Elaine Muttie Burke and John Herron, he co-edited the book Wide-Open Town: Kansas City in the Pendergast Era (University Press of Kansas, 2018) winner of the 2019 Book Award from the Missouri Conference on History. Prior to joining the Library, Roe earned his Ph.D. in American history from the University of Kansas in May 2012.
	Lindy Smith Lindy Smith has been Head of LaBudde Special Collections at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Libraries since August 2019. Prior to that she worked as Reference Archivist at Bowling Green State University’s Music Library and Bill Schurk Sounds Archives and Research Services Archivist at the Ohio State University Archives. She holds graduate degrees in library and information science and historical musicology, both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her professional interests include dismantling barriers and bias in public services and archival description, accessibility and disability, and music special collections.
	Katie Sowder Katie Sowder is the Digital History Collections Library at the Kansas City (Missouri) Public Library. After a short career in non-profit membership and fundraising, she received her MLIS from the University of Missouri. For the last 10+ years, she has worked on a variety of archival and digital projects in the library’s Missouri Valley Special Collections and Digital Branch, including the 1940 Tax Assessment Photograph collection and The Pendergast Years. She enjoys making local history easily accessible to the library’s broad public audience and engaging in Kansas City’s history recreationally as well as professionally.
	Carmaletta M. Williams, Ph.D. Carmaletta M. Williams, Ph.D. is the Chief Executive Officer of The Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City, Mo. A literary historian, Williams received her BA and MA degrees from UMKC and her Ph.D from the University of Kansas. For 28 years she taught English and African American Studies at Johnson County Community College, where she was also the founding Executive Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Williams has also taught in Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China; Accra, Ghana; Paris, France; Guinea, West Africa; and The American School of the Hague, Wassenaar, Netherlands. Her published works include academic books and articles, poetry, and children’s books. She received an Emmy for her portrayal of Zora Neale Hurston on KCPT/KCPL’s program Meet the Past.
	Bradley Wolf Bradley Wolf has been the City Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Kansas City, Missouri since 2001, which is part of the City Planning and Development Department. In this capacity, he administers the City’s historic preservation ordinance and preservation plan. He serves as staff to the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and provides input to other city commissions and city council on historic preservation initiatives throughout the city. Recently, he has released an update expanded edition of A Places in Time, a guide to Kansas City’s historic resources and guided the creation of a virtual African American Heritage Trail in Kansas City.

Virtually Visit Kansas City

Since we can’t be together in person to experience all that the greater Kansas City area has to offer, here are some ways you can explore local food, history, and culture from wherever you are! This section will continue to be updated in the months leading up to the Symposium.

Learn about and support the Indigenous peoples who have and continue to live on the land now called Kansas City.

Shopping and Food