Last week, HCI-PSAR Project Director Jack McCarthy and I were in St. Paul, Minnesota for the American Association for State and Local History's annual meeting to present a session with the familiar title, "Archival Adventures in Small Repositories." Jack gave an overview of our project and background; I summarized our workflow and methodologies; and we were joined by Erica Harman from Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, who spoke about the project from her perspective as a participating small repository. I also presented a brief, 15-minute "crash course in archives," targeted for those who manage archival materials but lack formal training in archivy. The other sessions I attended at AASLH were engaging, inspiring, and thought-provoking. Jack and I came away from the weekend with a lot of great new ideas, as well as some potential partners who might help us expand the project's scope.

If you missed us in St. Paul last week, don't worry! You can catch up on some of the action remotely. 

My "crash course in archives" slides are available for download from our website. It introduces core concepts of archival theory and practice, shares some preservation advice and tips, covers cataloging basics, presents considerations for implementing a digitization program, and compares common software small repositories might consider for collection catalogs and for digital libraries.

One of the highlights of the AASLH annual meeting was the stellar keynote by Garrison Keillor. (Yes, that Garrison Keillor, of "Prairie Home Companion" fame!) AASLH announced on its Twitter feed today that Keillor's talk will be streamed on Minnesota Public Radio's website on Friday, 9/26. Filled with humor and genuine affection for his Minnesota home--as well as historical facts about the town formerly known by the appealing moniker "Pig's Eye"--Keillor's talk is not to be missed!

We're hitting the pavement a lot these days to talk to different audiences about the Small Repositories Project. If you're local, look for us at the Pennsylvania Historical Association annual meeting in Philadelphia on Saturday, November 8th at 9:00 am (session title: "Sharing the Wealth: New Online Archival Resources of Philadelphia History"). We'll also be at the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg on Tuesday, October 28th at 9:00 am for the Pennsylvania State Archives' Annual Archives and Records Management Seminar (session title: "Archival Adventures in Pennsylvania’s Small Repositories").

Wherever we are, we hope to see you there!