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Memory Rising: November 2023
In this month’s edition:
- New talk at Pitt on November 29: “How should we document a watershed?”
- January 2024 online course: Climate impacts on libraries and archives
- Let’s work together!
- This month’s recommendations
I recently went on a long trip to Iceland and Ireland with some old friends. Always on a [busman’s holiday](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/busman%27s_holiday), I checked out as many museums, archives, libraries, and bookshops as I could manage. One of my favorite finds was the [Artótek collection](https://borgarbokasafn.is/en/library/grofin-en/artotek-art-rent-and-sale) at the Reykjavík City Library. It’s a circulating art collection from local artists. The librarian there told me that people can check out a piece of art for a small monthly fee. If someone rents the piece long enough, they eventually end up purchasing it. I love this concept as yet another way in which libraries make culture and arts more accessible. There aren’t too many examples of circulating library-based art collections in the United States - but if you know of other programs, I’d love to hear about them! -Eira
# How should we document a watershed?
I’m honored to be giving a talk titled [Retaining a River](https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/retaining_a_river) at Pitt on Wednesday November 29 at 4 PM EST as part of the Bernadette Callery Archives Lecture Series. If you’re in Pittsburgh I’d love to see you in person, or if you aren’t near Pittsburgh you can sign up [for the live Zoom stream](https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cPk9fIvN02RDcjQ). Here’s the description:
*Rivers have been described as the veins of the Earth. Their paths continually change course, challenging the intentions and expectations of engineers, politicians, industry, and those who live in their watershed. River levels change based on seasons, engineering, and upstream and downstream water use. Rivers do not neatly correspond to the political jurisdictions and institutions where archives are typically found, presenting a challenge for charting out the history of a river’s watershed. How do we document these living ecosystems, their movements, and their stories?*
*Focusing on the history, culture, and politics of the Ohio River, Cincinnati-based archivist Eira Tansey will explore the idea of watershed documentation. From the American Civil War to the 1937 flood to the current expansion of the fracking industry, the Ohio River is at the same time one of America’s most important and most overlooked, most symbolic and most polluted rivers. How should we think about documenting a river or understanding its inherently scattered archives? What can we learn from a river’s records? And what do we lose by ignoring the recordkeeping needs of watersheds?*
# January 2024 online course:
# Climate impacts on libraries and archives
Are you a librarian or archivist who wants to prepare your archive or library for climate change? Sign up for **Climate Change Impacts on Libraries and Archives** for Library Juice Academy. I will teach this course asynchronously between January 1-28, 2024. [Registration is now open](https://libraryjuiceacademy.com/shop/course/328-climate-change-impacts-on-libraries-and-archives/), and the course costs $200.
During this course, participants will learn about the basic science of climate change, study its public policy implications and climate trends in their local region and institutions, and develop practical strategies for beginning to address climate change within the scope of their work.
Although this is an asynchronous online course, I will be offering live office hours and significant support though the course. I hope you’ll sign up, and I look forward to the community we’ll build together to kick off the year!
# Let’s work together!
Memory Rising offers consulting, research, and archival services to cultural heritage, labor, and environmental organizations. Here are some examples of projects I’d love to help you with:
**An archive in the Great Lakes region interested in documenting local environmental issues…** Memory Rising can help you research local ecosystems and watersheds, identify relevant activist organizations and policymakers, build relationships with environmental community members, and assess potential archival collections.
**A union with a major anniversary coming up next year…** Memory Rising can help you write a new history and create an online digital commemorative exhibit of your union’s origin story, collective bargaining victories, and legacy of worker advocacy.
**A professional association that needs to offer a workshop for next year’s conference…** Memory Rising offers customizable workshops on climate change issues for cultural heritage professionals. Recent workshop clients have included the [Digital Preservation Outreach & Education Network](https://www.dpoe.network/past-workshops/) and [LA as Subject](https://laassubject.org/).
Need funding for some of these projects? Here are some upcoming grant deadlines:
- [IMLS Inspire! Grants for Small Museums](https://www.imls.gov/grants/available/inspire-grants-small-museums) - November 15
- [Society of American Archivists Foundation](https://www2.archivists.org/groups/saa-foundation-board-of-directors/society-of-american-archivists-foundation-grant-application-process-and-guidelines) - November 15 (letter of inquiry)
- [NEH Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions](https://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/preservation-assistance-grants-smaller-institutions) - January 11
# This month’s recommendations
[The True Cost of Your Digital Memories](https://thespinoff.co.nz/internet/04-11-2023/the-true-cost-of-your-digital-memories) (article) - This terrific article from Shanti Mathias of Aotearoa (New Zealand)’s The Spinoff interviews a digital archivist from Wellington on why you should actually go forth and delete way more of your personal digital archives - spoiler alert: even digital memories have material storage costs.
[Financial Foundations from A Bookkeeping Cooperative](https://bookkeeping.coop/events/) (workshops) - Being a leftist who thinks about money and finance a lot (ok, all the time) is a bit of a lonely experience. I was thrilled to find [A Bookkeeping Cooperative’s Instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/abookkeepingcooperative/?hl=en) a while back, and recently signed up for their Financial Foundations workshop series. I just took the first workshop earlier this week and loved it! Shout out to the smart facilitators who helped break down the difference between a profit and loss statement, balance sheet, budget, and cash flow projections. I learned so much and can’t wait for the rest of the series.
[British Library suffering major technology outage after cyber-attack](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/31/british-library-suffering-major-technology-outage-after-cyber-attack) (article) - The Guardian’s Mabel Banfield-Nwachi reports on a story I kept hearing about from my rare book librarian pals who rely on the British Library’s catalog systems for rare book bibliographic information. Frankly I’m surprised that there aren’t more cybersecurity intrusions into cultural heritage organizations.
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