Words With Friends: Digital Preservation Peer Assessment
Session co-presented at the 2022 International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums
October 27, 2022
Temecula, CA
Planning, implementing, and maintaining a digital preservation program is a complex undertaking. Assessment helps benchmark your preservation activities and move your program forward, whether it’s new or well-established. Session attendees will use the Digital Preservation Peer Assessment Framework to begin assessing their digital preservation activities and to build community.
Ready for Anything: Emergency Preparedness and Response Workshop
Half-day workshop presented at the Connecticut Town Clerks Association 2022 Spring Conference
April 22, 2022
Groton, CT
This workshop introduces key concepts of emergency preparedness including risk assessment, response procedures, and developing a disaster plan. The agenda also includes detailed discussion of the importance of prioritization. Participants will leave with tools for carrying out risk assessment and writing a disaster plan at their own institutions.
From Temp to Term but Never Perm: The Impact of Temporary Labor (And What We Can Do About It!)
Session co-presented at the Connecticut League of History Organizations (CLHO) 2022 Annual Conference
June 6, 2022
Wethersfield, CT
Temporary, also known as contingent, employment – including part time, term-limited, grant-based, contract, and other forms of non-permanent, non-benefited work – has consistently played a role in the cultural heritage field. The prevalence of this employment model has increased in recent years, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, raising concerns about the instability and unpredictability of contingent labor practices. In response to growing concerns surrounding contingent employment, the New England Archivists (NEA) commissioned the Contingent Employment Study Task Force to conduct a survey exploring the impacts of contingent employment on archival workers. The Task Force found that contingent labor practices are even more prevalent than they were five years ago when NEA had conducted its first contingent employment survey.
In this session, members of the Task Force will provide an overview of the survey results, including a discussion of the contingent employment experience, the impact of the pandemic on contingent labor, the drawbacks of contingent labor for employers, and recommendations for improving the contingent employment experience. While the survey focused on archival labor, we believe that our analysis of the impact of contingent labor and recommendations for improving labor practices are widely applicable to the cultural heritage field at large. The session is intended for all members of CLHO, and will be of particular interest to managers, administrators, and anyone involved in creating and supporting employees in part-time, contract, and grant-funded positions.
Disaster Planning for Extended Closures
Session co-presented at the New England Museum Association 2021 Annual Conference
November 19, 2021
Virtual
Closing a cultural heritage facility may be part of an institution’s seasonal schedule or caused by a disaster or stay-at-home order. Regardless of the cause, extended closures have serious implications for the preservation of an organization’s collections. This session will introduce attendees to collections concerns that arise when a building is not accessed regularly and recommends practical solutions for adapting an organization’s disaster plan and implementing practical mitigation and monitoring strategies in-house.
Alison Fulmer 