American Folklore Society
Archive Section Meeting Minutes
Columbus, Ohio October 28, 2000
Convener: Stephanie Smith

1. Introductions of those in attendance:

Lucy Allen, Hiddenite Center
David Azzolina, University of Pennsylvania Library
Kristi Bell, William A. Wilson Folklore Archives, Brigham Young University
Nathan Bender, Buffalo Bill Historical Center
Amy Davis, Southern Folklife Collection
Lani Herrman
Catherine Heibert Kerst, American Folklife Center
Andy Kolovos
Maggie Kruesi, University of Pennsylvania
Ellen McHale, New York Folklore Society
Frank Proschan, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Moira Smith, Indiana University Main Library
Lyn Wolz, Regents Library, University of Kansas Edwards Campus
Randy Williams, Fife Folklore Archives
Not in attendance, but with us in spirit: Christina Barr, Vermont Folklife Center

2. Stephanie Hall and Stephanie Smith will work towards getting items about the archives section onto the AFS web page. Possible information to include includes links to archives and how to join the listserv. Minutes from the section meeting will also be posted. If you have any suggestions, please contact Stephanie Smith.

4. Catherine Heibert Kerst reported on the meeting that was held earlier this year to discuss compiling an ethnographic thesaurus. The Archives section donated $1000 to make the two-day meeting possible. The meeting focused on why such a thesaurus is needed, who would be involved, what it would accomplish, and who would benefit from it. Catherine is currently working on an executive summary that will be sent to those who were part of the meeting. It will also be available on the archive listserv.

5. Thanks to a grant from Save America's Treasures, a program sponsored by the First Lady, the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress have recently hired sound preservationists.

6. We discussed how our section could become more visible at the national meeting. What would be most effective a paper section or a pre-conference workshop in conjunction with public programs or computer applications? Moira Smith suggested the topic of citation studies. Randy Williams explained that Utah State University houses the archives for the American Folklore Society and this is a resource that could be used more. Stephanie Smith would be happy to facilitate, but not organize, a discussion on what would be best. It was suggested that due to difficulty in attending the Anchorage meeting, we might want to plan a workshop or panel for Rochester, NY. It was suggested that since Kodak is headquartered in Rochester we might want to get them involved in a workshop on handling images and digitizing. It was also suggested that it might be of more general interest to those outside of the archiving section to attend a session on how to prepare to donate their materials to archives. Since there will soon be an increase in retirees in AFS, in addition to a session we might also want to put together a publication instructing and outlining how to donate personal materials to archive. Such a publication might give us more visibility in AFS. We need to find ways to become more visible.

7. Randy Williams asked how other archives handled release forms for their materials.

9. Randy Williams wanted to know if other archives included their mission statements on their Web pages.

10. The need for an increase in networking among section member was discussed.

11. The section needs to develop a list of useful links for its Web page.

12. Moira Smith is the new book review editor for JAF. If she receives any books that would qualify for the McCallum Prize, she will forward the titles to the prize committee. She would also appreciate any suggestions for books that should be reviewed. She is interested particularly in non-University Press titles and books from smaller presses.

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(Updated 10/16/2001)