How can archivists reimagine reference services as they increasingly serve a broader and more diverse user base? In this episode, cohosts Anna Trammell and Chris Burns speak with Cheryl Oestreicher about her recent book, Reference and Access for Archives and Manuscripts (Society of American Archivists, 2020), the fourth volume in SAA’s Archival Fundamentals Series III and the recipient of SAA’s 2021 Waldo Gifford Leland Award for writing of superior excellence and usefulness.

Oestreicher is a professor at Boise State University and the head of Special Collections and Archives at Boise State’s Albertsons Library. In this episode, she shares memorable reference experiences and discusses the evolution of the reference model away from acquisitions and toward advocacy.

Listen to learn how access informs all areas of archival practice.

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Episode Extras

For even more information about Reference and Access for Archives and Manuscripts, see Kayla Scott’s review of the book in Issue 84.1 of American Archivist.

Reference and Access for Archives and Manuscripts is the current selection for SAA’s One Book, One Profession reading initiative—learn more, download study guide questions, and consider reading it with your colleagues! To order your own copy, visit the SAA Bookstore.

As the United States continues to confront systemic racism on several fronts, archival repositories are rethinking the idea of space and how it pertains to inclusivity. A leader among these conversations is Dr. Jesse Erickson, author of “The Gentleman’s Ghost: Patriarchal Eurocentric Legacies in Special Collections,” published in Archives and Special Collections as Sites of Contestation (2020) and Astor curator and department head of Printed Books and Bindings at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York. In this episode, Dr. Erickson discusses his path to special collections and the physical spaces that gave him entry into the field. Dr. Erickson also shares insight into “The Gentleman’s Ghost” and encourages archivists to think critically and imaginatively about reading rooms of the future.

Dr. Erickson most recently worked as coordinator of special collections and digital humanities and assistant professor in the department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, and as associate director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center at the University of Delaware. Prior to this role, he worked as a bibliographic researcher and archival processor in the manuscripts division of the Charles E. Young Research Library and the Center for Oral History Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He recently served as the vice president for programs for the American Printing History Association. He has also served on the editorial boards of the University of Delaware Press and Publishing History, and he is co-editor for the Papers of Bibliographical Society of America. His research specializations are in ethnobibliography, alternative printing, non-canonical textuality, African American print culture, and the transnational publishing history of the works of Ouida. Dr. Erickson holds a master’s degree in library and information science and a doctoral degree in information studies from UCLA. 

This episode is sponsored by the San José State University School of Information.

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Episode Extras

Check out Dr. Erickson’s essay “The Gentleman’s Ghost: Patriarchal Eurocentric Legacies in Special Collections Design,” in Archives and Special Collections as Sites of Contestation, edited by Mary Kandiuk (Library Juice Press, 2020). 

Also mentioned is Ashley Farmer’s essay “Archiving While Black” (Chronicle of Higher Education, July 22, 2018). Read her essay and listen to her Archives in Context conversation.

Cohosts Nicole Milano and JoyEllen Williams conduct a special interview with the Society of American Archivist’s new executive director, Jacqualine Price Osafo. In this interview, Jackie shares her professional and personal roots, including her long-time passion for associations and the impact of an inspiring relative. Jackie also explains what drew her to SAA and why she values the archival profession.

Jacqualine Price Osafo is a Certified Association Executive with more than thirty years in association management. She received her MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has held high-level leadership roles in various associations, including the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Water Quality Association, and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Jackie currently serves as chair of the Black Indigenous People of Color Advisory Task Force For Association Forum.

This episode is sponsored by the San José State University School of Information.

Read the transcript.

Episode Extras

Learn more about Jackie through her interview in Archival Outlook (July/August 2021) and SAA’s June 2021 press release.