I think that Russell over at Records Junkie proposed something earlier this week that is probably of interest to some–the idea of creating “identity-based”interest groups through SAA. This could be a place where like-minded archivists meet up with other like-minded archivists around activities that they enjoy. I bet there are probably some folks that would be interested in this.
However,I’m not convinced that this should be facilitated or initiated through SAA. I know,for example,that there are knitting archivists that get together at the annual meeting. I think that the knitting GTG is a great idea,and I’d love to participate,but I don’t think that SAA needs to be involved. Same with other groups–why not spread the word using existing methods,whether that’s on A&A or elsewhere,and let nature take its course? Many of the groups proposed in the post already have a way to communicate (Archivists on Facebook,for example),or could figure out a way to get the word out to folks that might be interested. Additionally,notes advertising these specialized gatherings could be posted on the unofficial wiki,or on the physical bulletin board by registration (still useful for something).
Maybe I’m missing the point,and if so,I’d like to hear more. Strictly speaking for myself though,if I were looking for a group of like-minded people to hang out with for non-professional reasons,whether religious-based,or ultimate-frisbee based,I probably wouldn’t be looking for it in my professional organization. Furthermore,I think I’d rather SAA focus their funds and expertise on our (collective) professional goals and interests instead of my personal ones. I also agree with Mark over at thesecretmirror,whose post prompted me to write this one–I think that the potential exists for some privacy concerns.
I agree with you and Mark. SAA already supports who I am professionally –an archivist. If I want to be supported for being female or a college football fan or someone who loves Jesus,I’ll seek out organizations that specialize in those areas.
Maybe we need to form an informal group next year in Austin–I’m a big college football fan,too. Thanks for stopping by!
Why does one have to go through SAA? I agree with “let nature take its course”. you have google groups,yahoo groups,linkedin,facebook and who knows what else to create informal groups. I think one of the problems with SAA is that there are entirely too many officially recognized groups
I agree with you and Mark. SAA doesn’t need to–and shouldn’t–be committed to providing support for groups that primarily reflect a person’s non-archival interests or that do not have a bearing on their professional lives. SAA does,as a courtesy,allow groups such as the Progressive Archivists with meeting space and listings in the program. Anyone who wants to form their own group of this kind and work with SAA to see if space if available at the meeting can do so.
I have organized several informal meetings at recent SAA conferences–around topics such as use of Web 2.0,tips on getting grants,and the possibility of forming an interest group for archivists in AASLH. The people in the SAA office were very helpful about getting the information in the program and arranging for meeting room space. However,all of these meetings were clearly of a professional nature,and I’m not sure I would support SAA staff spending member resources to provide similar assistance to a group of dog-loving archivists. If your group is of a professional nature,my experience has been SAA will work with you.
And,yes,I got the word out about these informal meetings through the wiki,the listserv,and blogs. And we did the same for the Bloggers Get-Together we had in Chicago too. People who want to get together around topics that are primarily personal have many,many options for doing so. We do not need to spend member resources to support it.
Kate and Peter–thanks for stopping by!
I think that the one other thing that I would add is that all of these things take up time. Planning,setup,getting the word out,etc. Obviously that would be time spent by not only those who are interested in the groups,but also by those in the SAA staff office. Time costs money,and as a member,I want my money spent wisely. While I’m not necessarily going to agonize about every single thing that SAA does,in a time of budget cuts and curtailed spending,I sure hope that everything SAA does is related to our core professional mission. Particularly if there’s going to be a dues increase.