Welcome to the launch of the Arizona Archives Alliance (AzAA) blog! We are so excited to start this adventure and look forward to having this platform available to speak to the archives community in Arizona. We plan to post to this blog monthly to bring up messages not only from the AzAA board but hopefully from the archiving community around Arizona. If you would like to be featured on the AzAA blog regarding the archival work you or your institution is doing please contact us at azarchivesalliance@gmail.com
We start this blog with a message from our President, Shannon Walker, Assistant Archivist of University Archives at Arizona State University Library and University Archivist of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.
From the AzAA President:
Welcome to the AzAA Blog 2020! Well, this has been a bizarre year for all of us, both personally and professionally. In many ways, it is a precarious time to revive the AzAA blog, at the same time it is the perfect opportunity. We have known all along that our work as archivists is important to the communities we serve. Now, others are realizing the importance of what we do as we document life before, during, and after a global pandemic. This is a time where we are all aware of our humanity, our vulnerability, and resiliency. As archivists we are memory keepers, we are the ones who ensure that the experiences of this generation, or generations past, are not forgotten to future generations. We have also seen the rise of social justice issues and with them activism, protests, and riots, all important activities to participate and document.
Some may wonder, should we be addressing issues of social justice, isn’t it enough to worry about our backlog? Should we concern ourselves with racism, isn’t it enough to worry about our funding and staffing? Should we be thinking about equality, isn’t it enough to keep up with all of our patron inquiries? The answer is yes and all of the above! We should do our jobs with integrity, accuracy, and professionalism while keeping our eye on the bigger picture of “why” we do what we do.
We hope this blog will be a platform for engaging with you in great conversations about our roles as memory keepers. We plan to focus on a variety of topics, anything and everything we can think of! We will talk about ways archival institutions should or should not document issues of social justice. We will address ways that we have or have not represented marginalized communities in who we hire and what we collect. We will tackle the topic of inclusion and representation in archival records.
The goal of AzAA is to support the work you do, to inform you, to guide you, to inspire you, and to equip you. We always welcome your suggestions, ideas, and feedback on how we can better achieve these goals. Thank you for listening and engaging with us!
Shannon Walker
AzAA President
Arizona Archives Alliance 