June 12, 2017 AHA members went on a tour of the Hawai’i Plantation, Waipahu, HI. Mahalo to the tour guides for an educational and entertaining day!
AHA Site Visit
Author: Hawaii Archivists
Professional Development
A Rare Experience at Rare Book School
Check out AHA Board Member, Storm Stoker’s trip to Rare Book School!
Annual Meeting on Feb. 18, 2017 at the William S. Richardson School of Law
The 2017 Annual Meeting was held on Saturday, February 18, 2017, at the William S. Richardson School of Law, UH Mānoa in Classroom 2 and the Courtyard, 8:30am-3:00pm. The theme of this year’s annual meeting was Connecting Archives to Community, Connecting Community to Archives.
There was a keynote, three panels, the business meeting, and an optional limited space tour of the William S. Richardson School of Law Library and Archives. Morning refreshments and lunch provided. Registration waz $30.00 for members, $22.50 for students/retirees and $45.00 for non-members. Parking was $6.00 cash at the Lower Campus Parking Structure. Pay at the parking booth.
Here was the meeting schedule
08:30am-09:00am: Registration, Morning Refreshments
09:00am-09:15am: President’s Welcome: Annie Thomas
09:15am-10:00am: Keynote Kepā Maly
10:00am-10:15am: Break
10:15am-11:00am: Serving Your Community, Serving Your Collections: Striking a Balance
Financial resources, staff time constraints, and ever changing needs create challenges for historical societies, cultural non-profits, museums, and other types of repositories in Hawaii stewarding collections which preserve and disseminate important community stories and history. We’ll hear three successful narratives of what different repositories in Hawaii are doing to connect with communities of students, local patrons, volunteers, and other types of virtual “communities of students, local patrons, volunteers, and other types of virtual “communities” in alignment with the mission of these organizations. Collections ranging from archival, to historic structures will be explored in the context of trying best to serve one’s community while balancing the realities of caring for collections outside of the large museum and university context.
Panelists: Nicki Garces/Consuelo Foundation; Theo Morrison/Lahaina Restoration Foundation; Helen Wong Smith/Kauai Historical Society.
11:00am-11:15am: Break
11:15am-12:00pm: An Archive of Kuleana: Meeting the Needs of Our Users
Archives are spaces where stories are fashioned. Stories that have been drawn out from carefully arranged, described, preserved, and accessible collections of records. These records are places of remembrance, rights, and responsibilities that hold immense power, both good and bad. Yet for researchers, navigating the world of archives is a skill and emotional process of its own; one filled with uncertainty, chill, intimidation, sadness, and joy. This a panel of our “regular” users who will share their stories of kuleana in archives, their struggles, and their successes by tackling the questions: Why are archives so important to you? What is challenging about doing archival research? How can we better support you? And how can archives partner with the skillsets, knowledge, and passion you bring?
Panelists: Kalei Laimana/UHM Doctoral Student in History & Leeward CC Hawaiian Studies Lecturer; Kawelau Wright/UHM Doctoral Student in Geography & UHM/Māui College Hawaiian Studies Lecturer; Ami Mulligan/UHM Doctoral Student in History & Professional Genealogist.
12:00pm-01:00pm: Lunch catered by Juicy Brew (Greenhouse Mixed Greens Salad with Carrots, Cucumbers, Radishes, Toasted Nuts and choice of Honey Basil or Ginger Miso Dressing; Hummus with Vegetables and Cheese Wrap; Turkey Raspberry Chipotle Wrap; Chef’s Choice Seasonal Mochi Platter; and Canned Juices)
01:00pm-02:00pm: Archives, The Two-Way Street
Archives are known as places of academic research, historic study, and genealogy records. However, in the modern age of easy information access, you could say that the concept of “the archive”, a valuable informational resource, has somewhat been lost to our younger generations. So, how do archivists re-connect youth to these resources? How do educators use archives in their classrooms? How do we turn these memory institutions from “lost memories” to rejuvenated ones for our youth to learn, grow, and become inspired by?
Panelists: David Kupferman and Brenda Machosky/UH West Oʻahu; Stacy Naipo/Kamehameha Schools Archives; Georgina Tom/ʻIolani School Archives.
02:00pm-02:15pm: Break
02:15pm-02:45pm: Business Meeting
02:45pm-03:15pm: Optional tour of William S. Richardson School of Law Library and Archives. Max 30 people. Registration for this event will open after February 1st, 2017.
Mahalo to our sponsors!
AHA’s Annual Holiday Social
AHA members enjoyed the holiday season together at Miyohoji Temple in Nuʻuanu on Dec. 11, 2016. After a delicious and fancy bento lunch, Marcia Kemble led us in a game testing our knowledge of traditional Japanese table settings. Helen Wong Smith was recognized for her induction as a Fellow of SAA this past summer and the SAA-student chapter honored Deborah Dunn, Nicolita Garces, and Andrew Wertheimer with the inaugural Lei Lau Kukui Mentor & Educator Award. Mahalo to Kanako Iwase and the AHA Holiday Social Committee for planning the event, as well as SAA-student chapter and Marcia Kemble for the decorations and game!
Save the Date! AHA’s 2017 Annual Meeting
Mark your calendars and tell your colleagues. The 2017 AHA Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, at the William S. Richardson School of Law, UH Mānoa, 8:30am-3pm. More info and registration details will be out the first week of the new year.
Community Archival Workshop 2016
In Hawaii we value the memories and histories of our ʻohana and communities. It’s what grounds us and shapes us. When our family members or loved ones pass on, they often leave priceless, valuable, and treasured items we become the guardians of. Typically, things entrusted to us include a large amount of important documents and family photographs. Many times the responsibility of caring for these items becomes overwhelming. As they age, we struggle to maintain them and to ensure their longevity. “Where do I start? What do I save? How do I take care of this?” These plaguing questions are all too familiar to anyone who has opened that old Liberty House box hiding in the corner of the garage.
These common concerns led the Community Service Committee of the Association of Hawaiʻi Archivists to realize the need our communities have in seeking information for care and preservation of historic items. In collaboration with the Society of American Archivists University of Hawai’i Mānoa Student Chapter, a free Community Archival Workshop was coordinated and held on September 24th, 2016.
The workshop committee’s goal was to offer general education in archival processes and cost effective preservation methods in ways non-LIS (Library Information Science) professionals could connect to. This meant adapting and condensing heavy archival practices and knowledge into an easy and understandable way. Approximately 30 community members and a handful of LIS related professionals attended the workshop held at the Leeward Community College Library.
3 Sessions where included in the workshop day. Knowing that Hawaiʻi family collections are predominately documents and photographs, the workshop sessions focused primarily on physical care and digitization of those materials.
SAA-SC presenters Jennifer Magaloyo, Ellie Seaton, Allyson Ota, & Keala Richard
Session 1 was titled “Mālama Palapala: Physical Care of Documents & Photographs”. 4 student presenters from the Society of American Archivists- University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa Student Chapter led a lively presentation covering such things as identifying common pests in Hawaiʻi homes that cause damage, basic treatment of such damaged items, understanding aging processes, historical information on photographic types, simple storage hacks and tips, and basic, easy preservation techniques. The student presenters included a live demonstration of removing photographs from commonly used magnetic albums using 
a hair dryer technique. Attendees especially enjoyed the students “Hu, Dis Buggah” guessing game, which included matching pictures of damaged items to the pest that created it.
Session 2 covered “Hoʻokikoho’e: Digitizing Your family history”. Recent LIS graduate from Mānoa and current Assistant Librarian at Kapolei Library Kylie Kaeo led the presentation. Using lessons learned from her own family digitization project as well as basic standards from a variety of national organizations, she created a comfortable presentation which many community members could connect to. It included simple terms used in scanning software, digital arrangement, and storage of master image files.
Presenter Kylie Kaeo talks about beginning a family digitization project.
A third “Talk-Story” session was held after lunchtime to give attendees an opportunity to ask professionals questions concerning care for any items they may have in their personal collections. Professionals available during the Talk-Story hour were Annie Thomas, Eleanor Kleiber, Kanako Iwase, and Keau George from the AHA board. Our SAA-SC presenters from session 1 and presenter Kylie Kaeo had great advice and feedback for the discussion. Special guest professional Rachael Bussert, Congressional Papers Archivist from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa was also present. Subjects such as care of kimono and framed photographs were asked. A very important concept came to light in our talk concerning the spiritual connection family members may have to items and how one might approach the physical handling of such things.
Members of the Wahiawa Hawaiian Civic Club joined the workshop.
In a survey conducted to gain overall feedback about the workshop, attendees were positive and appreciative. Here are some of the results:
- Would you recommend this event to other community members? 100% replied “yes”
- Will you be able to use what you learned in the workshop at home with your family treasures? 100% replied “yes”
- Did you feel the presenters were knowledgeable about the topic? 100% replied “yes”
- Was the information given by the presenters informative and clear? 100% replied “yes”
- Other comments:
- “Discussion session very valuable. Thank you, great workshop. Learned what “frass” was; never knew!”
- “The workshops were very well presented. The presenters kept my attention and were very personable and engaging.”
- “Enjoyed both presentations. Speakers are very knowledgeable. Will recommend workshop to others!”
A special thank you to the AHA Community Service Committee and board, the Society of American Archivists University of Hawai’i Mānoa Student Chapter, Kīna’u McKeague for morning refreshments, Vanessa Race for a scrumptious lunch, and Wayde Oshiro for the use of the Leeward Community College Library.
Reports on the 3rd Joint ARLIS/NA + VRA (The Art Libraries Society of North America and the Visual Resources Association) Conference 2016
Seattle downtown resembles Kakaako: development happening everywhere.
Carol Hasegawa was featured in the blog, “Librarian Wardrobe”!
Amazon’s new headquarters under construction
In the gray and rainy city of Seattle early spring, the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) and the Visual Resources Association (VRA) held the 3rd joint conference from March 8th to 12th, 2016. It was the 44th Annual Conference of ARLIS/NA, and the 34th Annual Conference of VRA. The conference drew about 800 attendees from all over the world, including art librarians, visual resources curators, reference and instruction librarians, cataloging and metadata librarians, archivists, museum librarians and curators, publishers, students, and so on. The conference theme was Natural Connections.
Three librarians from Hawaii: Carol Hasegawa of the Honolulu Community College Library, Sachi Kawaiaea of the Honolulu Museum of Art Library, and Kanako Iwase of the UH Manoa Department of Art and Art History attended the conference. We thought it would be nice to share our experiences with the AHA members. We hope you will enjoy our post-conference reports.
Space Needle from the Olympic Sculpture Park on the only morning we saw blue sky.
Getting Connected: Visual Resources Thriving with New Technologies Kanako Iwase, Department of Art and Art History, University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa (VRA member)
For those of you who have attended an ALA conference or other national conferences, mingling with 800 people might not sound unusual, but as a first-time attendee to a national conference, it was rather overwhelming. Nevertheless, the conference sessions, workshops and tours were extremely informative and inspirational—overall, a wonderful experience for me. In my report, I try to make links to the original resources as many as possible, so if you are interested in the latest trends in visual resources or art libraries, you can check out what was presented and discussed at the conference.
My first day started with some pleasant conversations with a couple of librarians over breakfast at the pre-conference THATcamp (The Humanities and Technology Camp). During THATcamp, where spontaneous conversations and taking initiatives are encouraged, I was able to propose a session titled “Visual Literacy and Digital Humanities”, and later became the moderator for the session. After familiarizing ourselves with the ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, we had some great brainstorming and discussions. Some people shared examples of visual literacy projects they conduct at their institutions, and demonstrated tools they use, such as SharedShelf and Omeka. We also discussed the importance of collaboration with faculty to improve visual literacy of students at academic institutions. The session notes are available here.
THATcamp ecourages collaboration and participation (photo: Flickr)
Prior to the conference, I had two particular topics in mind about which I wished to learn: new technology in metadata such as Linked Data and tools for data migration; and how Visual Literacy is integrated with Digital Humanities technology in various institutions. THATcamp helped me deepen my knowledge about the latter topic.
Through other workshops about Linked Open Data and RDF, as well as some posters at the Poster Session, I came back with a better understanding of these concepts. I am now excited about the new technology, which enables embedding complex relationships that artwork and digital images would have, such as “how” “where” “what” “belong to” or “used as”. It can still get too technical for me at times, but at least it was a good first step that I took to understand the Semantic Web in the context of visual resources.
The Convocation speaker was Sarah Bergmann, Director of the Pollinator Pathway. She gave an inspirational talk about her projects that respond to global transformation of natural landscape and cityscape. It was thought-provoking for many of us who are constantly thinking about pathways to connect our collections across disciplines, to users and the public.
Association buildings in Chinatown have decorative balconies to let the community and new immigrants know its presence.
Guided tour included a reconstructed general store in Chinatown
On the last day of the conference, I joined the “Chinatown/International District, Wing Luke Museum, and Locke Library Tour.” I was impressed to see a museum and its library actively reaching out the community and connecting to the people in the neighborhood. Our knowledgeable tour guides recounted the colorful history of the well-preserved, authentic buildings where immigrants once lived. Seeing the museum exhibits, I learned about the unique and diverse qualities of Seattle’s Chinatown and the people who helped each other to survive. I highly recommend visiting the museum if you are in Seattle. A bonus was blooming cherry blossoms in a nearby park on a hill overlooking the city. (Photos from the conference can be viewed on Flickr).
Some of the sessions were recorded and are available at ARLIS/NA Learning Portal:
Some of the session notes from THATcamp are also available in Google Drive.
Seattle Public Library’s archive collection tour was conducted by Bridget Nowlin
Short essay: ARLIS/NA Seattle Conference 2016 Sachi Kawaiaea, Honolulu Museum of Art Library (ARLIS/NA member)
Emerald City, Rain City, Jet City (Boeing), Coffee City… Seattle has many nicknames but what I often heard during my stay were – Microsoft, Amazon, and COSTCO. In any case the city is changing and developing (by those companies), yet beautiful and the perfect site for art librarians and museum professionals to get together and discuss for our future.
My 5-day ARLIS/NA conference summary: #sessions #committeemeetings #sharinginformation #enjoyartisanalespresso #exchangebusinesscards #runtothenextroom #museumtours #askingquestions #morecoffee #socialoccasionsintotheevening #cherrybloosm #mostbeautifullibrary #inspired.
Museum Division meeting, Getty Research Portal presentation, Solo Art Info Professional SIG were the three notable sessions at the conference site. Off-site tours were quickly filled by the participants and I was lucky to get in three of the exciting events. Needless to say, the off-site visits expanded my knowledge and my network deeply– and became the highlights of the 5-day conference indeed.
Since I became the museum librarian at Honolulu Museum of Art (then Honolulu Academy of Arts) four years ago participating in the national conference was one of the top priorities among my goals. I greatly enjoyed meeting, seeing, listening, talking, and eating in Seattle. It was only me from Hawaii as ARLIS/NA member! Because of the joint conference I could see familiar faces (Kanako and Carol), that was a bonus as the first-time conference attendee. I brought home an enormous amount of information and contacts. I am working on how I can make good use of it and benefit the HoMA and myself professionally and personally. I already look forward to the next one and reunite new friends in February 2017. Anyone would like to join me? #ArtsduMonde@neworlens.
