Author Archives: janet_carleton

Renew Your SOA Membership for 2023

Dear SOA members: Thank you for supporting the Society of Ohio Archivists during the past year. Your dedication enables SOA to provide community and opportunities for archivists and aspiring archivists.

Highlights from the past year include:

- Providing professional development events through the SOA Spring Annual Meeting, the joint OLHA/SOA Fall meeting, and the Fall Virtual Workshop
- Hosting “Crucial Conversations: Recognizing and Overcoming Racial Injustice and Bias” and supporting the ongoing work of SOA’s Social Justice and Black Lives Matter Task Force
- Recognizing students, archivists, and organizations through awards and honors
- Designing and distributing the Archives Month poster, “Ohio’s Healthcare Workers”
- Publishing the Ohio Archivist newsletter
- Fostering community and communication through the SOA blog, listserv, and social media

The Membership & Awards Committee invites you to renew your SOA membership or join as a new member through the secure site online provided by the Ohio History Connection’s Ohio History Store, or by mailing in the invoice.

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SOA Council Meeting Minutes for Oct 27, 2022 Available

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes, from October 27, 2022, can now be found on the Council Meeting Minutes page.

Interested in SOA over time? Also on that page are minutes dating back to 1997. In addition to documenting actions from the leadership meeting, minutes include reports from the treasurer as well as from committees and task forces.

Questions about minutes? Contact SOA Secretary Jen Johnson.

Call for Nominations: President-Elect/Vice President, Secretary, Council Member, for terms beginning in 2023

The Society of Ohio Archivists Nominating Committee would like to announce a call for nominations for the following 3 seats: one Council member, Secretary, and Vice President/President-Elect.

Self-nominations are welcomed and encouraged, as are peer nominations. All positions begin terms after the Annual Meeting adjourns, May 2023.

All positions are for two-year terms of office, with the exclusion of the VP/President/Past President cycle which is one year in each position (3 year commitment total). Continue reading →

Call for Proposals: 2023 SOA Annual Meeting: Forward Together: Community Partnerships and Public Service

The Society of Ohio Archivists is planning for a hybrid annual meeting in 2023, on Thursday, May 11 (virtually) and Friday, May 12 (in person) at the Dayton Metro Library in Dayton, Ohio!

This year we welcome proposals that explore the theme of Forward Together as it relates to community partnerships and public service in support of a more inclusive and equitable society.

The committee welcomes submissions relating directly to the theme, along with a broad array of other topics.

Deadline to submit proposals (updated): Friday, January 27, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. See the Annual Meeting page for much more detail and the submission form.

Questions? Contact Educational Programming Committee Cochairs Matt Francis and Adam Wanter.

SOA Membership Fee Change Passes for 2023

In November, Society of Ohio Archivists members voted overwhelmingly to raise membership dues effective January 1, 2023. A vote by membership to waive the bylaws for this action was required in order for the change to be put in effect for the 2023 membership year.

SOA had not raised dues since 1996 while we worked to keep costs to members as low as possible. Even during the height of the pandemic we committed to offering free and low-cost programs for members and non-members alike, but rising inflation and costs have taken their toll on our finances.

The new dues structure will be:

Individual: $30
Student and bridge: $15
Patron: $50
Sponsor: $100

We are also committed to continuing our hardship program for those in need in these times of cuts to professional development funding and other struggles. Anyone who wants to renew their membership or join SOA but is struggling with the cost can contact the Membership & Awards Committee cochairs to access this program.

Thank you again for your continued support of SOA!
SOA Council

Archives Month and Spooky Season 2022

By A&O Committee member Natalie Fritz, Clark County Historical Society

This month during American Archives Month, the Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee decided to spend most of the month sharing three blog posts that highlight medical collections found in Ohio Archives. This theme was in keeping with the 2022 Ohio poster theme for Archives Month: Ohio Healthcare: The True Heart of it All.

Our final blog post for Archives Month is more in keeping with the spooky October season, focusing on spooky and scary things found in the archives. The committee invited other Ohio archives to share stories and items from their collections online using #ScaryOHArchives.

Today, while I may be highlighting some things that I personally find spooky or scary from the collections of the Clark County Historical Society at the Heritage Center in Springfield, Ohio, I also wanted to point out the subjective nature of what one may find to be scary. Continue reading →

Ohio Archives Month Archival Spotlights: Dittrick Medical History Center

View of Dittrick Medical History Center Archives. Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University.

Archival Spotlights: Post #2

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee (A&O) wanted to celebrate Archives Month in a new way, so we are featuring a handful of archives in a series of posts we are calling Archival Spotlights. Since the Archives Month poster’s theme was “Ohio’s Healthcare Workers: The True Heart of it All,” we felt it a good idea to feature archives that focus on healthcare or have interesting collections related to healthcare.

About the Dittrick Medical History Center and its Collections

By A&O Committee Member Amy Czubak, Ohio History Connection.

Have you ever wanted to read a letter written by Charles Darwin? Examine intricately detailed medical drawings? Maybe see inside of a Civil War era amputation kit? The Dittrick Medical History Center at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, has all of these things and more! Named after the first curator, Dr. Howard Dittrick (1877–1954), the museum and archives has been collecting medical history for nearly 100 years and has the most comprehensive collection concerning medical instruments and implements in the United States.

Diagrams found in the Dittrick Medical History Center Archives include this one of a disk oxygenator. The disk oxygenator removes carbon and gasses from the blood and adds in oxygen.
Disk oxygenator diagram engineered by Richard Jones, PhD. Dittrick Medical History Center, Case Western Reserve University.

The Cleveland Medical Library Association, established in 1894, developed a historical committee in 1898. At its helm was a prominent Cleveland area surgeon named Dr. Dudley Peter Allen (1852–1915), who was tasked with caring for and preserving donations given to the Cleveland Medical Library Association by Dr. Allen and other members of the Association. A new medical library built on land donated by Western Reserve University, and funded by money donated by Dr. Allen’s widow, was established in 1926 and featured a third floor museum gallery.
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