Category Archives: SOA Spring Conference

Call for Session Proposals: MAC/SOA Joint Annual Meeting, May 2026

The Midwest Archives Conference and the Society of Ohio Archivists will hold a joint 2026 Annual Meeting on May 14-16, 2026, at the Ohio Union, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, THE Ohio State sits a few miles north of downtown Columbus. A city unto itself with an enrollment of over 65,000, Ohio State is known for its top-ranked academic programs in engineering, agriculture, and business, its world-class research endeavors, and, of course, football. For more information about the host and the conference, see the meeting website: https://www.midwestarchives.org/2026-annual-meeting

From 2015 until 2023, Ohio’s tourism slogan was “Find it Here.” As a slogan, it raised the obvious question, “Find what here?”; but as an archives motto…well, to “Find it Here” is an archivist’s greatest hope for anyone exploring their collections. Join us as we explore the myriad ways in which archivists and memory workers make their collections accessible, discoverable, and usable.

Call for Session Proposals

The Program Committee encourages submissions from newer professionals, first-time presenters, and colleagues from non-academic institutions. A MAC or SOA membership is not required. Presenters may submit more than one proposal, but may present only one session OR poster. We also encourage those from smaller shops to submit presentations for a focused SOA track. We want to hear from the solo archivists or from those with more limited institutional support!

With an eye toward clear takeaways that can be broadly applied, possible areas of focus include but are not limited to:

  • Distinct approaches to collecting, reference, and instruction
  • Creative or unique approaches to outreach
  • Successful community archiving projects and partnerships
  • Collaborative projects leveraging local and/or regional resources for greater impact
  • Stretching resources and budgets in innovative and practical ways
  • Providing access to complex collections (e.g., born-digital records, fragile materials, collections on inaccessible media)
  • Projects or programs that leverage staff in distinctive ways
  • Practical workflows for accessioning, appraisal, processing, preservation, deaccessioning, and cataloging
  • Overcoming challenges to making collections accessible and discoverable
  • Utilizing facilities in unique ways to highlight and provide access to collections
  • Incorporating AI in discovery of materials
  • Modernizing legacy practices, policies, and/or platforms

The Program Committee will also consider proposals not related to this theme or that fall outside these areas of focus.

Possible Session Types

  • Standard Presentation: Two to four speakers present on a common theme. May include a moderator to guide discussion and/or introduce speakers and theme.
  • Open Forum: Topical discussion with moderator leading discussion with everyone present. May include additional moderator(s) to direct breakout conversations.
  • Roundtable Discussion: Three or four participants make very brief remarks, then discuss a topic together. Includes a moderator to steer the discussion.
  • PechaKucha: Each presentation consists of 20 slides or images displayed for 20 seconds each, with comment. Each presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
  • Lightning Talks: Like PechaKucha, but without a set format. May or may not include slides or images. Presentations may be from 3 to 10 minutes long, with the time allotted depending on the number of presenters.
  • Debate: Moderator announces the topic, and two individuals debate. May include more than one topic and additional debaters.

In January 2026, there will be a separate call for poster proposals as well as a call for pop-up sessions for less traditional session types or time-sensitive topics.

Possible Session Lengths

60 minutes and 90 minutes. Please be mindful of the number of presenters and session type when indicating the preferred session length. All sessions will be held in person.

Speaker Representation

The Program Committee seeks a broad slate of presenters representing a variety of professional and institutional backgrounds, perspectives, and voices. We seek to foster a culture of [development] in the MAC program and encourage submissions from anyone interested in presenting, including students, new professionals, first-time presenters, and those from allied professions. In order to facilitate and promote a variety of programs appealing to a wide range of audiences, the proposal submission form will ask voluntary questions about presenters’ professional and institutional backgrounds and past presentation experiences.

To facilitate collaboration among those brainstorming session ideas, the Program Committee encourages the use of the MAC Facebook pageSOA Facebook page, and this spreadsheet for brainstorming session proposal ideas.

Proposal Evaluation

The Program Committee will evaluate all proposals submitted by the deadline using the following criteria:

  • Quality and clarity of the session abstract;
  • Thoroughness of content and sufficient speakers to address all relevant aspects of the topic;
  • Originality of proposed topic;
  • Variety of presenters and viewpoints;
  • Appropriateness of proposed format for session content.

All proposals will be considered in the context of the overall structure of the meeting and the availability of time slots for proposed sessions. You can preview a PDF of the proposal form here. All individuals involved in an accepted proposal must sign a presenter agreement.

Proposal Submission

The deadline for submitting session proposals for the 2026 MAC/SOA Annual Meeting is October 17, 2025, at 5 pm CST. Use the Call for Proposals form to submit your proposal. There will NOT be an extension to the call, so make sure to get your proposals in by the deadline.

If you have any questions about the proposal process, please contact the 2026 Program Committee Co-Chairs, Hayley Jackson ([email protected]) and Adam Wanter ([email protected]).

Follow the conversation online at #soaam26 on Instagram and Facebook.

Save the Date: SOA & MAC Joint Annual Meeting 2026

Save the Date: May 14-16, 2026

The Society of Ohio Archivists and Midwest Archives Conference will hold a joint meeting on May 14–16, 2026, on the campus of The Ohio State University. Conference workshops, sessions, and meetings will be held in the Ohio Union. Hotel accommodations and the reception will be held at the University’s hotel, the Blackwell Inn.

The MAC 2026 annual meeting website is live and will continue to be updated as more details become available. Already available is the hotel booking information. The Blackwell Inn does not charge a deposit at the time of booking, so please consider booking a room now.

The Program Committee will be issuing a call for proposals soon. Check back for additional details!

Questions? Contact the Educational Programming Committee cochairs Sara Mouch and Adam Wanter.

Recordings & Speaker Slides from 2025 Annual Meeting Available

The 2025 Society of Ohio Archivists Annual Meeting was held on Thursday (virtual only) and Friday (hybrid), May 15-16 with the theme of Show Me the Money: Sustaining Archives and Archival Programs

Recordings for 6 session presentations, including the keynote speaker Patricia Hswe, are now available on the SOA YouTube channel.

See the Annual Meeting page for more details and links to the speaker slides.

If you have any questions, please contact the EPC co-chairs Sara Mouch or Michelle Sweetser.

Council Meeting Minutes from April 25 and May 16, 2025

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes from April 25, 2025, and the Annual Business meeting minutes from May 16, 2025, 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 Shelby Beatty.

Annual Meeting 2025 Registration Now Open

Registration is now open for the 2025 Annual Meeting: Show Me the Money: Sustaining Archives and Archival Programs, May 15-16! Register online or mail-in in this form (PDF).

This May, the Society of Ohio Archivists Annual Meeting will be traveling to Toledo, Ohio! Join us on Thursday, May 15 (virtual), and on Friday, May 16 (hybrid) at the University of Toledo. Day one (Thursday) is comprised of all virtual sessions, available to all registrants. Day two (Friday) is a full day of in-person sessions with one session in each time block live streamed for virtual attendees.

Photograph of a woman against a red background. She is wearing glasses and a black jacket.Keynotes: We are excited to announce Patricia Hswe as our morning keynote speaker. Patricia Hswe is the program director for Public Knowledge at The Mellon Foundation. As the Foundation’s program area that supports libraries and archives, Public Knowledge makes grants that strive to increase equitable access to—and activation of—recorded knowledge that helps to build an informed, heterogeneous, and civically engaged society. Patricia is currently a member of the board of trustees for the Metropolitan New York Library Council and sits in the advisory team for LibraryPAC. Continue reading

Call for Proposals 2025. Show Me the Money: Sustaining Archives and Archival Programs

Society of Ohio Archivists (SOA) Annual Meeting 2025

The Society of Ohio Archivists is planning a hybrid Annual Meeting on Thursday (virtual only) and Friday (hybrid), May 15-16, 2025. The in-person portion of the conference (Friday, May 16) will be held at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.

This year we welcome proposals that explore the theme of Show Me the Money: Sustaining Archives and Archival Programs. We encourage presentations that address any one (or more) of the ways in which archives find the support they need to sustain their operations.   Continue reading

Save the Date: Annual Meeting on May 15-16, 2025

Mark your calendars! The Society of Ohio Archivists is planning another hybrid Annual Meeting on Thursday (virtual only) and Friday (hybrid), May 15-16, 2025. The in-person portion of the conference (Friday, May 16) will be held at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.

The theme for 2025 is Show Me the Money: Sustaining Archives and Archival Programs. A call for proposals will be posted next week. Follow the conversation online at #soaam25.

We hope to see you all in May,
Sara Mouch and Michelle Sweetser, Co-Chairs, Society of Ohio Archivists Educational Programming Committee

 

Recordings & Speaker Slides from 2024 Annual Meeting Available

The 2024 Society of Ohio Archivists Annual Meeting was held on Thursday (virtual only) and Friday (hybrid), May 16-17 with the theme of Archives for All: Enhancing Accessibility and Inclusivity.

Recordings for 9 session presentations, including the keynote speaker Dr. Lydia Tang, are now available on the SOA YouTube channel.

See the Annual Meeting page for more details and links to the speaker slides.

Questions? Please contact Sara Mouch or Michelle Sweetser, Co-Chairs, Society of Ohio Archivists Educational Programming Committee.

2024 SOA Merit Award Winners

The SOA Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce the 2024 Merit Award recipients! The awards were presented at the annual meeting on May 17.

Congratulations to Greene County Archives, recognized for their work to preserve the vital records of Greene County through the new Online Catalog System and Digital Repository.

Congratulations to the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library, recognized for their work in preserving the archives of their hometown newspapers.

3 people holding awards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photograph (left to right): Robin Heise, Greene County Records Center and Archives; Angela O’Neal, Columbus Metropolitan Library; and Larry Richmond, Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

 

 

Meeting Scholarships Awarded for 2024

The SOA Membership & Awards Committee is pleased to announce five scholarships awarded at the Annual Meeting on May 17.

Scholarship awardees, pictured left to right:

  • Jessica Licker, Ohio University (Student Scholarship Award)
  • Katie Gable, Kent State University (Student Scholarship Award)
  • Nikala Trujillo, Dawes Arboretum (New Professional Scholarship Award)
  • Emilie Cornelius, Central Ohio Technical College and The Ohio State University Newark campus  (New Professional Scholarship Award)
  • Niel White, University of Denver (Ohio Preservation Council Scholarship Award)five people holding awards

 

 

 

 

 

The scholarship consists of registration to the SOA annual meeting (including lunch), a one-year SOA membership, and a $100 travel stipend. Look for articles sharing their meeting experiences in the fall issue of the Ohio Archivist newsletter!