Category Archives: SOA Committees

Call for Nominations: SOA Council 2025

The SOA Nominating Committee announces a call for nominations for:

  • Vice President/President-Elect,
  • Secretary,
  • Member of Council, and
  • JEDAI Committee Co-chair (2) (one is a 1-year term and the other is a 2-year term).

Self-nominations and peer nominations are welcomed and encouraged. We also encourage nominations from new professionals and/or individuals seeking to get involved in a professional organization for the first time. All positions are for two-year terms of office, except for the VP/President/Past President cycle, which is one year in each position (a total commitment of three years).

If elected, you must be a current SOA member in good standing by the beginning of your term and willing and able to attend monthly council meetings and business activities (virtually or in person).

The election will be held during the SOA Annual Business Meeting, which will occur during the SOA Spring Meeting on May 15-16, 2025. Prior to the election, candidates will be required to respond to a question printed in the Ohio Archivist.

More details about responsibilities and terms can be found in the SOA Constitution and Bylaws.

Please send nominations to committee chair Melissa Dalton by Friday, March 7, 2005. (Deadline extended from Friday, February 21, 2025.)

Questions? Contact the committee chair, Melissa Dalton.

Ohio Archives Month: Special Olympics

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is recognizing and celebrating archives month through a series of blog posts throughout October 2024.

By: Stacy Crouse (Local Coordinator, Allen County Special Olympics Ohio) & Collette McDonough (SOA Advocacy and Outreach committee member).

The mission statement of the Special Olympics is to provide “year-round sports training and competition opportunities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.” This is very true, but the Special Olympics is so much more. The athletes who participate not only learn new sports skills, but they also make lifelong friends. The athletes are celebrated for what they can do. The athletes, coaches, and volunteers all train together at practices and invest in each other. Athletes learn that they can trust and count on the coaches and volunteers to encourage them and be their biggest fans. Continue reading →

Ohio Archives Month – Olympic Memories

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is recognizing and celebrating archives month through a series of blog posts throughout October 2024.

Even if we haven’t been to the Olympics, most of us still have memories associated with them. We asked our Advocacy and Outreach Committee members about their favorite Olympic memories. Here’s what they said: Continue reading →

Council Meeting Minutes from Aug 23, 2024

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes from August 23, 2024, 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.

American Archives Month 2024

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is recognizing and celebrating archives month through a series of blog posts throughout October 2024.

by Christine Liebson, MLIS, CA, member of SOA Advocacy & Outreach Committee.

Since 1979, Archives Month has been a time to reflect on the importance and value of archives and archivists. Although SOA has been celebrating Archives Month/Week since 1993, October was officially designated American Archives Month by the Society of American Archivists in 1999.  Continue reading →

Council Meeting Minutes from June 20, 2024

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes from June 20, 2024, 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.

You’re Invited to Takeover the SOA Instagram

The Marketing and Communications Committee invites you to takeover the SOA Instagram account!  An Instagram takeover is when someone takes over the posting on an Instagram account for a limited time to share content and interact with the account’s audience.

Read over the guidelines below and then sign up for a week that works for you.  These takeovers are intended to promote and share archives throughout the state! Continue reading →

JEDAI Committee seeks additional members

The Society of Ohio Archivists Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (JEDAI) Committee seeks additional committee members!
The SOA Social Justice and Black Lives Matter Task Force transitioned into the JEDAI Committee in 2023. This committee’s current goal is to evaluate the internal processes of SOA and generate plans for improvement related to the topics of justice, equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion. The JEDAI Committee meets virtually every month. The total time commitment is estimated to be 1-1.5 hours per month. Committee member terms are 2 years with an option to renew. Any member of SOA is welcome to serve!
Please contact JEDAI Cochair, Nicole Sutton, at [email protected] to volunteer or with questions.
Sincerely,
Devhra BennettJones, University of Cincinnati (2020-)
Madeleine Fix, The Ohio State University (2020- )
Hannah Kemp-Severence, University of Akron (2023- )
Arjun Sabharwal, University of Toledo (2023- )
Penelope Shumaker, State Library of Ohio (2020-, cochair 2023-2024)
Nicole Sutton, Columbus Metropolitan Library (2020-, cochair 2023-2025)

Letter from Advocacy and Outreach Committee: SB-83

Dear SOA members,

I am contacting you on a matter related to our work as Public Historians: history advocacy. As a co-chair of the Advocacy and Outreach Committee, I keep SOA members abreast of relevant issues related to archives in Ohio. I am reaching out to you all today about Ohio Senate Bill 83 (SB-83). This bill targets state higher education institutions. Although it does not explicitly include archives, its implications for US history and government courses are dire. My main concern is to talk with you all about how this bill will impact history, which DOES affect us. Continue reading →

SOA Bylaws Revision Task Force – Call for Volunteers

Volunteers Needed for Bylaws Revision Task Force

The SOA Council recently decided to form a task force that is charged with providing SOA Council recommendations on possible updates to the SOA Bylaws. More specifically the task force has been asked to look at how the Bylaws can better support:

  1. Increased democratization of organizational decision-making.
  2. The improved efficiency of Council administration.
  3. The identification, and where practical, reconciliation of differences between the SOA Council Manual and the SOA Constitution & Bylaws.

Our goal for the task force membership is to have representatives from SOA Council, Committee co-chairs, and the general membership. Consequently, if you are interested in serving on this task force as a representative of the general membership please contact Vice President/President-Elect Matt Francis with your interest by Wednesday, September 20, 2023. Continue reading →