Ohio Archives Month Spotlight 2: Inland Rivers Library

Ohio Archives Month Spotlights: Inland Rivers Library, Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library

1895 informal group portrait with mostly women, one man, and several children wearing fine clothes and hats on the shores of a river with a steamboat in the background

Caption: Group waiting to board a steamboat at Evansville, Indiana, 1895. Photograph link

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is happy to announce that we will be spotlighting archives around the state again this year to celebrate archives month throughout October 2023. Each of our archives spotlights will feature places that house materials related to the theme of the poster, Land, Water, & Air: Transportation in Ohio.

About the Inland Rivers Library

By A&O Committee member Erin Wilson, Ohio University Libraries

Sepia toned photo of Cotton Blossom showboat on the banks of the Ohio River with band members on board and children posing on the shore and boat ramp

People aboard Cotton Blossom showboat on the banks of the Ohio River, circa 1908-1917. Photograph link

Have you ever wondered what life was like along the Ohio River when steamboats were the dominant form of transport? Whether you’re interested in river travel, trade, navigation, or the history of local river towns, the Inland Rivers Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive collections documenting use of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries. Housed in the Genealogy and Local History Department of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, the Inland Rivers collection includes materials dating back to the 1820s which present some of the earliest images and descriptions of the steamboat era and its Ohio locales.

Continue reading →

Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Emily Gainer

Ohio Archives Month Spotlight 1: Wright State University

Ohio Archives Month Spotlights: Wright State University Special Collections and Archives

by Collette N. McDonough, CA 

A photograph of the research spaces at Wright State University Special Collections and Archives. A man and woman stand in front of an exhibit case.

Research spaces at Special Collections and Archives in the Wright State University Libraries. Credit: Wright State University.

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee is happy to announce that we will be spotlighting archives around the state again this year to celebrate archives month throughout October. Each of our archives spotlights will feature places that house materials related the theme of the poster, Land, Water, & Air: Transportation in Ohio.

 

 

The first archives we will be spotlighting in 2023 is Wright State University Special Collections and Archives. Even though Wright State’s submission was not featured on the poster this year, we are happy to have them front and center in our first archives spotlight.

Historical image in sepia tone. Shows an airplane on a beach and a man in dark clothing standing on the right side.

This famous image, taken by John T. Daniels, captures a moment of the twelve-second first flight. Daniels walked up from the U.S. Lifesaving Station at Kill Devil Hills to help the brothers. The Wright Brothers did not know if the image caught their airplane in flight until they developed the negatives at home back in Dayton, Ohio.

Wright State University was founded in the 1960s as a part of a plan to make higher education more convenient for Ohioans and got its start as a joint campus of the Ohio State University and Miami University. By 1967, the campus was granted independent status and named in honor of Dayton’s favorite sons, inventors of the manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft. The Wright State archive got its start with their first collection of Wright Brothers materials. In December 1975, the Wright Family “including Ivonette Wright Miller, Leontine Wright Jameson, Horace A. Wright, Milton Wright, Jr., and Wilkinson Wright,” gave materials to the archives to become the Wright Brothers Collection. Continue reading →

Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Emily Gainer

Internship Available at OCLC 2024

Sharing an Internship Opportunity

Posting Date: September 27, 2023

Institution: OCLC

Internship Description: We are looking to fill a part-time internship beginning in mid-January 2024 for a current MLIS or Archives/Museum studies student at the OCLC Library, Archives, and Museum located within the OCLC Headquarters in Dublin, OH.  Internship is for a total of 268 hours at $17.00 per hour with some flexibility in starting and ending dates.  Estimating approximately 20-30 hours/week.

Additional Information: Students must currently be enrolled in a LIS, Archives or Museum studies graduate level program. Internship is intended for on-site attendance with some remote work if logistically possible and pre-approved by OCLC Library manager.​ For more information, check the link to the job posting and application.

Availability: beginning January 15, 2024, and ending before May 1, 2024.

For more internships, visit Internship and Volunteer listings, which is a project of the Membership and Awards Committee. Contact committee member Mark Bloom to submit or update an entry.

Last Updated on September 28, 2023 by Emily Gainer

Internship Available at Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation 2023

Sharing an Internship Opportunity

Posting Date: September 19th until October 4, 2023

Institution: Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation

Internship Description: We are looking for a highly motivated student with an interest in museums, archives, and libraries to help us digitize and catalog archival material in the BWC Archive. The intern will be involved with the planning of museum exhibits at the BWC William Green building in downtown Columbus.

Additional Information: Must currently be enrolled in a higher education program. All majors will be considered but those expected to be most relevant include library science, museum and archive studies, and history. Compensation: $13.50 – $20.59. For more information check the link to the job posting and application.

Contact Person: Sharon Roney, MLIS, Ohio BWC Library Administrator; 614-466-0580

Availability: year-round.

For more internships, visit Internship and Volunteer listings, which is a project of the Membership and Awards Committee. Contact committee member Mark Bloom to submit or update an entry.

Last Updated on September 22, 2023 by janet_carleton

Ohio Archives Month Poster Reveal on YouTube

Did you miss the Ohio Archives Month poster reveal live on September 7?  You can now watch the recorded event on the Society of Ohio Archivists YouTube channel.

Each year, SOA creates a poster to recognize and celebrate Archives Month in Ohio. This year’s theme is transportation. We had more than 20 Ohio institutions contribute images, and the SOA membership voted to pick the top ten images.

Questions? Contact the committee at [email protected].

Last Updated on September 12, 2023 by Emily Gainer

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 →

Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Emily Gainer

SOA Strategic Plan 2023-2026 Now Available

Message from the Strategic Planning Committee Chair

I’m pleased to announce that SOA has completed our strategic planning process, and the 2023-2026 strategic plan is now available on the website. This plan has strategies for success across the organization to help SOA meet its vision to be the primary provider of professional development for archivists and historical records professionals in Ohio. You can follow our progress towards these goals by checking the task tracker on the site, which will be updated regularly.

I’d like to thank all the members of SOA’s leadership in 2022-23 and 2023-24 for their work in creating the plan and helping refine the goals and tasks. We would not have this plan without their active participation. I’d especially like to thank the members of the strategic planning committee over the past 18 months: Melissa Dalton, Sherri Goudy, Collette McDonough, and Nick Pavlik for their work every step of the way. Finally, thanks to Rob Colby for helping us start the process and Jennifer Souers Chevraux for helping us bring this plan to fruition.

I hope you take the time to read the plan and see what SOA hopes to achieve for our profession!

Best,
Amy Rohmiller
Past-President & Chair, Strategic Planning Committee

Last Updated on August 30, 2023 by Emily Gainer

OLHA/SOA Fall Meeting 2023

OLHA/SOA Fall Meeting, October 6-7, 2023

The Society of Ohio Archivists is partnering with the Ohio Local History Alliance for the fall meeting, History as Necessity.  Join us on October 6-7, 2023, at Quest Conference Center in Columbus, Ohio.Ohio Local History Alliance and Society of Ohio Archivists brochure first page.

Registration is now open through September 22 September 30 (extended)! Sessions will discuss a wide array of ways in which collecting, sharing, and commemorating Ohio’s local history can, and perhaps should, become more central in the operations of our organizations.

The SOA track will take place on Friday, October 6. The Fall Meetings page includes more details on these tracks. View full details on the conference brochure.

Questions? Contact the Educational Programming Committee Cochairs Sara Mouch and Michelle Sweetser.

Last Updated on September 25, 2023 by Emily Gainer

Archives Month Poster Reveal 2023

2023 Poster Unveiling – Sept 7

The Society of Ohio Archivists Advocacy and Outreach Committee invites all SOA members and lovers of history to an online event where we will unveil the 2023 Archives Month poster!

Join us on Thursday, September 7, 2023, from 3 – 4pm (ET) on Zoom for the poster unveiling, along with fun trivia. Please register by September 4.

Each year, SOA creates a poster to recognize and celebrate Archives Month. This year’s theme is transportation. We had more than 20 Ohio institutions contribute images, and the SOA membership voted to pick the top ten images. View the 2023 top ten images on the blog.

Questions? Contact the committee at [email protected].

 

Last Updated on August 3, 2023 by Emily Gainer

SOA Council Minutes for May 2023 Available

The Society of Ohio Archivists most recent leadership meeting minutes from May 12, 2023, 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.

Last Updated on June 28, 2023 by Emily Gainer