Education Committee Report to Council

Midwest Archives Conference

Education Committee Report to Council

April 2010

MAC Spring Meeting 2010: Workshop offerings

Our 2010 workshops were very well received. Thanks in particular go to Rick Pifer for stepping in to offer the reference workshop at very short notice!

Following are the breakdowns of the workshop evaluations. The detailed comments are available as well.

MAC Basic Workshop: The Fundamentals of Reference by Richard Pifer, Director of Reference and Public Services, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison

Evaluations: 20

Averaged Ratings (1 = low, 5 = high)

1.  Enhanced understanding – 4.35

2.  Professional value – 4.55

3.  Speakers – Preparedness/communication – 4.9 (with one marked “5 !!”)

4.  Q&A opportunity – 4.7 (with one entry marked “5!!”)

5.  Overall satisfaction – 4.5

MAC Advanced Workshop: After the Interview: Completing the Closing Stages of an Oral History Project by Craig Simpson and Kathleen Medicus, Kent State University

Evaluations: 10

Averaged Ratings (1 = low, 5 = high)

1.  Enhanced understanding – 4.8

2.  Professional value – 4.7

3.  Speakers: Preparedness/communication – 4.8

4.  Q&A opportunity – 4.9

5.  Overall satisfaction – 4.7

MAC Advanced Workshop: Audiovisual Preservation Self-Assessment: Principles, Priorities and Program Management by Jimi Jones, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Evaluations: 7

Averaged Ratings (1 = low, 5 = high)

1.  Enhanced understanding – 4.43

2.  Professional value – 4

3.  Speakers – Preparedness/communication – 4.64

4.  Q&A opportunity – 5 (All 5’s!)

5.  Overall satisfaction – 4.57

We also offered the full day SAA workshop, Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) (#0142) by Kelcy Shepherd, Digital Interfaces Librarian, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This workshop filled quickly and was wait-listed, which is a good indicator that MAC should consider offering this workshop again in future.

Potential Workshops for St. Paul 2011

Thanks to Karen Spillman, we are able to offer SAA’s two-day EAD workshop nearby at the University of Minnesota. This will be in lieu of a one-day workshop on the premises of the conference hotel; the university site was chosen in order to ensure computer access and support for all workshop attendees.

The workshop on archival management/leadership proposed by alumni of the Archives Leadership Institute in 2009 appears to be ready to go for St. Paul. We believe it will be well-received.

Other workshops are not yet firmed up as of press time, but developments look promising, particularly for a workshop on project management. Exhibit design is another topic that we are exploring.

Future topics for potential workshops include include (conventional) records management and fund-raising/grants, as these topics are in demand and have not been recently presented.

Task Force on Education

We are excited about the report of the Task Force and look forward to discussing its recommendations with the Council.

Membership:

The current membership of the committee is as follows:

Chad Owen, Chair (04/2009-04/2012 2nd term) (Chair 04/09-04/11)

Randy L. Bixby (02/2008-02/2011)

Chelle Somsen (05/2007-05/2012)

Karen Spilman (12/2008-12/2011)

Jacquelyn Ferry (12/2008-12/2011)

Elizabeth M. Wilkinson (12/2008-12/2011)