Catholic Archives in the Digital Age: A Conference for Teachers and Archivists

Monica L. Mercado

From the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA) comes the following announcement.

Catholic Archives in the Digital Age: A Conference for Teachers and Archivists


October 8-9, 2015 | 9:00a.m.-4:00p.m. | 
The Catholic University of America

[Register online]

The worlds of archives and education continue to experience transformation during the digital age. This conference will explore how digitization has affected both the fields of archives and education, with a focus on Catholic archival and educational institutions. We will also explore the new opportunities and challenges presented to teachers and archivists by the advent of availability of digital materials via the web.

There is also a livestream option planned for those who cannot attend in person.

Schedule [Day 1]

Thursday, October 8, 2015 in Caldwell Hall Auditorium

Session 1: 
What archives have: Archivists discuss digital resources for Catholic school teachers
9:00 am – 10:30 am

Here we will feature several archivists with online digitized materials talking about their materials and how they might be used in a classroom related to Catholic history and religious studies.

Questions addressed include:

1. What types of materials do Catholic archival institutions digitize?
2. How much material related to Catholicism is digitized? How much of it is available on the web? How can teachers get to these materials?
3. What types of materials might be most useful for Catholic school teachers?

Panelists:

• Malachy McCarthy, Archives, Claretian Missionaries, Chicago Illinois
• Amy Cooper Cary, Libraries, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Denise Gallo, Archives, Daughters of Charity, Emmitsburg, Maryland
• Carol Coburn, Religious Studies, Avila University, Kansas City, Missouri
• Timothy Meagher, American Catholic History Research Center, Catholic University, Washington, D.C.

Session 2: 
What Teachers Want: teachers talk about today’s Catholic school curriculum and digital resources
10:45 am – 11:30 am

Here we will feature Catholic school teachers and possibly library/media specialists talking about the kinds of materials today’s educators need to fit into their curricula.

1. Which parts of the curriculum lend themselves most to use of online digital materials?
2. For what kinds of materials do they most often go searching online?
3. Are there go-to websites for teachers?
4. What would teachers of Catholic studies like to see online?

Panelists:

• Jennifer Cabigas, Religious Studies, Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Olney, Maryland
• Paul Boman, Theology, Stone Ridge Academy of the Sacred Heart, Bethesda, Maryland
• Patrick S. Kelleher, History & Social Sciences, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School & Ph.D. student in History, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
• Lindsay K. Kelleher, Religion Department, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, Washington, D.C.
• Fr. Richard Gribble, Religious Studies, Stonehill College, Easton, Massachusetts

Session 3: 
Users and Access: Models for collaboration on digital projects
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

How to choose materials to digitize.

A recent survey of Catholic archival institutions (2014) across the U.S. revealed that 52% of archives have digitized at least some of their materials.  However, only 18% of those institutions are conducting digitization projects collaboratively, though digitization projects are clearly more cost effective, and the information shared during such projects is useful to the institutions involved.  The same survey, in fact, revealed that of the institutions engaged in collaborative digitization projects, 100% considered the collaboration a significant factor in the project’s success.

1. What kinds of collaborations among Catholic archival institutions have resulted in the greater dissemination of archival materials?
2. Which models for collaboration work best for particular types of institutions?
3. How does one embark on a collaborative effort to make archival materials available to the public?

Panelists:

• Young Choi, Department of Library and Information Science, Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
• Alan Delozier, Archives, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey
• Pat Lawton, Catholic Research Resources Alliance, Notre Dame University, South Bend Indiana

Schedule [Day 2]

Friday, October 9, 2015 in Columbus School of Law Room 303*
 **

*Please bring a laptop for the workshop.
** The workshop is currently full; register for the waitlist here.

Doing Digital Archives: A Workshop for Archivists and Educators in Catholic Institutions
9:00 am – 4:00 pm

1. How do I choose materials to digitize?
2. How does one capture and preserve born digital records?
3. How do I plan a digitization project? 
4. What kind of equipment do I need to digitize my materials and how do I digitize?
5. How do I approach an institution toward a collaborative digitization project?
6. How do I curate my digital materials and make them available to my targeted users?
7. How do I fund my digitization projects?

For disability accommodations, please contact The Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at 202-319-5999, or email CUA-IPRStaff@cua.edu.