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Business Archives Section



Don't forget the SAA Business Archives Section Colloquium at 1 pm on
Wednesday, August 21st, during the SAA's annual meeting in Birmingham,
Alabama, USA.  The colloquium will be followed by the annual mixer sponsored
by
the Business Archives Section at 6 pm.

This year the subject of the colloquium is "Adding Values: Selling
Business Archives"

Many business archives exist primarily to promote certain corporate
values: longevity, founder's vision, ethics, nostalgia for a brand, or a
combination of these.  In business archives, the record is simply a
commodity from
which value is derived, and the business archivist is viewed as custodian of
heritage, not necessarily records.  Sometimes we must assemble a
heritage first and then look for records that support that message.  In a
retail
business, support of the brand and maintaining the emotional tie between
brand and customer is a primary task for the archives.  In other
businesses, promotion of certain values, like innovation, is critical.
Recent
events with Enron, Martha Stewart, Qwest, etc., call for even more active
participation of the archives in shaping a positive corporate image for
both employees and customers.

The colloquium will explore this role and its effect on our work. How
have archivists capitalized on corporate values to sell their programs, and
what are the long-term consequences to the support of corporate archives?
Is
this an accurate portrait of business archives, and if so, are business
archivists different in nature from our colleagues?  Are there aspects
of this role that should make us uncomfortable?

The discussion will be led by Becky Haglund Tousey, Kraft Foods, Dan
Barringer, State Farm Insurance and Bruce Bruemmer, Cargill.  The session
commentator will be Robert Horton, state archivist of the Minnesota
Historical Society.  This is not just a discussion of business
archives, but of the nature of our work in general.  Consequently, all
archivists are
welcomed to the colloquium and reception.

The Section will sponsor a cash bar reception at the Back Alley Restaurant
from 6 to 8 pm. The Back Alley restaurant is located at 1312 Cobb Lane.
Birmingham's Dart trolley system will provide direct and easy access from
the hotel to the Back Alley. Please join us for an enjoyable evening in
Birmingham's historic Cobb Lane district.




Mike Bullington
Assistant Archives Manager
Kraft Foods
847.646.0187 v
847.646.7699 f

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