Governance / Archives Committee Meeting: November 10, 2025

Archives Committee Meeting: November 10, 2025

Zoom / Conference Call

Members attending: Brandi Fialek (Harper College), Rebecca Fitzsimmons, co-chair (Illinois State University), Matt Gorzalski, co-chair (Southern Illinois University Carbondale), Melody Hauf-Belden (Principia College), Ashley Howdeshell (Northeastern Illinois University), Meghan Ryan (National Louis University), Steven Szegedi (Dominican University), Erin Zimmerman (Heartland Community College)

Members absent: Ashley Howdeshell (Northeastern Illinois University), Elaine Fetyko Page (Elmhurst University).

CARLI Staff attending: Elizabeth Clarage, Martin Kong

Decisions

  • The October 13, 2025 minutes were approved by unanimous vote.
  • The Archives Committee will create/publish a new resource in the CARLI newsletter, (name to be determined). It will be a “spotlight/highlight” of archives resources, leaning primarily on what is already published but not necessarily easy to locate on the CARLI website.
  • The Archives Committee will have another “Ask an Archivist” event in the Spring. The date will be determined during subsequent meetings.
  • The Archives Committee will use a variety of approaches to collect additional linked documents for the “Archives and Special Collections Resource Page”. We will reach out directly to institutions, draft a call-out for specific types of examples to submit to the January CARLI newsletter, utilizing our new idea for the “Archives Committee Spotlight/highlight”, and Elizabeth Clarage and Martin Kong will amplify the message via the CARLI Announce email list.
  • The Introduction to Appraising Born-Digital Records webinar is collecting registrants for December 12, 2025, 11 to 12:30 p.m.
  • The Archives Committee decided there will be a Spring webinar/workshop focused on “Archives 101, from the internal perspective” provided by this committee. Date/Time to be determined in following meeting and by planning group. We will revisit and discuss progress made during the next meeting. 
  • The Archives Committee decided we will have an in-person open house/Archives Committee Meeting on April 16, 2025 for all who can attend.

Tasks Assigned

  • Minutes were taken by Melody Hauf-Belden.
  • CARLI staff will add the Annual Meeting table talk notes to the committee’s Box folder.
  • The first “Archives Committee Spotlight” (name to be determined) to highlight a resource will be decided upon or created and published for the January CARLI newsletter. 
  • Rebecca Fitzsimmons volunteered to draft a note for the CARLI November/December newsletter to encourage broad participation in SAA’s 250 for the 250th project. Rebecca will add it to our Box folder for the committee’s comments this week. Deadline for submission is December 5, 2025.
  • Elizabeth Clarage will look for specific language used in a previous call out for documents to add to our resource pages that was sent out from the CARLI Announce email list.
  • Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Brandi Fialek, Meghan Ryan, Erin Zimmerman and Melody Hauf-Belden will plan for a Spring webinar/workshop beginning as soon as times and dates are determined.
  • Rebecca will schedule a planning meeting for this group.
  • Rebecca Fitzsimmons will work with Elizabeth Clarage and Martin Kong on the In-person open house/Archives Committee Meeting April 16, 2025.

Announcements

Discussion

  • Rebecca Fitzsimmons called the meeting to order. Matt Gorzalski confirmed that Melody Hauf-Belden was taking notes for this meeting.
  • CARLI Annual Meeting Table Talk, Exploring Archives Collection Software: Tools and Challenges
    • Steven Szegedi reported back about the CARLI Annual Meeting, Talk Table: Exploring Archives Collection Software: Tools and Challenges. Table attendees were asked three questions and asked for their input about events and workshops. Attendees were asked what they were currently using to manage their archives. Responses ranged from Excel, Access, JSTOR, ContentDM, and Internet Archives. Overall takeaway was that most attendees needed education regarding the basics of archiving. Archive work and duties were additional responsibilities to their jobs. They needed help with the basics and with creating policies. Most attendees were not actively creating finding aids. There were concerns expressed about digitization and not having everything digitized. Users and patrons are often expecting everything to be digitized and linked to finding aids.
    • Steven reported about identifying possible future programming directions informed by the discussion. Training that would be helpful to people would include: Programming about how to advocate for the archives, digitization advice, and ArchivesSpace. Much interest was also expressed about how to deal with controversial materials found in archives and special collections. Interest from attendees also was expressed for reviews of products and software, demos, or show and tell from active archivists and users. Martin Kong mentioned the challenges with OCR. Elizabeth Clarage confirmed there were 10 people in attendance. She will pull Steven Szegedi’s notes from the event and add them in our Box folder so Steven will not need to recreate the notes.
    • During the table talk conversation, there was a question asking about the platform used at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. CARLI staff determined after the Annual Meeting that they are in the middle of a migration to ArchivesSpace.
    • There was a question about attendee demographics. Demographics were not collected by Steven; however, his sense was that archives work was a second or third assignment added to attendee’s regular jobs. 
    • Committee discussed using the information collected for planning the Spring workshop(s); extended sessions on metadata, tool demos, and digitization; and a part webinar/part live instructional session where participants could ask archivists questions while working live on projects.
    • Committee members discussed how vendors are always interested in providing demos, but there are still more ways our committee might be able to help people.
    • We could “push” out information we already have on the CARLI site and spotlight particular resources. We need to advertise what we have better and begin by using the next CARLI newsletters. The joint November/December newsletter is too soon, so we will begin with the January newsletter. Committee members confirmed that we should have a consistent title and format in every newsletter. We will spotlight or highlight resources by adding direct links to what we already have on the CARLI site. Topics might also include other resources. 
  • Ask An Archivist Virtual Office Hour Recap
    • Matt Gorzalski, Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Meghan Ryan and Brandi Fialek participated in addition to five attendees. Consensus was that it went well, it helped people, attendance was light, but most people stayed the whole time. It does not take the same level of planning as a webinar so we will provide another Ask the Archivist in the spring. The committee will revisit whether to continue after the next event. Elizabeth Clarage commented that our event attendance and the resulting low numbers in general was very similar to the Ask a Preservation Expert’s experiences. Many people come to listen and learn.
  • Promotion of SAA’s 250 for the 250th project to the CARLI membership.
    • The committee discussed  encouraging CARLI Members to participate and promote SAA’s 250 for the 250th project. The general objective is to collect 250 archival objects representing our national history to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It is open to SAA members and non-members alike. Steven provided the link. Rebecca will write up a blurb for the CARLI November/December newsletter, add it to our box folder for the committee’s comment this week. Deadline is December 5, 2025.
  • Archives and Special Collections Resource Page 
    • Steven Szegedi and Elaine Fetyko Page have split up the ten sections and are checking links. They intend on completing the review this month. Overall, they have noticed a healthy number of examples, but more resources are needed from a greater cross section and variety of institutions. The committee continued to discuss gathering the examples. The Records Management list could use additional example documents. The idea was proposed to reach out directly to institutions. Our committee could also draft a call-out for specific types of examples to submit to the January CARLI newsletter, utilizing our new idea for the “Archives Committee Spotlight/highlight”. Previous call out for documents, CARLI staff shared the call for resources on the CARLI Announce email list to amplify the message. Elizabeth will look for specific language used in the past. Rebecca Fitzsimmons confirmed that we will use these ideas and continue to revisit this item in the future for additional thoughts and added a thank you to Steven and Elaine for their work.
  • Introduction to Appraising Born-Digital Records webinar update.
    • Matt Gorzalski and Brandi Fialek reported they are in a good place with planning for the webinar. They met on October 24, 2025 and determined logistics for the webinar on December 12, 2025, 11 to 12:30 p.m. Brandi commented that this webinar will answer a lot that the membership has asked about, such as building workflows, learning about the topic, and practical applications that will be valuable in practice. Matt mentioned that Danielle is excited to present the content. The planning group was able to compress six weeks of planning into six days in order to get the registration email out on time. Registration is open and available on the CARLI website.
    • CARLI staff clarified questions about automated responses to registration through CARLI. There are no automatic responses, all registrants are reviewed and will get a confirmation email, then a follow-up email just before the event. There are 25 registrants at this time.
  • Spring semester webinars/workshops
    • The committee discussed workshop topics to offer in Spring 2026 including choosing basic time frames on the calendar and identifying what to prioritize for the workshop(s). In the past, the committee focused on fundamentals to get an archive started. There was a suggestion to extend beyond the very basics that were the focus of programs  last year. Last year’s included how to succeed from ground zero. Ideas from the Annual Meeting table talk discussion, , such as foundational basics to set up an archives, basic policies, and access policies. There will be a planning committee to solidify ideas for this next workshop including Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Brandi Fialek, Meghan Ryan, Erin Zimmerman and Melody Hauf-Belden. The group will decide on a date and time to meet soon.
  • Date for our in-person open house/Archives Committee
    • Not all members may be able to attend in person due to location and travel times. The committee discussed a variety of dates, seeking a date that will not overlap with SAA and MAC. We need to start planning for advertising. CARLI staff commented that Thursdays are good for programming and it would be good to have an open house for all CARLI members as well as have lunch for those in attendance. April 16, 2025 will be the date, and Rebecca will work with Elizabeth and Martin Kong to move the event forward.

Next Meeting Dates and Deadlines

The Archives Committee will meet next on December 8, 2025 at 10 a.m.

Committee Meetings:
December 8, 2025: Minutes taker – Ashley Howdeshell
January 12, 2026: Minutes taker – Elaine Fetyko Page
February 9, 2026: Minutes taker – Meghan Ryan
March 9, 2026: Minutes taker – Steven Szegedi
April 13, 2026: Minutes taker – Erin Zimmerman
May 11, 2026: Minutes taker – to be determined
June 8, 2026: Minutes taker – to be determined

Deadlines:
December 5, 2025 - SAA’s 250 for the 250th Deadline for submission to the CARLI Newsletter
May 29, 2026 – Committee Annual Report due to the CARLI Governance Board.