PRESERVING NARRATIVES AT THE MARGIN RELATIONSHIP BUILDING WITH

PRESERVING NARRATIVES AT THE MARGIN: RELATIONSHIP BUILDING WITH STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS Micha Broadnax Digital Archivist, Emerson College @a. Lions. Arkivist

Institutional Profile ■ Urban campus located in Boston, MA ■ Close to 4, 000 undergrad students ■ More than 80 student orgs ■ In 2013, about 16% Students of Color ■ Curriculum focuses on Performing and Communication Arts

Mission Statements Emerson College educates students to assume positions of leadership in communication and the arts and to advance scholarship and creative work that brings innovation, depth, and diversity to these disciplines. The Emerson College Archives and Special Collections (ECASC) supports the academic, research, and institutional needs of the College. A primary service of the ECASC is to collect, preserve, exhibit, and provide access to institutional records documenting the operation of the College and the

Outreach Relationship Building Researc h Follow Up Be Visibl e Relationship Acknowledge Gaps Liste n Evaluate and Alter

• Which narratives are present? Acknowledge Gaps • What’s the impact? • Consult existing literature to avoid reinventing the wheel Research • https: //www. zotero. org/groups/web_archiving_in_college_archives/item s/ • Determine existing relationships and events • Create fliers, workshops, and spaces to deposit information Be Visible • Attend events; Walk around campus • Ask questions to gain an understanding of current documentation and information retrieval practices Listen • Solicit feedback Evaluate and Alter Follow Up • Consider your language, practices and services from a student perspective • Creators are busy creating; Don't take it personal if they don’t respond to your first communication

Results/Findings ■ All 5 Cultural orgs shared documents with the archives ■ Created new policies and forms ■ Raised the visibility of the archives and services we offer ■ Became familiar with documentation patterns – Cultural orgs primarily use Google Drive and Mailchimp – Student Publications digital copies are usually PDFs – Comedy clubs primarily use Facebook ■ Students generated the description for the photos

Special Thank You to Christina Zamon, Jarrett Drake (and his colleagues who contributed to ASAP), Emerson College Multicultural Students (EBONI, ASIA, AMIGOS, EAGLE, Flawless Brown), Amy Bocko, Rosalie Gartner, Bob Fleming & Barnard Archives