Announcements

In issue 88.1 of American Archivist, Helen Wong Smith urges the profession to increase collaboration in her Presidential Address from the 2024 Annual Meeting; Megan K. Friedel offers pathways for archivists to apply reparative description practices to disability histories; and Alexandra Chassanoff, Eliscia Kinder, and Elliott Kuecker share experiences teaching MLIS students to use regional primary sources to construct digital history exhibits. Also in this issue, discover six excellent reviews on recent archives publications.

This issue also features a Special Section on Accessioning edited by Rosemary K. J. Davis, Audra Eagle Yun, and Rachel Searcy. The section contains five articles on a diverse range of topics, including a case study confronting the challenges of accessioning in a repository with limited resources, a case study detailing the process of starting a born-digital archival accessioning program and designing workflows scalable for a small institution, excerpts from the National Best Practices for Archival Accessioning Working Group's Archival Accessioning Best Practices, and an introduction from the co-editors of this special section.

On the Cover: Accessioning-themed embroidery art created by guest editor Rachel Searcy. Based on the iconic “Mom Heart” tattoo motif from the American traditional tattoo style, the banner reads “Accession.” Leaves and flowers around the heart symbolize the growth of accessioning practice in recent years, and the bird represents its flight to new heights. Created by hand with needle and thread, this piece demonstrates the craft of accessioning and highlights the labor required to do accessioning work. Read this issue’s Special Section on Accessioning starting on page 10. Photo courtesy of Rachel Searcy.

American Archivist 88.1 (Spring/Summer 2025)
Table of Contents

(Review access here)

From the Editor

• Raise Your Voice
  Amy Cooper Cary

Presidential Address

• “Pūpūkāhi I Holomua”—Unite in Order to Progress
  Helen Wong Smith

From the Special Section Co-Editors

• Accessioning: The Always-Already Function of Archival Practice
  Rosemary K. J. Davis, Audra Eagle Yun, and Rachel Searcy

Special Section: Accessioning

• Aspirational but Realistic: Reimagining Accessioning Workflows in a Medical Archives
  Amanda Garfunkel, Chiyong Han, and Nicole J. Milano
• Building Capacity for Born-Digital Archives Through Accessioning Workflows at the Friends Historical Library
  Emily Higgs Kopin, Jessica Hutchison, and James Truitt
• Ctrl+Alt+Archive: Navigating Born-Digital University Records and Publications 
  Laurel McPhee, Tori Maches, and Marlayna Christensen
• More Than a Project: Case Studies on the Practice of Retrospective Accessioning
  Kate Dundon, Stephanie E. Bennett, and Jasmine Larkin
• An Individual Approach: A Case Study on Oral History Accessioning
  Jennifer Gathings and Catherine Dayrit Mayfield

Articles 

• Down Syndrome in the Archives: Addressing Archival Description of Legacy Records Documenting Disability Histories
  Megan K. Friedel
• The Landscape of Community Archives in Poland and Its Contextual Environment
  Magdalena Wiśniewska-Drewniak
• The Stories We Can Tell: Using Digital Primary Sources in the Archival Studies Classroom
  Alexandra Chassanoff, Eliscia Kinder, and Elliott Kuecker
• “Where Do I Begin?”: An MPLP Approach to the Collection Survey
  Ashlyn Velte

Reviews

• Time Flies but the Literature Grows: Timely Reviews for a Fast-Paced Field
  Rose Buchanan and Stephanie Luke
• Alone in the Stacks: Succeeding as a Solo Archivist
  Christina Zamon
  Reviewed by Alison Quirion
• Teaching Primary Source Research Skills to 21st-Century Learners
  Julie Thomas
  Reviewed by Lauren Kata
• A Green New Deal for Archives
  Eira Tansey
  Reviewed by Mollie B. Frazier
• Archeion, Volumes 122–124 
  Poland: The State Archives Head Office
  Reviewed by Kamila Pawelczyk-Dura
• The Art of Ectoplasm: Encounters with Winnipeg’s Ghost Photographs
  Edited by Serena Keshavjee
  Reviewed by Kure Croker
• Another Throat: Twenty-First-Century Black US Persona Poetry & the Archive
  Ryan Sharp
  Reviewed by Amanda King

Love what you’ve read? Share it with a friend or colleague! 

Interested in writing an article or review? Check out American Archivist's submission guidelines.

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