More Information

In December and January, the MEAP team traveled around the country to participate in a number of professional conferences, connecting with grantees and scholars who employ MEAP collections for research and teaching. Conference participation allow us to promote MEAP funding opportunities and discuss the value and importance of accessible digital collections with archivists, librarians, scholars, and community members.

African Studies Association

In December, MEAP Program Manager Elizabeth Lhost traveled to Chicago to attend the annual meeting of the African Studies Association. Undeterred by the cold weather, she met with several MEAP grantees to discuss their projects and the difficulties of doing digitization work in Africa. She also discussed MEAP collections and potential MEAP projects with other conference attendees and attended panels featuring new scholarship in the field. One highlight included a session held in memory of Ralph A. Austen, an eminent historian of Africa and one of Lhost’s professors at the University of Chicago, who passed away in August.

Association of American Law Schools

Elizabeth Lhost traveled to San Francisco to attend the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools at the invitation of the section on Islamic Law to participate in a round table discussion of her book, Everyday Islamic Law and the Making of Modern South Asia. The book was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2022 and won the 2023 Karwan Book Prize. The conference also provided an opportunity to learn about current trends and new research in the legal academy. Topics of conversation included the pros and cons of using AI for research and teaching, the need for open access and digital resources for education, the value of digital collections for studying remote locations and human rights issues, and the continuing importance of programs like MEAP.

American Historical Association

MEAP Director, Rachel Deblinger, joined MEAP grantees at a panel focused on MEAP in Latin America. Convened by Panel Member, Alejandra Bronfman, the session was part of the Conference on Latin American History and invited conversation about the importance of cultural heritage preservation in Latin America and challenges related to executing MEAP projects. The panel included grantees who were able to speak to the specificities of leading projects across the region:

The conversation highlighted the need for more digitization in the region, as Marcus noted how important it is that “the historical record is made available to future generations and protected from erasure.” Many speakers also noted the importance of working with local communities to define data and metadata practices. Marieke noted that the team at Tallersol leads the effort to create a rich collection with information that would otherwise be invisible. Christina echoed this idea, citing examples of local knowledge that would have been misinterpreted by the team from Trinity College. Meg added the importance of historians in these project teams and the opportunity these collections create for historians to access new voices and reimagine historical narratives.

Association for Moving Image Archivists

Sydney Kysar, MEAP Metadata Student Assistant, was able to attend the AMIA 2024 conference (Association for Moving Image Archivists) through a Women in AV Archiving and Technology scholarship from George Blood LC. The conference was in Milwaukee, Winsonsin from December 4-6 in 2024. In a pre-conference workshop, Sydney learned the inner workings of legacy equipment (specifically VHS, DVCAM, Super BetaMax, and Umatic players). In archives, sometimes the equipment needed to digitize AV materials, like video, does not get seen as an object to be preserved. It was incredible to dedicate an entire day in the pre-conference workshop to legacy equipment repair. Over the next few days after the workshop completed, Sydney learned from experts in AV archives and was able to bring back notes and ideas to classmates at UCLA.

Notes and artwork by Sydney Kysar. Drawn at the Association for Moving Image Archivist Conference, December 2024.