I'm interested in pulling together a panel session for the upcoming ARSC conference and was wondering if there are some folks here that would be interested in speaking to the topic of labor equity given the lack of stable positions in audio archives, preservation, etc. I've not quite conceptualized what this would look like exactly (I do have some ideas) because I'd like to define the panel's focus collaboratively with at least one other potential panelist.
To understand where I'm coming from with this topic proposal-- I'm the Co-PI of an IMLS national forum grant, Collective Responsibility: National Forum on Labor Practices for Grant-Funded Digital Positions. We recently published a white paper, "Collective Responsibility: Seeking Equity for Contingent Labor in Libraries, Archives, and Museums<https://laborforum.diglib.org/white-paper/>," where you may find more information, but if you'd like a briefer introduction to our work, this article covers it: https://www.libraryjournal.com/?detailStory=Digital-Labor-Forum-Tackles-Temp-Jobs-on-Grant-Digitization-Projects-Peer-to-Peer-Review. Essentially, we are focused on grant-funded digital LAM workers, but have identified a number of themes impacting temporary workers and a set of responsibilities to move forward on more ethical practices for this category of workers. We just held our second meeting and are working on several evaluative tools and labor standards, but we've also got some more long-term projects that we'll be planning (maybe another grant) such as a Labor Advocacy Toolkit and a contingent LAM worker network.
I think this would be an excellent topic to discuss at ARSC given the prevalence of grant and temporary work in audio preservation (+general job scarcity in this area), and I would love to brainstorm with someone on a potential session. If you have some background on the topic (including your own experiences seeking stable work in the field) and are available to work with me on this, please email me directly - [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.
Thanks,
Sandy
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Sandy Rodriguez
Assistant Dean of Special Collections & Archives - Librarian III
Affiliated Faculty, Latinx and Latin American Studies
University of Missouri--Kansas City
326D Miller Nichols Library | 5100 Rockhill Road | Kansas City, MO 64110-2499
(816) 235-2229 | [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> | @audiocat7<https://twitter.com/audiocat7>
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