>> So I want to welcome everybody here tonight, especially Sammie and Brenda. And I want to introduce the SAASC people that are here tonight. I'm Rebecca Leon [Phonetic], and I'm the Sears Chair of the Society of American Archivists Student Chapter. We also have Kiana Trutna [Phonetic] who is our Vice Chair and helped put this presentation together tonight. And Melissa Rupp, who is a strong member of our web team; and you might see her on our Facebook group. I also want to do a quick plug for another event that we have coming up on Thursday, Oral History and Archives. So be sure to look for that too; we've been posting about that. But without further ado, I'd like to introduce our esteemed speakers tonight. I'm very pleased tonight to welcome back Sammie L. Morris and Brenda Gunn, who will speak to us in a joint presentation about the benefits of SAA membership and the Academy of Certified Archivists certification, or ACA certification. Sammie and Brenda were gracious enough to speak to us last year. And so we're extremely pleased that they are willing to present to us again this year. Tonight's presentation will be broken up into two parts. First Sammie will present to us about the benefits of SAA membership. Sammie is the Director of the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center at Purdue University, where she has worked since 2011. Sammie's Master's Degree in Library and Information Science is from the University of Texas at Austin. Sammie is a member of the editorial board for archival issues, the Journal of the Midwest Archives Association. She is a member of SAA, ACRL, RBMS joint task force on primary source literacy. She has previously served as the Chair of the Manuscript Repository Section of SAA, and the Co-Chair of the Metadata and Digital Object Roundtable of SAA. She has frequently presented at professional conferences, and her research articles have appeared in a variety of publications including American Archivists, Archival Issues, Provenance, Libraries and the Cultural Record, and others. Her primary areas of research are in primary source and archival literacy, and archival management and leadership. She is currently writing a book on teaching with primary sources for the Society of American Archivists. And for the second part of our presentation tonight, Brenda Gunn will present to us about ACA certification. Brenda is the Janey Slaughter Briscoe archivist and Director for Research and Collections at the Briscoe Center at the University of Texas in Austin. So I see a connection there. Active in professional organizations, Ms. Gunn is a past President of the Academy of Certified Archivists and the Society of Southwest Archivists. Currently Ms. Gunn is a board member for the Society of American Archivists Foundation, and a steering committee member of the Archive Leadership Institute. She is also a PhD student in American History at the University of Texas. So after Sammie and Brenda present to us tonight, we will hold a brief Q and A period so you can always ask your questions then. And again, thank you so much, Sammie and Brenda, for coming. Please go have them take it away. Just want to let you know we can't hear anything. Sammie, I'm not sure if you hit the Talk button yet or not.

>> How is that? Can you hear me now?

>> Yes, that's much better; thank you.

>> Okay, yes; the problem was I did not hit the Talk button. Sorry about that. So hi, everybody. I am happy to be talking with you tonight about SAA membership. I don't know how many of you are already members of SAA. And I hope that some of the things I go over might be new to you. Much of it is taken from the SAA website. But I also realized tonight that this is my 20th year of being a member of SAA, which makes me feel incredibly old; so I'm just going to go ahead and launch in. And there will be time for questions at the end. Some of the things that I'm going to talk about I'm more familiar with than others. But I did try to focus on opportunities, particularly for people new to the profession or recent graduates; people looking for ways to get a foot in the door with the Society of American Archivists. So I will go ahead and move forward. Let's see here. I'm trying to figure out if I'm controlling the pages or not -- there we go. So the Society of American Archivists is the oldest professional association for archivists in the U.S.; it's been around since 1936. And it exists primarily to help archivists and help the archival profession. And it goes about that in a variety of ways. The annual meetings and conferences are a way to be up to date on innovative techniques and different approaches to archives and record-keeping. And it's a good way also to network with colleagues. SAA has always been about making sure that the historical record is preserved. And so that's something that's important to get as an organization. And they also seek to be the main source for professional resources for archivists in the U.S. So I think one of the ways to get a good understanding about SAA and what it stands for is to be familiar with the core values that SAA has identified. One of which is advancing the public standing of archivists. And in the time that I've been a member, SAA, it seems to me, has become a lot more vocal in terms of increasing public awareness of what archivists do. And advocating for archivists and the profession at large. There is also a commitment, I think throughout the organization to ensuring that we have a diverse profession. And that the collections that we bring in and that we care for are also representing diverse populations. So I think that it's an organization that has values steeped in the greater good in terms of being open, inclusive, and promoting transparency and accountability through good record-keeping and best practices. SAA has identified three main strategic priority areas. And I think these are good things for anyone in the profession to be aware of, because they are all things that impact us as archivists as well as the way we are perceived by others outside of the profession. So in terms of technology, as I'm sure you all know, the rapid increase in born-digital material has had a huge impact on our profession. And I think that this is an area where there's a lot of opportunity to do exciting work in terms of creating emerging best practices for a variety of different types of born-digital materials. Certainly as archivists we're interested in trying to ensure that those collections are available into the future. And I think that there are definitely challenges to that in terms of keeping the digital material viable over time. So that's one of the big professional priority areas. Not only because of our collections but also because we need to be evolving our skills as archivists to be able to address this need to continue to document our society as it moves forward, and not kind of end at the print era and just stop there. The second strategic area is diversity. And SAA has had this focus area for quite some time. And I think that the profession itself is committed to this. I think there are a lot of challenges to diversifying a profession that -- are still things that we struggle with, but I think that as a whole the Association is very welcoming and inclusive to all members from all backgrounds. And that they are really seeking to have diverse perspectives represented in leadership roles. And to make sure that all archivists are aware of the need to collect materials that reflect our broadest populations and all aspects of society. And I think we all are aware that there are some major gaps in the historical record and what we like to call archival silences around certain peoples and parts of society. And I think that we are committed to trying to make sure that that kind of thing doesn't happen again. That takes ongoing effort and it takes diversifying our profession so that we're really learning about how to collect and how to serve all types of people. And then the third area is advocacy and public awareness. I think that SAA has done a good job in recent years of creating more information packets and statements and resources to be shared by members of the profession in terms of preparing yourself for things like, you know, conversations with the media and promoting your collections and services. And readying your elevator speech to explain to someone quickly and clearly what it is an archivist does. And why, you know, archives are important. So these are just a quick snapshot of the big priority areas for SAA right now. And in terms of what they offer to people who join the Society, there are a couple of different things that they do as key services -- for the numbers. First of all is just providing up-to-date information on developments in the field. Offering training workshops and professional development, especially through the annual meeting conference. And I think the networking opportunities from coming together, and especially in some of the smaller groups at the conference -- like if you're able to join a section or a roundtable -- to have that opportunity to have conversations with colleagues who are struggling with some of the same concerns and challenges you might be. Or to work together to find common solutions; I think that can be very valuable. Just getting to know your colleagues and peers across the country. And then in terms of advocacy, SAA represents its membership and promotes the reputation and the advancement of archivists within the profession. And so I think that a lot of emphasis in the last few years has been on helping us as archivists be able to convey to the public what we do and why it matters. And this is something that's really critical in any time. But I think right now we're definitely in a time where there's a lot of focus on assessment and return on investment and being able to prove your value and your worth. And it's definitely something that we all need to be able to do. And be aware that any archival unit or organization could at some point in its future be at risk, and we need to be able to move swiftly and clearly articulate what it is we do and why it matters; why we are part of the overall mission of our institutions, for example. These are just a few more benefits that SAA offers to members. I mentioned the annual meeting already. But there are often pre-conference workshops, or special -- like the teaching with primary sources conference that was started recently. Many opportunities at the conference, both formal and informal, to work with colleagues. They do offer reduced cost for attending the annual meeting if you're a member. And you get discounts on things like publications from the SAA store. You get access to the Association's public home publication, so American Archivist, which is the more academic peer-reviewed journal. And then Archival Outlook, which is more of a newsletter, contains a lot of interesting information about what colleagues across the country are doing, you know, innovative case studies and things of that nature. You can also join a variety of different groups as a member of SAA that the sections and roundtables are probably the most well-known entities within the organization that you can join. But there are also many committees, and there are opportunities that I will talk about later too for internships and things like that. You do have access to the membership directory, which can be a great way to find other colleagues, particularly if you're looking to touch base with other archivists in a general region. Or if you're looking to find out how to contact that colleague that you just met at the conference but can't remember where they work. And you're also eligible for awards; there are a lot of awards that SAA offers. They kind of range from innovative emerging leader type ones all the way up through, you know, major contributions to the profession and things like that. SAA also has a mentoring program. And I think that they're always looking for more mentors. I've done mentoring through SAA a couple of times. I'm not currently a mentor, but I highly recommend it for you who are interested, because it could just be a great way to have someone that you're comfortable reaching out to with questions as they arise. And, you know, a mentor can introduce you to people at the conference. They can suggest particular classes or things they think it would be valuable for you to read. They can review your resume, if you're applying for jobs. And give you tips on, you know, things that they wish that they had learned whenever they were in school. So I think it's something worth checking out, especially if you're trying to become known in the Association and make connections. A mentor can really help open doors for you there. I think I mentioned many of these already. The networking capabilities for SAA; that's one of the strengths, for sure. And then just the ability to remain current with developments in the field. And this can come through a variety of ways. I mean, reading American Archivist and Archival Outlook will make you aware of a lot of things. But there are also things like, you know, the email list that you can be members of. Or different committee interactions where you might be working on guidelines for a particular subset of the profession; that's a good way to learn from your colleagues and also contribute what you know. I think that being a member of SAA definitely helps when you're applying for a professional archives job. You don't have to have been a member, but I do think it looks really good if you have been a member of at least some professional archives organization, even if it's not SAA; because that's a really important way to show that you are committed to your profession and this is important to you and you're interested not only in continuous learning but also in giving back to the profession. Advocacy efforts I've mentioned already. And I think leadership opportunities are really critical in SAA. Sometimes you have to dig around to find them because the sections and round tables, depending on how many people might be interested in volunteering for a position or running for office, those could be more or less competitive. But many of the committees, such as the awards committees and things like that, they're often looking for people who are interested in contributing to those. And it can be a great way to get your foot in the door. And then, of course another benefit is just taking part in the governance of the organization, being able to vote on leadership and different initiatives. So as a member of SAA, you can join two sections and as many round tables as you like. The sections are pretty focused on particular areas of the profession. So for example it might focus on a particular archival setting, like college and university archives. Or it might focus on a particular type of material like manuscript repositories or congressional papers, things like that. Round tables are pretty similar; it's just that they tend to be a little bit less formal. And sometimes can be smaller, more specialized. It's valuable to be at some of these round tables even just if you're not taking a leadership role, just to become aware of the conversations taking place with colleagues about different issues. I know I'm on a bunch of the roundtable listers, because I'm really interested in knowing about what's happening. But I'm only a member of two sections, so I think that you can be as involved or not as involved as you like; it's kind of up to you, your preference, and also the time that you have to give to it. I would particularly encourage any of you who are looking to just get more involved with SAA or be more aware of sort of what's happening in the profession to join the SNAP group, which is specifically geared toward students and new professionals. This group has been around for a short time; I guess it's been about -- I don't know, Brenda might know -- about three years or so. But has been a very vocal and very, I think, committed and opinionated group that has really brought a lot of interesting conversation, debate, and just overall thinking through issues amongst professionals from all levels. Because there are issues that, you know, for some of us who it's been so long since we graduated, we can forget things like how difficult it can be to get your first professional job. And with so many SAA members now being students or new professionals, that there's been a shift in demographics in terms of voices of people new to the profession really being more prominent and more persuasive. And I think that's been really exciting to see. Because as a profession it's for our good that we continue to grow, and that we question, you know, the way that we have done things in the past. And that we really think through, you know, why do we do it this way? And is it really the best? And how are we helping nurture our up-and-coming leaders in the profession? So it's a great group; I would really encourage you to get involved. The mentoring program that I mentioned earlier is something that I think can be very rewarding, especially if you're paired up with someone who has a similar career focus to what you're interested in. And I know that SAA does try to match people, you know, who have similar career goals or interests. It can be a good way just to have someone to run questions by and have someone looking out for you to guide you around at the meeting. Or just give you, you know, general advice and encouragement as you're moving through graduate school. So definitely look into it if you're interested. I think that usually they have more people wanting to be mentored than they do mentors. So it may take a little time for them to match you up with someone. But that's just a reminder to me and many of the other archivists I know that we need to get back into the program and make sure that we're giving back to newcomers in the profession too. Internship opportunities, I mentioned earlier. This is something that -- I think it's fairly new for SAA. I know I talked about it last year, but I don't remember it being around all that long. And I think this is another effort on behalf of SAA to really make sure that young voices, or voices of new professionals are being heard. And also making sure that people who are in library school or about to embark on their careers gain some hands-on knowledge of how the Association works. And begin to become part of participating in the governance of the organization. And really lending an important perspective to many of these deliberations and processes where, you know, traditionally it may have been committees or groups that were primarily comprised of people who have been in the field a long time. This is an opportunity to make sure that we -- the older folks in the Association -- are listening to the young people coming out of graduate school and really thinking about how our profession is evolving. In terms of joining SAA as a student member, you get a lot of the same benefits that a regular member does but your cost to join is much less. And you basically get the same discounts and same subscriptions and so forth. But you also are, I think, automatically added to email lists for students, which can be very helpful. You still have all your voting rights and things like that. And it can be a really good way to start to develop some of your leadership skills, to join while you're still a student. And to get involved in either a roundtable or a section or a committee. It's a good way to make connections with colleagues who've been in the field for a while and can help you transition into your future career, so something definitely to consider. The cost is $52 a year, which -- I remember being a grad school student and that's not cheap. But compared to the full membership it's a good deal. So if you're able to swing it, I would highly recommend it. This information that I have kind of gathered toward the end here is about different opportunities that you might want to delve into on the SAA website. So for example, they do offer scholarships for things like attending the annual meeting, or travel awards for going to the conference. The SNAP group which I mentioned earlier for students and new professionals, they're very involved in social media. They frequently have different times whenever they have set up tweeting, and they have a very active blog. And they have different times whenever they will sort of say, you know, contact us on twitter to ask an archivist something. Or, contact us here to ask someone something. So it's a good way just to make sure that young people and new professionals are comfortable asking whatever they want to ask in a safe and encouraging environment. And then as I mentioned earlier, the internships are available now. And I don't have a lot of information in terms of what exact positions they're looking for. But the call-out for internships went out, I think it was sometime last fall. So there might be another one coming up. If not, maybe I would think by this coming fall they will be looking for more again. So keep an eye out for that. And there should be more information on the SAA website when they're getting ready to do call-outs again. Just to sort of wrap up my remarks and share with you, you know, my thoughts. Much of what I've shared with you has come from the SAA website. They do a good job, I think, of letting people know who are thinking about joining, you know, what's the benefit to me. And what is involved in that. But in terms of personal guidance for me, I've been in the profession long enough that I've hired a lot of other archivists that I've supervised. And I've looked for certain qualities in people that I interview. And it always is important to me to see that someone is interested enough in their profession to be involved in a professional organization. And again, it doesn't have to be SAA. I mean, SAA is great because it's offering you the broadest -- in our country, the broadest number of archivists and specialties that you can access in one place. But, you know, even just joining a regional or local professional association, or state or multi-state one like Midwest Archives Conference, or Society of Southwest Archivists or something like that, it's going to give you a lot of the same benefits. It's -- you know, SAA may not be for you quite yet, but I do think that it's something that as you proceed through your career and you move into the profession, that it's one of the most valuable ways to meet other archivists and to have opportunities to provide leadership to the profession at large. So what I get out of it the most is not only connecting with people, but also feeling that through the journal, through American Archivist and the newsletter and the listers, I'm aware of what's happening in the field. I'm learning from my colleagues. I'm challenged frequently by the same things that they are. And I find it very exciting and rewarding to give back to the profession. I think that when I first joined SAA I was terrified to talk to anyone or to go up to anybody, and probably spent most of that first conference or two standing in corners looking awkward. But the thing is, you know, everybody is really welcoming. And it's really a community of people who share your interests and your passion for archives. And it's a great way to eventually make good friends as well. So, highly recommend it. This is my contact information. And if any of you think of things you wanted to ask me after tonight, feel free to reach out. I've got my twitter handle there too. Lately there's been lots of somewhat crazed political rants, so if you aren't interested in politics, you might avoid it for a little while. And with that being said, I am happy to turn things over to Brenda.

>> Hi, everybody. Can you hear me? Think so. Sammie, I just wanted to follow up with something you said about giving back. And I want to give you a shout-out because I think that the article -- well, the two-part article that you had published in the American Archivist last year on archival literacy competencies is an enormous contribution to the profession. So as an academic archivist I want to thank you for that. And I'm excited to hear that you're writing a book that will help us further with teaching with primary source material. Okay, thank you so much for inviting me to be with you tonight. It's a great pleasure. And thank you for your interest in the Academy of Certified Archivists. I'm trying to forward this -- here we go. So let's just begin with some mission. The bottom line of this organization is that it is interested in archivists in the archival practice. The ACA seeks to support and promote the highest level or the best practices of archival enterprise. And one of the ways that ACA accomplishes this is by taking a leadership role in defining the knowledge, skills, and competencies that comprise an archivist's work. The organization also encourages continued education and development throughout an archivist's career. Certification began as a movement within SAA in the early 1980s, and by 1987 the movement had been considered and debated within council to the point that it was finally approved. But it took two more years for the Academy to be created as an organization independent of SAA. So between 1987 and 1989, government structures were created. Officers were appointed and elected. And an initial group of 756 members were brought in as certified archivists. So in 2009, the Academy reached a milestone of 1,000. And to date we're at right over 1200. You can see that the ACA has adopted a pretty traditional organizational and governance structure. All of the leaders that you see on this slide are elected. I want to call your attention to the following in particular: Regent for Examination Development, Regent for Certification Maintenance, and Regent for Examination Administration are particular to this organization. And they're at the heart of what ACA does. For other key folks within ACA, it's a volunteer organization, so the elected officers that you saw on the previous page are volunteers; they don't get paid for any of their work. So fortunately the organization is able to have a contract with a management company that serves as its secretariat. So things like the finances and the dues, the membership material, and most importantly maintaining the intellectual property of the academy which is the item bank -- or what we call the item bank; it's really the test questions that the Examination Development Committee creates every year and comprises the body of questions that the exam is created from. So I think there are certain benefits to having certification. I think each person ultimately needs to determine what that benefit might be to them. But it could be one or a combination of these that you see here. I think in tight job markets, it could offer competitive advantages. It could be a distinction that separates two highly qualified candidates in the same pool. I think for some employers who don't come from an archival or even a library background, seeing a credential is a shortcut for them; it's a way for them to understand that you're coming onto the job with a body of skills and abilities that will enable you to do the job. And I've actually seen this in my own experience. Not so much in the -- my job at UT Austin, but my first job at a graduate school was in a quasi-corporate environment. And my supervisor didn't have any library background. So it was something that she looked for. And in any of the other archival positions in records management positions that she had hired for, she always looked for certification. I think it could be also a source of pride and a confidence in one's abilities. I know I always like seeing that certification, that CA on my business card. And people will ask me what it stands for, and I'm always very happy to tell them about it. Probably more than they wanted to know. I think the thing that's most important is that it requires an archivist to continue developing, to continue learning and growing throughout their career. It promotes strength through professional development and through the individual, strength then happens in the profession at large. So this is just a quick look at the demographics of the Academy. And this is based on the survey that's a bit outdated now, but I don't think that the overall categories and the percentages assigned to the categories are too different. Government archivists lead at 30% of the Academy, followed by academic archivists in academic institutions. And then the corporate setting. And then the other areas are actually way below that. But I'd like to see -- and I'm hopeful that the Academy will do another survey sometime soon to see how this looks and maybe look at other demographics as well. The Applications Instructions are on the ACA website. I think that maybe there are some folks there in your group who may be interested in sitting for the exam in late July. And so if you are, there are some deadlines coming up that you need to be aware of. There's early bird registration which will allow you to cut the application fee in half, which is a good thing. But just remember that applications are ultimately due by May 15th. And you want to give yourself plenty of time to gather all of the supporting materials that you need to go along with the application. Just as SAA has a few travel awards for students, so does ACA. And the information for that is on the ACA website. It will -- you have to apply and make a good case. And I have to say that when I was on this particular travel award committee, there were very few students who applied; so I really encourage you if you're interested in taking the exam and you need to travel to an exam test site, please apply. We want to give that money away, and it covers up to $500 of your costs. So put in an application. As I said, the information is on the website. The link to the exam application is on the website. But I want to mention the supplemental material that you're going to need to gather. So in order to qualify for the exam, you have to have a Master's degree. To support, you need your transcript, which will document that you have a Master's degree. Some of you and some folks who sit for the exam don't have -- they applied before they've gotten their degree. Say, for instance, if you're going to earn your degree at the end of the spring semester and you apply in the spring to sit for the exam, your transcript wouldn't verify that you've received the degree. That's fine; don't let that keep you from applying. That can be explained very easily. But you do need a transcript that will document not only that you have graduated but will also list your courses. If you are applying to sit for the exam and you have some professional job experience to support your application, then you would need to document that as well. So there are several ways to qualify for the exam. All of them, though, require a Master's degree. So this is where -- beyond the Master's degree is where it changes a bit. So as long as you have a Master's degree with an archival concentration -- you have to have nine semester hours. Or if you're on a quarter system then you need 12, plus one year of qualifying experience. Or you can sit for the exam by having a Master's degree without an archival concentration and two years of qualifying experience. I think the way to qualify for the exam that would -- may interest most of you would be provisional certification. And this is really for folks who are recent graduates of archival programs. It just requires the Master's degree with an archival concentration; but it doesn't require any professional work experience at this point. And if you pass the exam, then you would have three years to earn that one year of professional experience. And while you're in a provisional status, you aren't required to pay any dues until you become fully certified. And that is -- that's not an onerous thing to do. When you have your one year of professional experience, you are required to transition to full certification; you just need to send a letter. Typically it's written by a supervisor, someone who can attest to that year of professional experience, to the ACA secretariat to change from provisional to full. Okay, just a little note about qualifying experience. It really amounts to having professional work as opposed to paraprofessional. And one way to think about professional work is that any position that requires you to demonstrate a mastery of the field. So here's where I believe that the original leaders in ACA made their greatest contribution to these seven domains. And these are the areas of expertise that the exam covers. The exam is one hundred questions; and they are divided more -- evenly, as evenly as you can get for seven sections; I think one section will have one question more. But the hundred questions are divided evenly through these seven areas. In addition to those domains, there are general knowledge statements that can be applied to all seven domains. Each of the domains are further divided into a series of activities and task statements that will accompany these related knowledge statements. So at this point I want to tell you a little bit how the test is created and compiled. It is created by the Exam Development Committee; and this is a group of six appointed members and two elected members. And those elected members are the Vice President, President-Elect, and then the Regent for Exams [Inaudible]. I think it is really important for folks to know that every year new questions are created by the committee members. And they are scrutinized by those members and the psychometrician for structure and for conceptual soundness. Now the psychometrician is someone that the secretariat contracts with; this is a testing expert. And ACA is very committed to having a high-quality test; and in order to do that we hire an expert to work with the exam development committee and to look over each one of the questions that are created. And also to work with the committee in compiling the test itself. And once the test is created, the psychometrician actually tests the test after folks take it in July. So we get feedback and statistics on how each one of those questions tested -- is it too hard? Is it too easy? Is the question itself ambiguous? Are any of the choices too distracting or confusing? And the psychometrician can tell all of this by running her programs. And it's a way that the academy can ensure that we're offering the best test that we can. And any problems with a test that is revealed after it's taken for the first time, then the exam committee can then make adjustments and improve it for the second year that the test is being given. So the exam is given every year on the Wednesday before SAA start; SAA typically starts on a Thursday. So the exam is given at the SAA meeting site on the Wednesday before; this year it will be July 26th in Portland. There are also other cities that ACA selects, spread out across the country; and you can see those there. And there is also a relatively new program that allows a lot of flexibility in where the exam is taken. And pick your site. So it just requires five applicants who petition ACA to have it in their city. So sometimes we have up to 18 sites where the exam is being given; I think we average about 14 sites per year. Or if you proceeded with taking it, we've already talked about the application fee. The certification fee is $150. It is required within 30 days of notification of passing the exam; but I want to hasten to add here that -- don't let this be an obstacle. I have not known the Academy to be really, really strict with this 30 days. If this is a barrier that is difficult to meet, then I think really all you need to do is contact the secretariat and say, I can't pay this at this time. And, you know, they'll hold the certification. This is not an organization that's going to jettison you because you're not on time with these fees; I have always been impressed at the generosity in that regard of it. And then annual dues are $50; and they will start the year after your initial certification. Once you are certified, you need to be re-certified every five years. And you can do it by either re-taking the exam again -- which very few people actually do. Most people re-certify by petition. And the petition information is online. I'm going to say here -- and this isn't on the slide, but the petition really revolves around five areas in which you accumulate points, one hundred points. And the areas are professional employment -- so if you are working, you have a job, part-time, full time, whatever, you get points for that, working towards that 100. If you -- education is another area. If you are continuing to take classes and workshops, you get points for those and those points count towards this 100 points. Professional participation. If you attend your local archivist meeting. If you attend state, regional, or national meetings; all of these allow you to accumulate points. Professional service. If you're a member of a committee, if you're on a steering committee, if you're an elected officer -- all of these levels will generate points for you. Finally, there is a category of writing, publishing and editing. So depending on what you do and where you publish, is it peer-reviewed or not? You can get a different number of points. A hundred points is not a lot to be accumulated over a five-year period; this isn't a hundred points a year, this is a hundred over five years. And if you're active even just a little bit, this is a very -- I think -- an easy thing to obtain. Here are some links online. The main website, ACA has a Facebook page; we're on Twitter and we have an active LinkedIn group. Here is a list of information that we have on our website. And then contact information. This was a slide show that was provided by ACA; and I should have provided my name or my contact information. So I can give it to you now; my email address is bgunn@austin.utexas.edu. And my phone number is 512-493-4834. But -- let's see, I think that's -- yes, I think that's it for me. And we can open it up to questions now.

>> Thank you; thank you very much Brenda and Sammie. I was just checking here, Kiana was going to help us with the Q and A, but she has been having some trouble with her internet, so I'm going to jump in here. That was wonderful and so informative; I learn more every time I hear about these things. So I'd like to open it up to anybody, if you have any questions for either Sammie or Brenda, you can either type it in the chat, or just grab the mike. Feel free to raise your hand, too, if you'd like. I would also be interested to know, since in a few minutes while we're getting questions here, if anybody is considering either becoming an SAA member or taking the ACA exam? Okay, Melissa has a question here, and I'll read it. It's from the chat box. She says, about the ACA pick your site, is there somewhere I can go to look for people in my area who want to take it?

>> Thanks, Melissa, for that question; that's a good one. I think that the way those pick-your-sites have been organized in the past has been either through folks who are in the same city or are in the same school or they got together through not really a Facebook post but a lister poster or via email. I think that the ACA secretariat or the officers aren't always the best ones to know. The officers aren't, but the secretariat -- who again, they are the kind of the administrative arm of the organization -- I think my recommendation would be to contact them, because they sometimes hear from prospective applicants who are asking the same question that you are. So they are sometimes able to put people together.

>> Thank you; Melissa says that sounds good. So Becky has a question also. She says, is there a cost for the ACA Exam Study Handbook?

>> There is not a cost for the study handbook; all of that information is on the ACA website and can be downloaded.

>> I have a question about SAA mentorship. Sammie, you mentioned that they often have more mentees than mentors. And I was wondering if you know anything about when a person becomes a mentor. Like do you have a certain number of years of experience? When do you -- when can we become a mentor?

>> Yes, that's a good question. I don't think that SAA has really defined that; I think it's kind of up to the person volunteering to make that decision as to whether they feel like they're in a good place to serve as a mentor. I haven't seen anything on their website or other places where they promote the program that says anything about your credentials or your length of service. It just kind of outlines, you know, some of the things they expect you to do. Like helping your mentee identify the right kinds of classes to take, and introducing them to peer colleagues and such. And then of course answering questions and being a resource for them. So I think it's kind of open. I think it's something that just is probably based on people's comfort level in terms of feeling like whether they feel ready to be a mentor. I mean, personally I think you don't have to have a lot of experience to be just at a minimum someone who's willing to talk with people or show them around at a conference. I think that's, you know, it would be wonderful to have more people who are still newish to the profession themselves, because they probably have gone through similar experiences of being the newbie at the conference. So I don't think there's any rules about that. I can try to find out in a more official way, but I haven't seen anything on their website.

>> Thank you; I was just curious.

>> I agree with you; it's just nice to be able to make professional connections.

>> Oh, yes.

>> Alright; we have -- we're just about closing out the hour. So I was wondering if anybody else has any questions that they'd like to ask? I see Nicole is typing. And it looks like Ariel says, I'm thinking of taking the exam this July. That's great. I know a few people who are thinking of this July.

>> Can I jump in here, Rebecca?

>> Yes, please.

>> That's great; and good luck to you, all you who are thinking about and planning to take it in July. I know that folks have done a variety of things in regards to studying. I know a lot of people have had some good luck and have enjoyed having study groups. And I'm not exactly sure how they've divided the kind of, you know, study work. I would imagine it's not too different from study groups that are related to course work. But I want to let you know to make sure you look at the bibliography that is provided on the ACA site. And to know that there shouldn't be any outlandish sources. I mean, all of the questions that are written and that will be on the exam, they are grounded in the archival literature. So every question has a citation. So look over the bibliography. Maybe one strategy is to tackle and spend more time on areas that you think you may need some help with. I mean, everybody has their strengths. And everybody maybe has areas that they're not quite as strong on as something else. And so I know that some people have been successful at really concentrating on shoring up those weaker parts and kind of relying on the strengths that they already have. But I am sure that if you posed the question to a larger community, you'd get a lot of different and helpful answers.

>> Thank you very much, one more time. We're very pleased to both of you for presenting to us. And this presentation will be -- a recording of this presentation will preside on our website. So if nobody else has any further questions or anything to say, then we'll close out tonight. Very appreciatively.

>> Thanks, everybody; it was great to be here.

>> I agree; thanks a lot.