Historical Reminiscents

It is finally warm here! And flowers are starting to grow! As Spring rolls around I've been getting the urge to start Spring cleaning.  What does Spring cleaning mean for folks working in academia and public history? How do you set yourself for success in the coming season?  In this episode I chat about shaking up schedules, planning for the Summer, and getting the most out of Spring. I would love to hear about how your writing or professional routines change with the seasons, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -"A Semester Needs A Plan"  

I use Twitter a lot and believe it can be a fantastic resource of Canadian historians and public history practitioners.  In this episode I discuss how to get the most of Twitter, the potential of Twitter for community building, and the conference applications of twitter. I would love to hear about your experience using Twitter as an academic or public historian, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Andrea Eidinger's, "The Canadian Historian's Guide to Twitter" -Beyond 150 Twitter Conference

If you work in the heritage field or for a non-profit there is a good chance you've been involved in grants in some way shape or form. Despite the prevalence of grant writing in public history not all public history students are trained in how to apply for grants. In this episode I discuss what you need to know about grant guidelines, writing style, and crafting a grant application for the first time. I would love to hear about your experience writing grants, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter.  This podcast was inspired by a listener suggestion! Are there other topics you think I should cover? Please let me know.  Other Resources: -Katie Linder, Research in Action Podcast on Grant Writing Basics

I'm currently at the National Council on Public History annual meeting (yay!) and with conference season ramping up I've been thinking a lot about networking.  In this episode I discuss networking as an introvert, conference survival tips, and small steps to building a strong network.  I also chat about asking for help and reaching out to people you don't know. I would love to hear about what other networking strategies folks rely on, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Katie Linder, "How to Meet Really Cool People" -Andrea Eidinger, "A Beginner's Guide to CHA"

This past month has been a bit of a whirlwind.  Given the quick pace of things, I've been thinking about strategies for juggling multiple projects and handling moving deadlines. In this episode I discuss tips and tricks for managing workloads, staying on task, and doing all the things. I talk about saying no and how to decide what projects to prioritize. I would love to hear about what other strategies folks use when , leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Action Journal

Images have the power to act as click-bait - photographs can illustrate blog posts, make your professional website more attractive, and help illuminate a historical topic.  In this episode I discuss using creative commons and public domain images as part of your online presence.  I breakdown the types of image licenses and mention some of my favourite places for finding photographs. I would love to hear about where folks find public domain and creative commons images, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Creative Commons Summary -Europeana Collections -The Met open access policy -Library and Archives Canada on Flickr  -SFU Library guide to finding and using online images

Thinking about slogging through hundreds of archival research photographs? Dreading organizing all of your sources? In this episode I discuss digital tools for organizing archival research.  I talk about ways to manage citations, archival images, transcription, and metadata. I would love to hear about what other strategies folks use to manage their archival research, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Tropy -Zotero -Evernote and OCR  

How do you coordinate the work of a dozen people who live in geographically different spaces, across multiple time zones? In this week's podcast episode I discuss strategies for working on collaborative projects virtually.  I draw on my experience participating in projects which include participation from individuals across Canada and abroad. I also share some of my favourite project management and team software. I would love to hear about what other strategies folks use when working collaboratively, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter.

This week's podcast episode is all about the intersection of open source digital tools and public history.  I talk about ways that digital history and open source communities can enhance public history practice.  I also discuss my favorite open source public history tools. What open source tools or platforms do you use as part of your public history practice? I would love to hear about your success or challenges using open source software in the public history field, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -OMEKA -Audacity -Daniel Ross' Active History post on using History Pin in the classroom. -Voyant

This week's podcast episode is focused on program and project evaluation at Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM).  I discuss the importance of having programming goals, the range of ways success can be measured, and different evaluation types. Do you have experience of evaluating programming at a public history site? I would love to hear about it, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Visitor Studies Association -AASLH resource - "Get Your Feet Wet With Visitor Surveys" (This includes templates!)

In this week's episode I discuss building admin and leadership skills within public history.  I talk about education gaps, how to gain hands on experience, and the importance of mentorship. How have you worked to build admin or management skills within public history? Leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Developing History Leaders  -Archives Leadership Institute

New podcast episode! In this week's episode the potential ways Wikipedia can be used in the classroom and other educational settings.  I discuss what skills can be learned from editing Wikipedia and I dive into what support is available to instructors wishing to create Wikipedia focused assignments. Do you have experience using Wikipedia in a public history, GLAM, or classroom setting? I would love to hear about it, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -How to Use Wikipedia as a Teaching Tool (PDF) -Wiki Education Dashboard -Outreach Dashboard

In this week's episode I discuss effective moderation techniques and the role of a good moderator.  I try to answer the questions: How do you become a moderator? What does a moderator actually do? What skills do you need to bring to the table as a moderator? Do you have good or horrible moderation experiences to share? Leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter. Mentioned in this episode: -Moderating a conference session YouTube video -Linda K. Kerber, "Everything You Need to Know about Introducing Speakers and Running a Panel Discussion," American Historical Association

New podcast episode! Some of the core facets behind public history practice are accessibility and community access. And preserved heritage should be accessible to all. In this week's episode I talk about ableism in public history and heritage sites.  I discuss job descriptions that include lifting requirements, inaccessible heritage sites, and digital accessibility. As a note, I do realize the irony of talking about accessibility on a podcast for which transcripts are not available. I'm currently thinking about transcription options for the audio. Mentioned in this episode: -Accessible Heritage Initiative -MUSEUM NOTE: Accessibility (PDF) Download or listen now.  

And now for something completely different...in this episode and talk about some of my favourite public history and archives focused web comics and memes.  I discuss using memes in the classroom and as educational tools.  I also tackle the question of meme preservation and copyright. Mentioned in this episode: -Remember | Resist | Redraw: A Radical History Project -Public History Ryan Gosling -Derangement and Description -Beyond the Elevator

Since starting at the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre in 2010 I have worked with a lot of students and new professionals. Over time I've developed really strong feels about the important of building meaningful placement, co-op, and work experiences for students. This episode dives into student mentorship and the importance of creating skill building opportunities within the archival and public history profession.

This episode was inspired by Colleen Burgess' and Thomas Peace's recent Active History post "19th Century Legacies in 21st Century Historical Research Practice."  Using their work as a jumping off point I talk about descriptive practices within in archives and museums and discuss standard vocabularies, hegemony, and the challenges of organizational schemes. Mentioned in this episode: 19th Century Legacies in 21st Century Historical Research Practice by Colleen Burgess and Thomas Peace. Confronting Our Failures of Care Around the Legacies of Marginalized People in the Archives by Bergis Jules. RadTech Meets RadArch: Towards A New Principle for Archives an Archival Description by Jarrett M. Drake

I write a lot. My writing comes in numerous shapes: work related, academic publishing, and personal or reflective writing. In this episode I talk about building a healthy writing practice and some of my favourite tips for developing a writing routine. I discuss the idea of moving beyond word counts and looking at writing in a holistic way. Mentioned in this episode: A Meeting With Your Writing

New year! New podcast episode! In this episode I talk about establishing goals, setting yourself up for success and some of the problems with recent self-care rhetoric.  I also discuss communities of care and creating supportive spaces within the profession where we can lift each other up. Mentioned in this episode: Things you should know about intersectionality and self-care Beyond Self-Care Bubble Baths: A Vision for Community Care by Abeni Jones Academic Sharing Circle started by Jessica Dewitt

In the final episode of my mini-series on “Demystifying Archival Labour” I talk about all the access and archival labour feels. I reflect on why access is at the core of what archivists do, why we don't 'just digitize everything', and the challenges of managing researcher expectations. Missed part one of this series? Listen to it here. Mentioned in this episode: Samantha Thompson, Peel Archives, "Why don't archivists just digitize everything?" Stacie Williams, "Implications of Archival Labor" Anna St.Onge "Collaboration between archivists and historians: finding a middle ground"