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Northwest Archivists Annual Meeting 2027
May 19-21, 2027 At the Montana Heritage Center in Helena Montana
Call for proposals
Northwest Archivists at 50
NWA Annual Meeting 2027
Helena, Montana
May 19-21, 2027
The 2027 NWA Annual Meeting gives us an opportunity to gather, collaborate, and learn from the work of archivists and other cultural heritage professionals from around our region. Our 2027 meeting will be held at the Montana Heritage Center in Helena, Montana. Our theme is Northwest Archivists at 50 in recognition of the golden anniversary of our professional organization.
Anniversaries offer the opportunity to look toward the future of our profession by reflecting on our past. Our work stewarding the past teaches us that knowing where we have been informs where we are going. In celebrating this anniversary, NWA seeks to reflect on the past 50 years of archival work, highlight collections in our region, and envision where we want to go next.
The Program Committee welcomes proposals on topics related to all aspects of archival practice, theory, or research broadly related to Northwest Archivists at 50. Any and all ideas are welcome! We are seeking diverse perspectives that help us strengthen our professional practice, our institutions, and our communities and reflect a variety of viewpoints, experiences, and expertise. We especially invite those in allied professions as well as graduate and undergraduate students to participate.
All proposals will be reviewed by NWA's Program Committee for acceptance. Submit your proposal here!
Program Session Proposals
The 2027 Program Committee seeks session proposals on all aspects of archival practice, theory, and research in broad support of the theme of Northwest Archivists at 50 to reflect the achievements, struggles, and changes in archival work over the past 50 years.
The following list is provided to facilitate session topic brainstorming. Any and all ideas are welcome!
- 50 Years of Professional Stewardship – Building and sustaining professional networks, archival education, mentorship, supporting new professionals
- Activism and social justice – Documenting social justice movements, community-based archives, archivists as advocates for social change
- Advocacy and outreach – Communicating value, marketing, sponsorship, engaging the community, stakeholder engagement
- Archives management – Strategic planning, project management, personnel management, fundraising, grant writing
- Collaborations and partnerships – Engaging donors, resource sharing, working with students, colleagues in allied professions, documentation strategies
- Collection management – Metadata, digitization, appraisal and reappraisal, space planning
- Digital Preservation / Digital archiving – Workflows, methods, access options
- Disaster mitigation and response – Planning, responding to climate change, practicing / implementing responses
- Diversity, equity and inclusion - Reparative description, diversifying the profession, addressing legacy bias, collaborations with historically marginalized communities, inclusive spaces, cultural competence and cultural humility
- Failure stories - Experiences that can help others learn from mistakes, less than successful projects
- Innovation – Finding efficiencies, engagement strategies, process improvements, workflow management, innovative uses of tools / technologies, new approaches to hybrid work life
- Legacy collections and practices - data migration, reappraisal, rehousing, collections surveys
- Reference and instruction - Teaching collaborations, creative uses of technology
Session Formats
In your proposal you will be asked to indicate the format of your session. Except for workshops, all session blocks will be 60 minutes.
If you would like to work with others on a session, please coordinate using this Panel Collaboration Spreadsheet. (Note: the Program Committee does not monitor this spreadsheet, and coordination is up to individual members. Alternatively, you can submit a Case Study proposal as an individual).
- Standard Presentation (1 hour): Two to four speakers present on a common theme. May include a moderator to steer discussion and/or introduce speakers and theme.
- Round Table Discussion (1 hour): Three or four facilitators provide brief remarks, then engage in discussion of a topic with attendees. Alternately, a moderator poses a series of questions to participants, which each participant addresses.
- Workshop (full- or half-day): hands-on presentation of skills, technology, or policy. Can be presented by an individual, a group, or an organization.
- Case Studies (10-15 minutes) submitted individually: three to five speakers present on topics focused on recent projects, to be grouped by the Program Committee. Case-study presentations are shorter than the standard presentation and are designed to serve as examples of archival theory in practice.
- Alternative Format (1 hour): Propose a format that best fits your topic. In your session description, provide enough information for the evaluators to understand both the format, and how the format will support the topic or presentation of the material.
Session Proposal Evaluation Criteria
- Is the proposal description clear? (5 points)
- Are the proposal outcomes explicitly stated and achievable in the proposed session? (10 points)
- Will attendees be introduced to a new practice, practical application and/or be encouraged to think in a new way about an issue or topic? (10 points)
- Does the proposal demonstrate that the presenter(s) have the requisite knowledge /experience to present on the topic? (10 points)
- Does the proposal align with the conference theme? (3 points)
Deadlines
Session proposals for the NWA 2027 Annual Meeting are due on Friday, December 11, by 11:59pm Pacific Time. Acceptances will be communicated to presenters by January 29, 2027.
A call for poster proposals will go out in early January and close February 15.
Use this LINK TO SUBMISSION FORM to submit your Session proposals.
If you have any questions, please contact the Program Committee Chair, Heather Mulliner: heather.mulliner@montana.edu
Comittees
Program CommitteeChair: Heather Mulliner Ariana Burns Tiah Edmunson-Morton Megan Garbett Rebecca Gordon Anna Harbine Crystal Hicks Anne Jenner Donna McCrea Hannah Morrison Olivia Rouse Erin Passehl Stoddart | Local Arrangements CommitteChair: Lindsey Mick Cari Coe Cassidy Vander Voort Emily Cabaniss Jodi Allison-Bunnell Mel Pomeroy Laura Froelke Chloe Miller Anneliese Jackle |