Reference, Access & Outreach Section

2012 Marketplace of Ideas

Imagine a colorful vibrant marketplace filled with exotic and amazing things, thronging with people haggling, dealing, debating, laughing, and shouting.  Now, imagine that this marketplace sells ideas and approaches to all the things that you do or hope to do as an RAO archivist, and everything is free! This Marketplace of Ideas is exactly what the RAO steering committee planned as the centerpiece of the 2012 Membership meeting in San Diego.  Shoppers were able to move through the marketplace at their own pace stopping in a stall to view a demonstration, listen to a mini lecture, and/or deliberate hot topics about reference, access, and outreach. 

This wiki now provides information presented during the Marketplace. We hope it will generate further discussion of these topics, issues, and ideas.

Vendors at the marketplace included:

• A National Online Repository for Lesson Plans Hot Topic Discussion moderated by Jan Blodgett
• Northwest Digital Archives Initiatives Mini Lecture presented by Jodi Allison-Bunnell
• National History Day Toolkit Hot Topic Discussion moderated by Shaun Hayes
• Social Media and Web 2.0 Things for Archivists Hot Topic Discussion moderated by Kathryn Otto and Rebecca Bizonet
• RAO’s Teaching with and about Primary Sources Hot Topic Discussion
• Navigating Minimal Processing and Public Services Hot Topic Discussion moderated by Greg Kocken
• Accessibility of Archives Hot topic Discussion moderated by Sara White
• New Guidelines on Lending Archival Materials Discussion with members of the "Guidelines" committee and experienced lender Joshua Ranger
• NHPRC Grants Quick Presentation and Q&A by Lucy Barber.