by Molly Huber
Quick Summary
This year's Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) Annual Meeting was held at the Renaissance Center in Detroit from April 4th-6th. It was the first time I attended this regional conference, and I enjoyed connecting with Minnesota colleagues and meeting new people. The speakers and sessions were really interesting and informative too, starting with a plenary by Viranel Clerard, a community art advocate who runs the Detroit Mural Project; a digital catalog of 1000+ public art murals in the city of Detroit. Other highlights included a session on increasing diversity in the archival profession, the benefits resulting from collaborations with on-campus museums, lessons learned from problematic collection donations, and how archival materials contributed to the success of a community archaeological project.
This year's Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) Annual Meeting was held at the Renaissance Center in Detroit from April 4th-6th. It was the first time I attended this regional conference, and I enjoyed connecting with Minnesota colleagues and meeting new people. The speakers and sessions were really interesting and informative too, starting with a plenary by Viranel Clerard, a community art advocate who runs the Detroit Mural Project; a digital catalog of 1000+ public art murals in the city of Detroit. Other highlights included a session on increasing diversity in the archival profession, the benefits resulting from collaborations with on-campus museums, lessons learned from problematic collection donations, and how archival materials contributed to the success of a community archaeological project.
I also gave a presentation on the Minnesota Digital Library's relationship with the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and how that has allowed us to build capacity in our state, alongside colleagues from Michigan Memories and Recollection Wisconsin. Special activities for conference attendees included private tours of Detroit area archives and cultural sites, and an evening reception at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. It was a fascinating few days and I hope to be able to attend the MAC Annual Meeting again in the future.
