Greetings ACA Members! I am excited to be taking over as President this year. I cannot tell you how hard this board works to keep this organization running so smoothly, including the ACA Office staff who are the nuts and bolts behind the organization.

After a very successful summer board meeting, we are continuing on track with projects that you may have heard about at the annual member’s meeting.

Job Analysis

We continue to make progress in our efforts to define what it means to be an archivist. We’ve chosen a firm to complete the work and the contract is almost complete. We’ve put out a call for subject specialists to be interviewed in various areas to gather information about the profession. The process is moving along with the help of former President Gerrianne Schaad who has been tasked with overseeing the project.

ACA and SAA Collaborations

Current and past ACA and SAA leadership are continuing discussions on how to make our relationship stronger. After meeting this past summer, we met again recently to discuss ideas about creating partnerships to benefit each group. I think it is important to have these collaborative discussions. Look for more information soon about initiatives coming out of these talks.

Outreach Volunteers

With the recent changes to the position of Outreach with several Regents stepping down, we will be going in a different direction until we can fill that position. We are looking for a few dedicated members to be part of a committee to assist with outreach activities in the interim. Typical Outreach duties include managing advertisements for ACA, scheduling tables at conferences, working with student groups, and social media. This Regent works closely with the Regent for Membership Services as well. If you think you have an interest in helping guide Outreach during this transition time, look for a call shortly about that opportunity.

ACA Board Elections

It’s never too late to start thinking about running for a position with ACA. While it is early in the process, consider running yourself or nominating someone you think would be a good fit for the board. Positions up for election in the spring of 2024 will be Vice President/President-Elect, Nominations Committee, Treasurer, Regent for Exam Development, and Regent for Outreach.

Zoom Events

We will be having more opportunities to gather via Zoom for sessions on a variety of topics in the upcoming months. Sessions in the works range from an “Ask ACA Anything” to targeted ones regarding the exam, domains, recertification and other archival topics.

I am excited to keep ACA moving forward. As always, please reach out with questions, ideas or just anything that is on your mind about ACA. Our goal is to work together to make this organization the best it can be.

Liz Scott | President, 2023-2024
​​Academy of Certified Archivists
president@certifiedarchivists.org  

In recognition of how the archival profession is evolving, the Academy of Certified Archivists added a new domain to the Role Delineation Statement, Domain 8: Cultural Competency. Tomaro Taylor and Helen Wong Smith led a team to develop the tasks and knowledge statements found in the Role Delineation Statement, a suggested reading list, and proposed questions. The Examination Development Committee (EDC) has incorporated the new domain into the 2023 examination.

As this is new this year, many have asked questions regarding the new domain. The ACA held a session about the domain in May (not recorded), and this post is to summarize the session and how the new domain has been integrated into the exam. Please keep in mind that detailed information cannot be shared to maintain the integrity of the examination, but I am glad to answer any additional questions if I can (examdevelopment@certifiedarchivists.org).

For some background, the EDC maintains a bank of questions to draw from to construct the examination. The question bank has been built over many years through item-writing workshops and EDC members’ submitted questions. The bank continually changes as questions are reviewed, revised, and retired, and new questions added. Questions are based on theory and practice, and represent all domains so examination candidates can demonstrate a broad knowledge of the profession. 

Questions (for all domains) come directly from the literature, though it is not a 1:1 correlation. Meaning, there may be one or more questions from a specific article or book, and there may be readings for which there are no questions on the examination for any given year. This is purposeful, as part of the goal of the suggested reading list is an opportunity for examination candidates to broaden their knowledge about all areas of the profession. 

With Domain 8, we are starting with new questions and will continually build up the bank by drawing on literature to monitor current theories and practices. For every exam, a psychometrician does an analysis of how questions score, and that informs future exams. The EDC already has a growing list of literature to review and expects to have citations on the suggested reading list next year, and more new questions. And thank you to examination candidates who have made recommendations!

Here are some of the questions/comments that have arisen:

• How do I best study and prepare for Domain 8?
  • Focusing on the posted suggested readings is the best approach; no questions are used unless the citation is on the list.
• The Examination Study Guide does not include Domain 8.
  • That is correct, and this will be changed for future exams. The EDC will be doing a full review of the study guide and will update it with Domain 8 for future examinations.
• Are there any practice questions for Domain 8?
  • Unfortunately no, there are no practice questions. Typically, the practice questions come from questions that previously appeared on the examination and are now retired. Because this is a new domain, there are no previous questions to use for practice. However, this feedback has been helpful and the EDC will consider drafting practice questions for future examination candidates.

Domain 8: Cultural Competency is the first domain added in recent years. As such, this is new territory for the ACA and we recognize that there is much more work to do. I welcome any feedback and questions as we continue to develop this important domain (examdevelopment@certifiedarchivists.org). 

In the meantime, study well and good luck on the examination!

Cheryl Oestreicher

Regent for Examination Development (2022-2024)

ACA BOARD ELECTION RESULTS 

Each year we welcome new board members to our leadership team. We couldn’t do this without all of you who agreed to run as candidates. Thank you so much for considering these board roles and lending your expertise and energy to the Academy and all Certified Archivists! Apologies for errors in the initial email of election results. 

MEMBERSHIP FORUM 

Thank you to those who attended the membership forum on April 6 to discuss the recent American Archivist article “Who is this Godot? The Academy of Certified Archivists and Graduate Archival Education” written by Ashley Todd-Diaz and Alex H. Poole. We had a productive conversation and generated many ideas for how best to respond. A small group of interested members have just begun the process of determining our way forward for writing a response. We will continue to share out to membership as we progress.  

SAVE THE DATE: AUGUST 15 

Our annual membership meeting will be held via Zoom on August 15. For the past several years we have convened this meeting online rather than in-person in conjunction with the Society of American Archivists meeting. We have found that this allows more people to attend and be involved. Meeting time and link will be available in the coming weeks. 

The Academy of Certified Archivists' Nominations Committee is pleased to announce the results of this year's ACA election: 

•          Dara Baker, CA as Vice-President/President-Elect
•          Lauren Goodley, CA as Secretary
•          Julia Stringfellow, CA as Regent for Member Services
•          Amanda Focke, CA as Regent for Certification Maintenance
•          Gina Nichols, CA as Regent for Examination Administration
•          Ann Abney, CA as Nominations Committee member

Thank you to all who participated by running for office and/or voting! We appreciate your engagement!

Rosemary Pleva Flynn, Regent for Exam Administration, is looking for volunteers for the following:

• Exam prep volunteers to help candidates with questions as they study
• 2023 exam proctors
• Committee members for the redesigned graduate course preapproval committee

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please send a message to examadmin@certifiedarchivists.org.