Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer have been analyzing 12,000 diary entries created by hundreds of employees in many different organizations in an attempt to understand inner work life: “the conditions that foster positive emotions, strong internal motivation, and favorable perceptions of colleagues and the work itself.” It is about the work, not the “accoutrements.” Meaningful … Continue reading Igniting Joy
As the nation’s record keeper, we are passionate about the opportunity to support research and scholarship at the National Archives. As part of this commitment to research and inquiry, we recently awarded the first National Archives Legislative Archives Fellowship to Dr. Peter Shulman, Assistant Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University. Peter Shulman in … Continue reading In Support of Scholarship
Yesterday, President Barack Obama unveiled the U.S. National Action Plan during a meeting in New York of the member nations of the Open Government Partnership. Last Week, the White House also issued a Status Report on the Administration’s Commitment to Open Government. Over the past year and a half, I’ve written a lot about how … Continue reading The National Archives Celebrates the United States’ Entry into the Open Government Partnership
Every time I visit a National Archives site around the country, I learn something new. Passionate staff educates me about the nature of the records in our custody. At each stop I have jaw-dropping moments. In a recent visit with our Chicago staff, I learned about Record Group 21, Records of District Courts of the … Continue reading “You Puta Da $200.00 Dollars In A The Alley…”
Last week I had an opportunity to address the Preservation Section meeting of the Society of American Archivists. The theme of the meeting was holdings protection—balancing access to holdings with safeguarding them. And two of our Holdings Protection staff, Larry Evangelista and Richard Dine participated in a panel discussion reporting on what we have accomplished … Continue reading Reflections on Collection Security
It has been quite a week. Tuesday afternoon an earthquake rattled many of our facilities around the Northeast. Little known fault lines named Lakeside and Spotsylvania near Mineral, VA, the epicenter, made themselves known over several days with at least seven aftershocks. The Washington National Regions Records Center in Suitland, MD was the hardest hit … Continue reading Cue the Locusts!
My name is David and I am an introvert. Survey research varies but at least 25% of the population identifies itself along with me. I still remember the session at MIT where we were getting ready to take the Myers-Briggs when the instructor was explaining the Introvert/Extrovert characteristics: Are you the kind of person at … Continue reading Innies and Outies
Reading Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage (“The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work”), “Find a Better Job” in the latest issue of TimeOut New York (yes, I have maintained my subscription just to keep up with life in the Big Apple!), and Glen David Gold’s novel, Carter Beats the … Continue reading Creating Some Magic
On June 15th we launched our tagging feature on the Online Public Access (OPA) prototype in another “citizen archivist” venture. Convinced that our users know a lot about the records we are stewarding, this is an opportunity to contribute that knowledge. As you search the catalog, you are invited to tag any archival description, person, … Continue reading The Wisdom of the Crowd
Last Thursday, a Federal grand jury indicted Barry Landau and Jason Savedoff “…for conspiring to steal historical documents from museums in Maryland and New York, and selling them for profit.” On Friday they were arraigned in Baltimore’s U.S. District Court and immediately arrested by FBI and NARA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Special Agents. … Continue reading Balancing Access and Protection
