By RobinDecember 27, 2019
Archival research is sometimes compared to the effort of
putting together a jigsaw puzzle—a puzzle where you have to find the pieces, you
have no photo reference of the actual puzzle, and there are zero edge pieces
and certainly no corner pieces. There are obviously parts of the comparison
that don’t work, but it is apt for those needing a crash course in archival
understanding.
I spend my fair share of time in an archives (it helps to be
employed in one). I have a master’s degree in library science with an archival
concentration and I just finished a dissertation on the history of the nineteenth-century
archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In other words, I
spend a lot of time thinking about archives and their creation and use by
today’s scholars. I jokingly tell people that I’m more comfortable with dead
people and their records than I am with living people (the joke, of course, is
that I’m not joking).
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By J StuartDecember 17, 2019
LINK
Posting Dates: 12/10/2019 – 12/24/2019
Job Family: Human Resources
Department: Church History Department
PURPOSES
This position will assist the Church History Library in processing, cataloging, arranging, housing, and indexing Church History Library archival collections in order to assist the Church History Department in its purpose to help God’s children keep and make sacred covenants. Successful applicants will work at the direction of Church History Specialists to create bibliographic records that will assist internal and external researchers in locating and using archival collections.
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By J StuartDecember 15, 2019
Every year I look forward to seeing which books will be published (you can read my recap of the best books and articles of 2019 HERE). The list isn’t comprehensive—many books don’t have listings on press websites quite yet. Nevertheless, I hope that I’ve highlighted many of the books Mormon historians are anxiously waiting to have their hands on in the next twelve months (and that you’ll send me information on books I’ve missed!). All quotations are from the Press’s website (when available) and all links are to the publisher’s website (where available).
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By Jeff TDecember 12, 2019
Historians exist in a world of naming (Mormon Historians doubly so!).1 But, what’s in a name? Historian John O’Malley offers two reflections on this question, one a little naïve and another a little wiser. The first:
“Sometimes very little. A rose still smells as sweet. Even designations for historical phenomena like ‘the Middle Ages’ that were once loaded with prejudices lose them through repeated usage. They become the equivalent of dead metaphors, where the image loses its punch. Is it not further true that all such historical constructs are imperfect, not much more than pointers to what can never be fully grasped by them, impositions on a fluid reality that they can never adequately capture? What difference does it make, then, what we call the Catholic side of the early modern period? Should we not stop worrying about labels, mere terms of convenience, and get on with the real business of history?”2
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By J StuartDecember 9, 2019
Visions,
Restoration, and Movements
Mormon
History Association 55th Annual Conference
CALL FOR
POSTER SESSION PROPOSALS
UPDATED Submission Deadline: February 18, 2020
The Mormon History Association (MHA) is accepting submissions for a poster session, to be held in the Riverside Convention Center Exhibit Hall during the 55th annual conference in Rochester/Palmyra, New York, June 4-7, 2020. We welcome proposals that address the conference theme, “Visions, Restoration, and Movements,” but all proposals will receive equal consideration. Please visit https://mormonhistoryassociation.org/2020-conference to view the conference call for papers. This poster session offers participants the opportunity to discuss and answer questions about their work in a relatively informal, interactive setting. This format is particularly useful for works-in-progress and for projects with visual and material evidence. Presenters must be MHA members, register for and attend the meeting, and be available for a two-hour poster viewing session and reception during the conference, date and time TBD. MHA will waive the conference registration fee for all student poster presenters.
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