Sunday, January 29, 2012

The NHN Directory is not complete without your listing . . .


The NHN's core mission includes bringing Associates together for professional development programs -- such as we had last Tuesday -- and to provide a network of support for our various projects -- such as the Century of Action.

Another of the benefits of NHN membership is in being listed in our online directory.

After months of hard work, we have launched the NHN Associates Directory, and now seek your information so that we can add it to the site.

The purpose of the directory is to connect people to the the expertise of our diverse Associates. It serves as the only centralized Internet location where historians, archivists, and librarians in the Pacific Northwest are listed. Why might this be significant?

Perhaps someone is looking to hire a contract historian, or to get guidance on archiving a collection, or to manage an oral history project -- with the Associates Directory online, this information is much more readily accessible.

Or, perhaps another Associate gets approached by a community member seeking expertise on a topic. If the Associate him or herself does not have the expertise, he or she can direct the questioner to the NHN Associates Directory to find someone who does have the expertise.

Also, Associates with listings in the directory can copy-&-paste the URL to their listing for insertion in emails, websites, etc. -- it's another way to increase one's visibility, in some ways like an online business card.

Please see below for the kind of information we would like to receive from you all for inclusion in the directory. When you send this information to me, you can also include an image of yourself. The NHN Directory Committee will take care of the HTML formatting, but if you provide hyperlinks (to your own blog or website, for example), that will make it much easier to get your directory listing posted.

For examples of completed directory listings with photos, peruse the NHN Associates Directory, or navigate to the following pages:

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

NHN Professional Development Program: Online Tools for Promoting Your Writing and Research

Online Tools for Promoting Your Writing and Research
A Panel Discussion and Hands-On Workshop
Tuesday, January 24th, 6-8 PM
Architectural Heritage Center
701 Southeast Grand Avenue Portland, OR 97214

Register by using this form.

Join us to explore online tools and practices for people engaged in research and writing. There will be a topical focus on history, but the tools and practices we’ll introduce are relevant to anyone interested in promoting themselves or their content online while maintaining high standards for their work. We’ll look at:
  • Social networking for professional promotion - where, how and why.
  • How to get your work found on the internet.
  • Establishing credibility for your research and writing online.
  • Using metadata for digital photo management.
A panel discussion will be followed by a hands-on workshop. Please bring your laptop or mobile device with a browser if you have one. A limited number of “loaners” will be available for use. Light refreshments will be served.

Admission is free to current NHN Associates, $10 for non-associates, $5 for students with ID (collected at the door). Space is limited and registration is required. We hope you can join us!

Featuring

Nick Blackbourne, Ph.D. Candidate, University of St. Andrews. nickblackbourn.com

Chris Higgins, writer (mental_floss, This American Life) and mobile apps expert (Cloud Four, Night & Day Studios) chrishiggins.com

Amy Platt, Public Relations Coordinator, Oregon Encyclopedia Project. oregonencyclopedia.org

Tom Robinson, Principal, Historic Photo Archive. historicphotoarchive.com

For more information, email info@northwesthistory.org

Friday, December 2, 2011

Seconal Annual Holiday Party

The Northwest History Network invites all Associates to the Annual Holiday Party on Tuesday, December 13, 2011. It's the history social event of the season!

Where: 8512 SE 13th Avenue in Sellwood, the home of Richard Engeman and Terry Jess
When: between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM
Who's invited: NHN associates and their spouses, friends, colleagues, and maybe-in-the-future-NHN-associates. Caveat: children are welcome, but the house is not child-proofed.
What's to eat: appetizers/finger food, ham and vegetarian main dishes, salads, desserts
What's to drink: wine, beer, soft drinks, juice, tea and coffee
How to get there: TriMet route #70; use their trip planner.
Special features: History-related prizes. Demo of the NHN Associates Directory.
Are you planning to be there? Call or e-mail Richard with a head count: 503-235-9032, info@oregonrediviva.com

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

New Directions for NHN

Oregon City municipal elevator

Your Northwest History Network board has been discussing future NHN activities in the light of what the organization is now doing, has done in the past, and would like to do.

As many of you know, we’ve enjoyed some terrific accomplishments over the last couple of years - including effective advocacy for access to historical resources, incubating the Century of Action project (which has become a project of the new non-profit, Oregon Women’s History Consortium) through a grant application and administration, regular opportunities to for our associates to network, and popular public programs, including the history of the Black Panthers, race and urban renewal, and a special screening of Lois Leonard's film "Finding David Douglas."

As we look forward to the upcoming year and beyond, we’ve been discussing what we should focus on. We’re sharing our thoughts with the hope of hearing yours - in person at one of our socials, via email, or by calling any one of us. This is your association, so let's figure out how it can best support your work.

Some highlights of the board’s discussion:
  • In the past five years, regional history-related public programs have expanded dramatically, thanks to such groups as the Oregon Encyclopedia, Architectural Heritage Center, McMenamin's, Friends of History (FOH) and Public History Graduates (PHiG) at PSU, the local chapter of the Northwest Independent Scholars Association, the Oregon Historical Society, and the Dill Pickle Club. When NHN was founded, these opportunities simply didn’t exist.
  • Professional development opportunities for historians who are outside of academia are very slim
  • Networking and sharing opportunities for regional historians are scarce
  • Greater efforts need to be made to help regional historians collaborate with one another, to work with potential employers of historians and users of history, to develop history projects and products: in short, to pay historians to do their work
In response, the board has adopted a tentative calendar for the next year and a half. The primary effects are these:
  • We will offer two public programs each year with an emphasis, whenever possible, on promoting the work of our associates
  • There will be two programs a year, aimed directly at our associates, dealing with professional development issues -- the first of these will be held on January 24 at the Architectural Heritage Center, regarding internet tools for historians.
  • We will continue our (mostly) monthly social events with updates from associates on their work and projects, and will introduce new and potential members. We will also suggest topics in history to generate discussion that may lead to future professional development or public programs
As your board works on fleshing out the NHN calendar (http://www.northwesthistory.org/p/nhn-calendar.html), we appreciate hearing from you: suggest program topics, possible speakers or panel members, social event venues, etc. - and any other thoughts you have.

NHN is an all-volunteer agency that works best when we work together - thank you for being a part of it!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A Night in Paradise

Seattle World's Fair, 1962
Mark your calendar for Northwest History Network's second annual year-end social event, set for the evening of Tuesday, December 13. Last year's spread attracted more than three dozen NHN associates and their family members and colleagues. The party will start at 5:00 PM at the home of NHN co-director Richard Engeman, 8512 SE 13th Avenue in Sellwood. Details forthcoming, but hold the date!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Monday social: Professional development, Archives Crawl

This month's social meeting is on Monday, October 17th, from 5:30 PM, at Dig A Pony, 736 SE Grand Avenue at Morrison Street. Dig A Pony is a new bar in a venerable old building; their website shows a photograph of it in the 1930s when it was a drugstore; see it at http://digaponyportland.com/.

New hat and snappy gown? Step out to Dig A Pony on Monday and show 'em off! Don't just sit on the stoop!

The social will give us a chance to meet and greet new and potential NHN associates, catch up on one another's projects and interests, and discuss the recent Portland Archives Crawl. We'd also like to hear from associates about their professional development, and what NHN as an organization might do in that arena.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Special Screening: Finding David Douglas

What: Special Screening of Finding David Douglas

When: June 25 at 1 p.m

Where:Laurelhurst Theater, 2735 E. Burnside Street, Portland, OR

Local historian and filmmaker (and NHN associate) Lois Leonard directed and produced this 56-minute film about the scientific adventures of the intrepid 19th century Scots botanist and plant hunter David Douglas. Viewers will tap his roots in Scotland and England; trek along through California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia; sweep across the Canadian Rockies to remote York Factory on the Hudson Bay shore; and ponder his mysterious final destination on the Big Island of Hawaii. The film focuses on Douglas’s groundbreaking contributions to science – the Douglas fir and many more plant and animal species are named for him – and details his relations within the multi-cultural community of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the many Indian tribes he visited across Western North America. The movie was created with support from the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission and this viewing is offered through the Northwest History Network. Regular Laurelhurst admission ($3) applies.

Seating is limited.

Special thanks to the Laurelhurst Theater and to the Architectural Heritage Center for technical support.