As the Chair of the Board of CRRA, I write to share news that Jennifer Younger, Executive Director of CRRA, has decided to retire this summer.  After serving our organization with distinction for over ten years, Jennifer will be  greatly missed by all of us.

Jennifer's exceptional service to CRRA began in 2010.  She took on the role as Executive Director after serving as the Edward H. Arnold Director of Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.  In addition to taking on many key challenges during her tenure, Jennifer was instrumental in the development of the Catholic Newspapers Program and the opening of the Catholic News Archive in 2016.

CRRA Webinar:
Curating Catholic Web Archives About the COVID-19 Pandemic

Friday, December 11, 2020

2:00-3:00pm ET | 1:00-2:00pm CT | 12:00-1:00pm MT | 11:00am-12:00pm PT

Please join us on Friday, December 11th for a presentation, "Curating Catholic Web Archives About the COVID-19 Pandemic," led by CRRA members Kayla Harris, Librarian/Archivist at the University of Dayton, and Stephanie Shreffler, Collections Librarian/Archivist at the University of Dayton and Chair of the CRRA Collections Committee.

At the University of Dayton, special collections librarians curated collections of web content using the Internet Archive’s Archive-It software, documenting Catholic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: The COVID-19 Pandemic and the U.S. Church collection and The Marian Library Web Clippings collection.

If you didn't get a chance to tune in to the CRRA Virtual Annual Meeting last month - or would like to revisit this excellent presentation - be sure to check out the recording and learn about the important work of the Slavery, History, Memory and Reconciliation Project.

Our guest presenters Dr. Laura Weis, Project Coordinator, Doctoral Candidate Kelly Schmidt, Research Coordinator, and Danielle Harrison, Advisory Committee member, discussed the connections being made with descendants of the enslaved, community members and scholars, the research needed to facilitate these conversations, and communication with all stakeholders on what transformative solutions might look like.

As presented at CRRA's Virtual Annual Meeting on May 7, 2020, we're excited to share this new snapshot of our usage, member engagement, and collaboration!

Archivists from among the membership of the Archivists of Women Religious Congregations (ACWR) and CRRA responded to a list-serv post I requested, asking for histories and photographs depicting Communities' responses to the 1918 pandemic. I appreciate all their help. I’m sorry we couldn’t get all of the information sent into the story.

The Catholic News Service published Sisters' work during the 1918 Spanish flu seen as model for crisis today on March 30, 2020, as the Coronavirus pandemic ravages the globe. In sending out the link to ACWR members, Veronica Buchanan, Executive Secretary, ACWR commented: "we could all certainly use an example of our collections resonating with readers throughout the nation, especially when we feel more disconnected than ever."  

Each year, Open Access Week calls attention to efforts worldwide to make scholarly literature, research data, creative works, primary sources and other materials available to anyone online, free of charge. The Catholic Portal, Catholic News Archive and subject guides are among the freely available resources made possible by CRRA members and partners. 

Kathleen Webb, dean of the University of Dayton Libraries, places a high value on information accessibility and ushered her libraries into the open-access realm with the 2013 launch of eCommons, an institutional repository showcasing the research and creative works of the faculty, staff and students of the University of Dayton. Since 2013, the UD Libraries have made more than 35,000 articles, papers, historical collections, rare materials and records available.