SAA -- Women Archivists Roundtable

Women in the Archival Profession
Survey

Results compiled by
Amy Cooper, Special Collections Librarian, University of Iowa Libraries
E. Lee Eltzroth, Consultant
August, 2002

Introduction
The Society of American Archivists� Women Archivists Roundtable (WAR) was initially formed by the Committee on the Status of Women (COSW), under the name Women�s Professional Archival Issues Roundtable (WPAIR). Its inaugural meeting was held in Orlando, Florida in 1998. As its final official responsibility, COSW prepared the new Roundtable�s bylaws, including a Mission Statement, a Statement of Goals and Objectives, and proposed Areas of Activity.
Created primarily "to monitor the status of women within the archival profession," the new Roundtable was to conduct surveys among women relating to their work in the profession. It was to support and provide input to the SAA Salary Survey, and it was to identify ways to bring women�s professional archival issues forward for consideration. WAR has compiled its first survey in order to accomplish these goals.
Designed with the help of its Steering Committee and membership, the survey is a means by which WAR can interpret the perceptions of its membership as well as those of other women in the profession. Included are questions related to respondents� work (including their geographic location, work "climate," professional activity, education, training and responsibilities), and the balance of work and home (flextime, child and elder care, professional and personal leave), as well some questions related to working with "women�s collections." Additional comments are also welcome.
The Women Archivists Roundtable believes the compiled results of this survey will enable them to bring those issues important to women in the profession to the archival public. The results will be available on the WAR website, but we also anticipate compiling an article on the survey and its results for publication in Archival Outlook, the SAA newsletter. Thank you for being a part of this process.
Please print this page and send completed surveys by November 15, 2001 to:
Amy Cooper
Special Collections Librarian
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA 52242-1420
E-mail: [email protected]
Direct questions to either of the co-chairs:
Amy Cooper, University of Iowa Libraries [email protected]
Lee Eltzroth, Georgia State University, 404-651-2477 [email protected]

You & Your Work
1. You work in what geographic area:
a) U.S. Northeast
b) U.S. Southeast
c) U.S. Midwest
d) U.S. West coast
e) U.S. Southwest
f) U.S. West
g) U.S. Alaska
h) U.S. Hawaii
i) Canada
j) Latin America
k) Australia
l) Other please specify ______________________________________
2. Type of repository/institution with which you are associated:
a) academic
b) corporate
c) religious
d) government (state, county, municipal)
e) museum
f) historical society
g) Other please specify ______________________________________
3. You are officially designated as:
a) tenured faculty
b) non-tenured faculty
c) professional staff
d) paraprofessional staff
e) Other please specify ______________________________________
4. Your title is:
a) Archivist
b) Librarian
c) Information manager
d) Department Head / Chief / Director
e) Records Manager
f) Other please specify ______________________________________
5. Your position is:
a) Full time with benefits
b) Full time with no benefits
c) Part time with benefits
d) Part time with no benefits
e) Temporary
f) Soft-money/year by year
6. You have been an archivist for:
a) Less than 2 years
b) 2 - 5 years
c) 6 � 10 years
d) more than 10 years
7. Is this a second (or more) career choice for you? Y / N
8. Your education includes (circle all that apply):
a) BA or BS
b) MA or MS
c) MLS
d) Ph.D
e) archival degree or archival coursework
9. Do you have other certificates given by archival workshops, institutes, etc.? Y / N
10. Have you ever presented a paper or moderated a session for SAA? Y / N
11. Are you a member of SAA? Y / N

If yes, have you served in an official capacity for any SAA group (council/standing committees/roundtable/section)? Y / N
Are you a member of WAR (formerly WPAIR)? Y / N

If no, have you ever attended their meeting? Y / N
Are you a member of the Women�s Collections Roundtable? Y / N
If no, have you ever attended their meeting? Y / N

12. Are you a Certified Archivist? Y / N

If no, do you plan to take the Certification exam? Y / N
Do you consider certification important to your professional career? Y / N

13. Your salary is:
a) Under $20,000
b) $20,000 - $29,000
c) $30,000 - $39,000
d) $40,000 - $49,000
e) $50,000 - $59,000
f) $60,000 - $74,000
g) $75,000 or above
14. Your direct supervisor is:
a) Male
b) Female
15. What percentage of your overall duties do you consider "hands-on" (non-administrative) work with the collections?
a) 10 - 30%
b) 40 - 50%
c) 60 � 80%
d) over 80%
16. What percentage of your overall duties do you consider strictly administrative ("office") work?
a) 10 - 30%
b) 40 - 50%
c) 60 - 80%
d) over 80%
17. What portion of your duties involves utilizing the web and/or digitization projects?
a) None
b) 5 - 10%
c) 10 - 30%
d) over 30%
18. Do you feel prepared to deal with rapidly changing technologies in your workplace? Y / N
19. Do you feel you have received adequate training to deal with new technologies? Y / N
20. Does your workplace provide appropriate training in new technologies? Y / N
21. Is training available to:

Training is available for all staff: Y / N
Training is available for professional staff only Y / N
Training is available for upper management only Y / N

22. Do you feel you have the time to take advantage of this training? Y / N
23. Does your workplace provide appropriate training in areas other than technology? Y / N
24. Does your department have its own budget or discretionary funds for training? Y / N
25. Your primary responsibilities involve (circle all that apply):
a) Appraisal
b) Budget
c) Presentations
d) Preservation
e) Processing
f) Public relations / Outreach
g) Reference
h) Solicitation / Donor relations
i) Supervision
j) Teaching
k) All of the above
26. Do you think your repository makes an effort to recruit a diverse work force including age, gender, race, and sexual preference? Y / N
27. Does your repository/institution have a Committee on the Status of Women or similar organization? Y / N
28. Do you think SAA needs a committee to address pay equity issues, similar to that of the ALA Committee on Pay Equity? Y / N

Balance of Work & Home
29. How many hours of overtime do you give to your job per month?
a) None
b) 2 � 7
c) 8 � 12
d) 13 � 18
e) more than 18
30. Do you believe you work longer hours than your male colleagues do?
a) Yes
b) No
c) No opinion
31. Do you have flextime? Y / N
32. Is your attendance and presentation at workshops, conferences, etc., a factor in your annual evaluation? Y / N
33. Can you depend on your repository to provide financial support for registration and travel for workshops, conferences, etc.?
a) Yes, they provide the entire amount
b) Yes, they provide some and I pay the rest
c) Yes, but only if I�m giving a paper
d) Very occasionally, I usually pay most
e) No, I always pay the entire amount
34. Can you depend on your repository to provide professional leave for workshops, conferences, etc.?
a) Yes, even if no financial help is provided, leave is given
b) No, I must use annual leave
35. Difficulties you encounter in attending workshops, conferences, etc. include which of the following?
a) Funding Y / N
b) Arranging child or elder care Y / N
c) Taking time away from work Y / N
d) Having no one to take over my duties at work Y/N
36. To which professional organizations do you belong? (circle all that apply):
Society of American Archivists (SAA)
American Library Association (ALA)
American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)
American Historical Association (AHA)
Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA)
Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA)
Other regional, state, or local U.S. archival association
please specify ____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________
Other provincial or local Canadian archival association
Please specify__________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
37. Does your repository pay your association membership fees? Y / N
38. Does your place of employment provide child care? Y / N
39. Have you ever brought a child or parent to SAA? Y / N
40. Have you ever taken advantage of child care available at SAA�s annual meeting? Y / N

If yes, would you use it again? Y / N

41. Does your employer have a tax-deferred shelter for elder care funds? Y / N
42. Does your employer give adequate maternity/family leave? Y / N
43. Does your employer allow insurance coverage for domestic partnerships? Y / N
44. Does your employer allow family leave for domestic partnerships? Y / N
45. Do you consider childcare a work-related issue for everyone? Y / N
46. Do you consider elder care a work-related issue for everyone? Y / N
47. Do you consider domestic partnership issues a work-related issue for everyone? Y / N
49. Given the option and the professional opportunity, would you choose to work part time? Y / N
50. Do you believe dealing with stress is a significant factor for women in the workplace? Y / N
51. Some corporations have begun to deal with issues surrounding menopause as they relate to the workplace. Do you believe this is a good idea?
a) Yes
b) No
c) No opinion
52. Rank the importance of each of these issues, on a scale from 1 to 12 [with 1 = very important and 12 = not important] as they relate to your own work situation:

___ Age discrimination ___ Balancing work & home

___ Childcare ___ Dealing with stress

___ Domestic partnership ___ Elder care

___ Menopause ___ Pay equity

___ Rapid technological change ___ Sexual harassment

___ Support for workshops, meetings, etc. ___ Salary

Your Opinion on Women's Collections
53. Do you feel that unearthing women�s history continues to be important? Y / N
54. If so, do you make any special effort to do so? Y / N
55. Do you work with materials specifically related to women? Y / N
56. If yes, these include (circle all that apply):
a) Artifacts/3-D objects
b) Books or Periodicals
c) Organizational Records
d) Personal papers
e) Photographs or other visual materials
f) Printed materials
g) Recorded sound
h) Textiles
i) Video or other moving pictures
Add any additional comments here:
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Thank you.

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