I was notified on Friday that I'd been awarded a scholarship to attend the 48th Annual Rare Books and Manuscripts (RBMS) Preconference From Here to Ephemerality: Fugitive Sources in Libraries, Archives, and Museums from June 19-22 in Baltimore, Maryland.Here's a brief description of the conference:
This will be the first time that an RBMS Preconference will explore the theme of ephemera in libraries, archives, and museums. Ephemera collections have traditionally been neglected by institutions and have been underutilized by scholars; they provide unique challenges in cataloging, preservation, and access. The goals of the Preconference will be to explore these issues, and to uncover the value of building and using ephemera collections to their full potential.
There will be five plenary sessions, encompassing: ephemerality; the scholarly uses of ephemera; dealers' perspectives on ephemera; collecting and collectors of ephemera; and the care and management of ephemera collections in institutions. The sixth and final plenary session will be a wrap-up of the entire conference. Plenary speakers include internationally renowned scholars, collectors, and library and museum curators. In addition to the plenary sessions, there will be twelve short papers further developing aspects of the theme, and nine seminars offering a more practical or case-study approach to the topic."
It's a great scholarship but it doesn't cover all my expenses so I'm still trying to find some other sources of funding before deciding whether or not I'll accept.
UPDATE: I received a generous stipdend from Emporia State University SLIM and have accepted the scholarship.
