Anatolia College’s oral histories: Reflecting on roles, interactions and opportunities from an inter-institutional collaborative project

We will present reflections and discuss challenges and opportunities drawing on a collaborative, interdisciplinary and inter-institutional oral history project among Anatolia Libraries’ archivists and staff and ACT (American College of Thessaloniki) faculty and students.

The aim of the proposed session is to share with AMICAL member institutions reflections on the collaboration between Anatolia Libraries’ archivists and staff and faculty and students at the American College of Thessaloniki (ACT) on the occasion of an AMICAL Small Grant collaborative project (Oral history collection development, #1059). The goal of this pilot project, which took place between January-April 2018 was dual: (a) to kick-start the documentation of Anatolia College’s oral histories, a vision to which the Anatolia Archives and Special Collection is committed to and has been actively working to fulfill, and (b) to promote interdisciplinary, educational activities among, and for, faculty, students, archivists and librarians.

The Community Idea Exchange will offer an opportunity to share with interested library heads and staff, faculty and students key moments from the research and dissemination process, including key outcomes and outputs, as well as our reflections on the above partnership. We seek feedback and targeted recommendations on the collaboration and research process so far, which will help to strategize toward future inter-institutional and interdisciplinary partnerships, potentially with AMICAL member institutions also, and a more robust vision documenting Anatolia College’s history.