Friday, October 27, 2006

MARAC Morristown - Friday

Friday is the only full day of the conference. The day started early with a continental breakfast followed by state caucus meetings. I attended the DC Caucus meeting and listened to a former DC Caucus rep (my wife is the current caucus rep, but is attending a different conference in DC) give some of the highlights from the Steering Committee meeting the night before.

After that, there was a plenary session featuring Paul Israel, Director and General Editor of the [Thomas Alva] Edison Papers. Israel spoke about Edison and his role in the history of technology. The papers comprise more than five million pages detailing the work of the "Wizard of Menlo Park." Menlo Park, where Edison had his labs, is about half an hour from Morristown.

In the afternoon session block, I went for a session that was not directly related to my work. The session title was "Lemon Juice and Hairdryers? The Impact of National Treasure on Archives, Freemasons, and Historic Sites."

If you haven't seen National Treasure, I highly recommend it. In fact, when the movie came out I organized a group outing to see the movie at a private screening in Washington, DC. We had a great time. The movie is fast and free-wheeling and lets archives (and archivists) shine on the silver screen.

Later tonight, I hope, I will recount the second block of the sessions from today and a recap of the reception at the Library of Morristown. However, I warn you, dear reader, there is a plan afoot to head out to another local establishment, the Famished Frog, to celebrate a colleague's birthday. And of course, there is the World Series to contend with.

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