A free ATAP training session will be held in Room Essex C at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront hotel on Thursday, November 20, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to introduce area archivists, dramaturgs, and scholars to the process through which theatre companies establish an archival program — the ATAP Initiation Program. A diverse group of archivists, librarians, teachers, students, and theatre professionals is expected to attend. The workshop is being conducted in conjunction with the American Society for Theatre Research/Theatre Library Association’s annual conference, “What Performs?,” in Baltimore from November 20-November 22, 2014. Training session participants will also have the opportunity to attend a conference panel discussion with Baltimore theatre administrators and artists, and are invited to the opening conference reception. Learn more about ATAP and this special opportunity by visiting americantheatrearchiveproject.org and/or contacting communications {at} americantheatrearchiveproject {dot} org.
ATAP is a network of archivists, dramaturgs, and scholars dedicated to preserving the legacy of the American theatre operating under an initiative of the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR). Through the ATAP process, location-based teams help individual theatre companies evaluate their records, develop an archiving plan, and secure funding to support long-term archive health. Once created and made accessible to theatre makers, scholars, patrons, and funders on premises online, and/or in a repository, a theatre’s archives support institutional integrity and development. ATAP currently has active teams throughout the United States, and training sessions for team members have been conducted in Austin, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Portland.