A Special Presentation by Josh Harris, Kim Schmidt, and Abigail Bobrow
What happens when writers, archivists, and preservationists join forces? At the University of Illinois, this partnership transforms ordinary records into stories that bridge generations. Writers capture the immediacy of campus life through interviews, profiles, and features while archivists and preservationists safeguard context, accuracy, and continuity. Together, they ensure that today’s voices remain accessible tomorrow.
This session highlights how collaboration strengthens storytelling. We’ll explore how writers can draw from archival collections to enrich narratives, how archivists prepare today’s materials for future researchers, and how preservationists keep fragile or digital content from being lost. The conversation will emphasize strategies that balance creativity with stewardship, showing how each role supports the other.
Examples include using rare photographs to inspire and illustrate contemporary feature stories, capturing oral histories before memories fade, and creating digital repositories that meet both communications needs and scholarly standards. These efforts demonstrate how short-term storytelling can build long-term institutional memory.
By valuing both creativity and preservation, universities can ensure their stories endure. Attendees will leave with ideas for fostering partnerships that not only document the present but also preserve it for the future.
Josh Harris is the head of Media Preservation since its inception in 2011 within the University Library. Josh oversees the preservation of the library’s sound recordings, motion picture films, and videotapes through conservation, preservation, and digitization. Josh is also secretary-general for the Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association.
Kim Schmidt is the storytelling director in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, responsible for overseeing creative content produced for donors and friends. She is the founding editor of STORIED magazine. Kim received her master’s degree in journalism from Illinois in 2017.
Abigail Bobrow is the associate director of storytelling in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement. She is responsible for creating stories, videos, and photography for STORIED, a campus-level print magazine and website. Abigail also serves as the chair of the University of Illinois Web Conference, a two-day virtual event that brings together web professionals from around the world. Abigail received her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois in 2019.