The American Association for State and Local History invites submissions by March 1, 2002, to its 2003 awards program, which was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history. The awards program recognizes exemplary work completed by state or federal historical societies, institutions, or agencies; regional, county, or local historical societies, institutions, or agencies; specialized subject societies in related fields such as oral history, genealogy, folklore, archaeology, business history, railroad history, and so on; privately owned museums or foundations; individuals and organizations outside the field of traditional historical agencies. Awards are given for general excellence, exhibits, public programming, special projects, and media or publications. Nominees need not be members of the AASLH. Details can be obtained from the association's web site, http://www.aaslh.org.

The association also announces its 2003 series of workshops, which are designed to meet the needs of entry-level and mid-career history professionals seeking to improve their skills. Organized in partnership with historical organizations and sites, the workshops will provide "hands-on" training to participants. Two workshops on interpretation issues and strategies and four on collection management and practices are planned to be held. Details about the workshops, deadlines, and application procedures can be obtained from http://www.aaslh.org.