Rhonda Lauritzen’s presentation, “Imposter Syndrome: Turn Insecurity into a Positive and Learn to Lean into the Unknown,” will help writers and family historians move past the fear of sharing their work. Drawing on ideas from Creative Insecurity and her own publishing experience, Rhonda reframes nervousness as creative energy, shows how sensitivity can become a storytelling strength, and offers practical encouragement to prepare, take action, and publish with more confidence.

How family historians can use the Internet Archive to preserve, organize, and share family history materials for long-term access by future generations.⁠

Chris Freeland is Director of Library Services at the Internet Archive where he advances the organization’s mission of providing universal access to knowledge. His work focuses on expanding access to knowledge, connecting people with library collections and the stories they contain, and advancing efforts to preserve our shared cultural record.

Before joining the Internet Archive, Chris served as an Associate University Librarian at Washington University in St. Louis, overseeing digital initiatives and related library services. He holds an M.S. in Biological Sciences from Eastern Illinois University and an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Missouri.

A frequent speaker and writer on libraries, technology, and digital preservation, Chris’s work explores how emerging technologies can help cultural heritage organizations increase access, preserve collections, and serve communities in new ways. Chris is a co-editor for the Vanishing Culture series and a co-host of the Future Knowledge podcast.

In this practical session, Aryn Youngless will help you organize your timeline and clarify the story you want to tell. Learn how to sort research, identify turning points, and shape scattered facts into a focused narrative path so your family history becomes easier to write, share, and preserve.

Lisa Maguire will help attendees see how microhistory can transform family history research into richer, more meaningful narrative writing. Her presentation will focus on placing ancestors within the wider context of their time, place, and community, so family historians can move beyond isolated facts and build stories that feel grounded, human, and historically connected.

Through this session, attendees will learn how small, local, and personal histories can open the door to bigger questions about identity, belonging, resilience, and change. Lisa’s approach will support writers who want to turn research notes, timelines, records, and family details into stories that readers can understand, remember, and care about.

Your family stories are part of the human record. In this session, Robin Stewart explores how family historians move from private research to public stewardship by writing with credibility, preserving with care, and making stories findable. Learn why ordinary lives matter to social history and how your work can become part of the Counter-Archive.