Kris Kiesling, Candidate for Council

Professional Experience: Elmer L. Andersen Director of Archives and Special Collections, University of Minnesota, 2005–present. Associate Director for Digital and Technical Services, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, 2004–2005. Coordinator, Technical and Digital Services, Ransom Center, 2001–2003. Visiting Associate, Research Libraries Group, 1996 (six months). Head, Department of Manuscripts and Archives, Ransom Center, 1990–2003. 

Education: MLIS, University of Michigan, 1988. BS, History, North Dakota State University, 1978.

Professional Activities: Society of American Archivists: Technical Subcommittee on EAD, member, 2011–present; Encoded Archival Description Working Group, chair, 1995–2009, member 2009–2011; Committee on Education, 2003–2009, co-chair, 2005–2007; 2002 Annual Meeting Program Committee co-chair; Elected an SAA Fellow, 2000; Standards Committee, member, 1998–2002, chair, 1999–2001; Committee on Archival Information Exchange, member 1994–1998, chair 1996–1998. Minnesota Historical Records Advisory Committee: member, 2009–2012. Minnesota State Historical Records Advisory Board: member, 2007–2012. Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (American Library Association): 2008 Preconference Program Committee, chair, 2006–2008; Task Force on Core Competencies, 2005–2008. ALA/SAA Joint Committee on Library-Archives Relationships: member, 1998–2002, co-chair, 2000–2001. Journal of Archival Organization: editorial board, 2001–present.

Workshops: Introduction to EAD, 1996–2014. Style Sheets for EAD, 2002–2012. Archival Cataloging as a Component of Description, 1996–1998. Archival Cataloging in RLIN, 1991–1994.

Publications: Describing Archives: A Content Standard, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2004 (co-author and editor). EAD Tag Library Version 2002, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2002 (co-author and editor). EAD Application Guidelines Version 1.0, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1999 (co-author of Chapter 3 and co-editor). EAD Tag Library Version 1.0, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1998 (co-author). “The Influence of American and European Practices on the Evolution of EAD,”  Encoding Across Frontiers: Proceedings of the European Conference on Encoded Archival Description and Context (EAD and EAC), Paris, France, 7–8 October 2004, Bill Stockting and Fabienne Queyroux, eds., New York: The Haworth Information Press, 2005 (also appeared in Journal of Archival Organization, vol. 3, #2–3, pp. 207–215, 2005). “EAD as an Archival Descriptive Standard,” The American Archivist, vol. 60, #3, Summer 1997. “Mass Deacidification of Archives and Manuscript Collections,” with James Grant Stroud, Advances in Preservation and Access, Barbra Buckner Higginbotham, ed., vol. 2, Medford, NJ: Learned Information, Inc., 1995.

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Question posed by the Nominating Committee: How would you utilize your skills and experience to help make SAA thrive in an environment that expects more communication, collaboration, and demonstrated action?

We are in precisely this same environment at the University of Minnesota. We often feel pulled in many different directions, taking on new initiatives with new partners, growing new skill sets and services while trying to maintain existing ones. The challenge is managing change and making sure that everyone is moving forward in the same direction, at the same time. Communication is essential in that process. It is not possible to over-communicate.

Individuals and organizations cannot operate in isolation. Collaboration is about bringing together individuals or organizations with different skill sets to accomplish a common goal. As a profession, archivists have taken a leadership role in digitization and electronic records. But we have, of necessity, collaborated with a wide spectrum of other professionals in this area, including technologists, historians, and librarians. We have established strong working relationships with the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the American Library Association, forming new task forces to address perplexing questions such as how to accurately count archival holdings and how to standardize public services metrics. So collaboration is not a new idea for SAA, but there are undoubtedly areas around which new collaborations can be established. I personally have been a member of several successful collaborations, primarily around the development of EAD and DACS.

Taking action is very important for an organization like SAA, but first it is important to make sure all relevant facts are known before action is taken. That doesn't mean we can't be agile in this respect, but due consideration is often a necessary first step.

Communication, collaboration, and demonstrated action can't be the responsibility of SAA leadership and staff alone; they must also be practiced by the membership. I am proud to be part of an organization that embraces the concepts!

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