CHICAGO — Congratulations to the 20 new Digital Archives Specialists (DAS)!  These archivists, who represent a variety of repositories around the country, earned a DAS Certificate from the Society of American Archivists (SAA) after completing required coursework within twenty-four months and passing a comprehensive examination in November 2018.

The innovative DAS Curriculum, developed by experts in the field of digital archives, is structured around seven core competencies: understanding the nature of records in electronic form; defining for a variety of audiences the requirements, roles, and responsibilities related to digital archives; formulating strategies and tactics for appraisal, description, management, organization, and preservation; integrating technology to provide access to digital collections; planning for the integration of new tools for successive generations of technology; curating, storing, and retrieving original masters and access copies of digital archives; and providing dependable organization and service to designated communities across networks. Participants complete nine required courses from four tiers addressing these competencies.

The new Digital Archives Specialists are: Gabrielle Barr, Northwestern University; Sara Bornstein, Alaska State Library; Jena Cochrane, National Archives at College Park; Ryan Evans, Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art; Brian Fors, The History Writers; Patricia Goodall; Brooke Hinrichs, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses; John Kearney, Boston College; Gurudarshan Khalsa, Stanford University; Garfield Lam, University of Hong Kong; Christina Luers, The College of William and Mary; Kate Morris, James Madison University; Thomas Mullusky, Thomas Edison State University; Emily Reed, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; Nicholas Ringgard, Worcester Records Center; Jeannine Roe, Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Michelle Smith, Colgate University; April Sparks, Montana Historical Society;  Karen Tickner, National Archives and Records Administration; and Anneliese Warhank, Montana Historical Society.

A total of 415 people have earned Digital Archives Specialist certificates since the program began in 2011. For more information, visit www2.archivists.org/prof-education/das or contact SAA Education (education@archivists.org).