Sarah Buchanan, Candidate for Council

Our current environments require responsive and flexible "processing" of new information and an ability to contribute necessary feedback in a way that advances our mission. I personally collect feedback by making time and space for students to approach me with questions and conversation.

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

Sarah Buchanan is an archival educator at the University of Missouri and an archivist with the Venus Pompeiana Project, and previously with the Program in Aegean Scripts and Prehistory (PASP - Texas) and the Neon Museum. In the latter capacity she served on the SAA Program Committee for the 76th (2012) Annual Meeting in San Diego, California. In her current role, Sarah serves as the founding faculty advisor for an active SAA student chapter (SAAMUSC), and has mentored students and new archives professionals working in state, academic, and corporate archives. She developed and has continuously taught courses in the archival studies emphasis of the MLIS program for ten years. Sarah has advised 3 Public Broadcasting Preservation Fellows and several MLIS student contributors in digitizing together the sound recordings of KOPN Community Radio (Columbia, Missouri). Since its 2023 start, Sarah participates in Provenance Connect, where global members gather for sharing insights about provenance research. Sarah is currently a steering committee member of the SAA Archival Educators Section and membership coordinator of the Missouri Association for Museums and Archives. She has served SAA in the Committee on Research, Data, and Assessment (2019-2024), its predecessor Task Force for Research/Data and Evaluation (2017-2018), the Committee on Education (2015-18), and the EAD3 Study Group on Discovery and Data Quality (2015-16). Her research interests include provenance research methods, data storytelling with archives, and preservation of audiovisual collections, and her earlier work includes "School Archives in Action" (2011 SAA Research Forum) and "Night Lights" (2013 Museum Archivist newsletter). For her archival education Sarah attended UCLA and The University of Texas at Austin. While at UCLA she co-launched the Bruin Archives Project to enhance acquisition of student and campus life records, and she co-presented a related graduate student poster at the 2009 SAA Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.

QUESTIONS POSED BY NOMINATING COMMITTEE

1. When certain voices tend to dominate conversations, what steps do you take to ensure that everyone feels comfortable contributing their thoughts and ideas?

CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE

One of the pedagogical approaches I employ in my teaching is mutual respect among all participants in a shared activity. True recognition and empowerment of each participant's distinct area(s) of expertise is not only a guiding principle for me but also a valuable aspect of shared governance, such that all members can then contribute to an overall shared pursuit. An important step in achieving shared governance, such as I experienced when serving as the Faculty Representative from MU Voz Latina to the Faculty Council (2020-2024), is active participation. Our current environments require responsive and flexible "processing" of new information and an ability to contribute necessary feedback in a way that advances our mission. I personally collect feedback by making time and space for students to approach me with questions and conversation, before and after class, and I foster an appreciation for community wisdom and collegiality when there are specific issues best addressed by an expert. I have been able to make important connections with my students over the past ten years as an instructor and collaborator by respecting implicit obligations and valuing my colleagues' time and labor. A few example steps I take to ensure a comfortable environment include ethical timekeeping when serving as a session moderator of my (ALISE) SIG for Archival / Preservation Education, encouraging new students to step into officer positions in my home SAA student chapter and engage in lifelong learning, mentoring two Emerging Archival Scholars through IRB and subsequent presentations and publications of their research, and striving towards cohesion, patience, candor, and curiosity especially in leadership spaces.

2. How would you help SAA remain relevant and a leader for the profession? Outline specific goals or initiatives you would prioritize in your term.

CANDIDATE'S RESPONSE

Many of us have seen transformative leadership happen at all levels, both inside and outside of formal leadership positions. My experience co-editing Leading Professional Development (2020), introduced me to a variety of successful strategies available to organizations and their leaders to advance key priorities and welcome new ideas. There is a valuable role e.g., for face-to-face encounters and human connection both to build bonds and public visibility, and to calibrate our personal thoughts and emotions with real-world observations. The recently formed group to "develop recommendations for the SAA Annual Meeting beyond 2030" is therefore a vital opportunity to assess the mechanisms, modalities, and metrics for successful future meetings and membership engagement, and I would prioritize their efforts. The 2025 Annual Meeting also highlighted 20 years of development and implementation of the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials (PNAAM) and the Protocols' impacts on archival practices ranging from reciprocal education and training - exemplified by the ongoing Indigenizing Archival Training project - and relationship-building, to consultation and concurrence regarding access and use of culturally sensitive materials. I would prioritize Council's continuing support of this and related efforts to broaden uptake across the profession of archivist-authored and culturally-responsive archival practices, especially around provenance research, reparative description, donor relations, and environmental impact reductions and their alignments with the 17 world Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the U.N. in 2015. Open-mindedness and accessibility are essential for Council members as they communicate with peers, liaise with Section and Committee leaders, and position SAA for ever-greater financial wellbeing through strategic investments into archival standards development and maintenance, student scholarships, and career services to ensure retention of new and mid-career archives professionals.

2026 ELECTION HOME