The Reference, Access, and Outreach Section (RAO) of the Society of American Archivists is seeking two new co-chairs to lead the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Subcommittee.
The TPS Subcommittee advocates for the active and interactive use of primary sources in teaching and learning as a core component of archival work. The co-chairs work together with the RAO Steering Committee to plan and develop different programming opportunities throughout the year, such as the Article Discussion Club...
Thank you to all our excellent candidates for standing in the 2025-2026 SAA SNAP election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice. Ballots will be open June 25 - July 16!
You will be voting for:
Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (two-year term)
Secretary (one-year term)
Three Steering Committee Members (one-year term).
Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Candidate
The following candidate is running for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect...
Reference, Access and Outreach Section, 2022 Election Ballot
At-Large Steering Committee Nominees (2 positions):
Lauren White, CA
Job Title: Archivist
Institution: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
Bio statement:
Lauren White, CA, is an archivist at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and has previously held positions at the University of Michigan, University of Toledo, and Purdue University. She has a BA in English from the University of Southern Mississippi and an MSI from the...
2021 Election: Candidate Statements
Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2021 Reference, Access, and Outreach election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.
You will be voting for:
One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect for a two-year term
Two Steering Committee Members-at-Large for a two-year term
Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the...
The RAO Section is organizing a Community Call to encourage discussion and support among SAA members. The focus of this Community Call will be on how the RAO community has been doing reference and outreach during this time of varied work environments. We hope this call will allow members to share challenges and successes, whether you are working remotely, in a hybrid model, or fully back in the reading room.
Please join us on Tuesday, November 10 from 12:30pm – 2pm EST. Feel free to drop in...
RAO Election Results are in!
On behalf of the RAO Nominating Committee I would like to thank you to all the candidates who ran for leadership positions in the Reference, Access, and Outreach Section of SAA. And another thank you to all who voted in the election.
The successful candidates, and upcoming leaders in RAO are as follows:
Cinda Nofziger- Vice Chair/Chair Elect (2020-2021)
Greta Browning- Steering Committee Member (2020-2022)
Daria Labinsky- Steering Committee Member (2020-2022)...
We are pleased to present the candidates for the 2020-2021 RAO election ballot. We hope you will carefully review the candidate statements before voting.
Thanks to the nominations and election subcommittee and to our steering committee members who have finished their terms.
The following positions are up for election:
1 Vice Chair / Chair Elect (3 year term, serving 1 year each as vice chair, chair, and immediate past chair)
2 Member at Large positions on the Steering Committee (2 year term...
Did you pilot a creative, remote project during COVID-19?
As a part of the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists, the Reference, Access, & Outreach (RAO) section will host its 8th annual Marketplace of Ideas. The Marketplace of Ideas takes place in conjunction with the annual RAO business meeting, and offers participants a chance to learn more about creative instruction, outreach, and reference programs piloted by colleagues. This year, COVID-19 brought unexpected...
Are you looking to shape the future direction and activities of the Reference, Access, and Outreach Section? Put yourself forward for an elected RAO position!
The Nominating Committee seeks nominations from all current RAO members for these vacancies:
Two Steering Committee members, for two-year terms
One Vice-Chair / Chair Elect, for a three-year term. (The successful candidate will serve one year as Vice-Chair, one year as RAO Chair, and one year as Immediate Past Chair).
We value a...
Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2019 Reference, Access, and Outreach Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.
You will be voting for:
• One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (or Co-chair), for a three-year term (Successful candidate will serve one year as Vice-Chair, will automatically become the RAO Chair for the following year, and will serve one year as Immediate Past...
Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2024 User Experience Section Election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.
You will be voting for:
Vice Chair/Chair-Elect
Member-at-Large
Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens!
Candidates:
Vice Chair/Chair Elect:
Candidate Name and Role:
Theresa Berger, Head of Digital Library...
Thank you to all our excellent candidates for standing in the 2022 Congressional Papers Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.
You will be voting for:
One Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, for a two-year term; and
Three Steering Committee members
Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens.
Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect Candidates
The following...
The SAA Committee on Ethics and Professional Conduct (CEPC) seeks case studies engaging with the principles set forth in the current SAA Core Values and Code of Ethics, which was recently revised by the CEPC and approved by the SAA Council in August 2020. The goal is to develop a series of writings that address archival ethics in actionable, approachable language so that the resulting case studies can be used both as pedagogical tools and as practical resources in the workplace.
Suggested...
Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2025 Visual Materials Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.
You will be voting for:
One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (or Co-chair), for a three-year term; and
Two Steering Committee members (one three-year term, one two-year term).
Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot...
A group of "engineers, designers, business executives, and others" created and signed a pledge vowing not to create a database of individuals based on their religious beliefs. In doing so, the writers of the pledge acknowledge the role of technology in human rights abuses throughout history and vow to identify and advocate against the targeting of marginalized communities such as Muslims and immigrants.
The full pledge can be found at http://neveragain.tech/
Help shape the future of the Society of American Archivists' Students and New Professionals Section (SNAP)!
The SAA-SNAP Section provides educational outreach that furthers professional development, dialogue, and engagement. We host educational and networking webinars, and other events; oversee the development and dialogue on our SNAP blog; help raise awareness of SAA’s vast professional resources (career development webinars, resume reviews, mentoring, job and internship boards, etc.); and...
Thank you to all who considered participating as a candidate for standing in the 2024 Military Archives Section election. Please take some time to review the candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.You will be voting for:Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, for a two-year termSecretaryThe new Chair of the MARS Section will be Jeffrey Kozak, who was elected as the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect in 2024. Amy Mondt will continue to serve as the MARS Communications Liaison for the...
We would like to thank everyone who attended the annual meeting of the Technical Subcommittee on Encoded Archival Standards this past Tuesday. The presentation slides for the event are now available in the committee’s GitHub repository at https://github.com/SAA-SDT/TS-EAS-subteam-notes/blob/master/TS-EAS-Notes/2025/TS%20EAS%202025-07-22.pdf.
As mentioned, a follow-up community session on the ongoing standards revision process will be held on Thursday, August 14 at 12:30 PM ET. A link to...
By Meredith Torre, Archivist, Atlanta Housing Authority
The archival program at Atlanta Housing (AH) began October 2014. The AH Archives collects and preserves records of permanent and historical value dating back to the 1930's. These records document the history of public housing, the history of the United States' first federally funded public housing projects beginning in Atlanta, and the innovative role AH played in shaping public housing policy and history
To find out more, check out the...
New BAS Education Chair Jennifer Johnson discusses her plans for next year.
The 2017 SAA Business Archives Section (BAS) Annual Business Meeting took place on Friday, July 28, 2017, at the Oregon Convention Center, with about 90 attendees.
Among the highlights:
-Outgoing Chair Jamie Martin (IBM) announced the BAS election results and introduced the new steering committee members: Incoming Vice Chair/Chair Elect Greg McCoy (Procter & Gamble), Incoming Vice Editor...
The Technical Subcommittee for Encoded Archival Description (TS-EAD) and the Schema Development Team welcome comments on the beta release of the revised EAD schema.
The beta release is a completely re-written Relax NG schema. A W3C schema version is also available for testing. This version addresses most of the feedback received during the alpha comment period. A few unresolved issues remain, all of which can be reviewed on the project's GitHub repository issue tracker.
The schema versions...
The members of the Technical Subcommittee on Archival Facilities Guidelines seek public comment on its proposed revisions to the Archival and Special Collections Facilities Standards.
Last published in 2009, the committee has worked diligently over the last several years - navigating numerous unforeseen circumstances - to update and revise the entire standard. This has been a mammoth undertaking, and we're excited to finally share the draft for public review!
Here are a few highlights of our...
The Technical Subcommittee for Encoded Archival Description (TS-EAD) issued a call for comments on the revision of EAD 2002 in October 2010. The comment period ended on February 28, 2011.
One hundred and twenty-seven comments were received. The submissions received during the comment period have been compiled into a spreadsheet and made available through the SAA standards portal EAD Revision page.
Backcountry parkas and prototypes from the 1970s are some of the earliest examples of GORE-TEX fabrics garments in the Gore Archives collection.
By Alyce Graham Stiles, Heritage Communications/Archives
The world’s premier collection of GORE-TEX garments lives in a climate-controlled room with an FM-200 fire suppression system at a W. L. Gore & Associates facility in Newark, Delaware. It’s an archives storage space converted from what had been an...
