Elections 2015

Results of the 2015 CMTRT Election

Jasmine Jones
Vice Chair / Chair-Elect

Biographical Statement
Jasmine Jones is the Metadata and Technical Services Archivist at Smith College Special Collections, where she is responsible for evolving and standardizing workflows and procedures related to collection management and digital reproduction, as well as planning for the implementation of a new collection management system at Special Collections. She previously held the position of Project Manager for the Los Angeles Aqueduct Digital Platform. Jasmine graduated in May 2013 with a dual-degree in Archives Management and History at Simmons College. She has previously served as Web Liaison of the Human Rights Archives Roundtable and Steering Committee Member for the Issues and Advocacy Roundtable; she currently serves as the chair of the Database Committee for the Displaced Archives Project.

Candidate's Interest
The Collection Management Tools Roundtable has seen, over the past year, a successful shift in its scope to be more inclusive of the diversity of collection management tools available to archival repositories and special collections. This success has manifested, in part, through the communal development of the CMTRT Documentation Portal. Over the past few years, I have had the opportunity to work with a variety of collection management tools--from Archivists' Toolkit, Archon, AtoM, and ArchivesSpace to homegrown tools, like InMagic and Filemaker Pro--and find this portal to be so useful, in seeing how different repositories use the tools and in thinking through how each tool could be leveraged to streamline collection management processes.

If elected, I would collaborate with the CMTRT officers and community to continue to facilitate engagement, discussion, and access to documentation related to collection management tools. I would also work with the CMTRT Chair and Steering Committee to enhance the portal to include other types of resources related to collection management tools, including those that are system agnostic. For example, with a variety of collection management tools, the CMTRT should also contribute and share resources that support the assessment of tools for repositories that are contemplating a move to a new CM tool or considering how to enhance usage of a current CM tool. These resources could include activities related to tool evaluation, developing functional and technical requirements, and engaging in usability studies. The CMTRT leadership has an important role to play in promoting the sharing of community-developed documentation and resources, which, I believe, will lead to more active discussions about how to effectively use and integrate CM tools throughout the collection management lifecycle.

Martha O'Hara Conway
Steering Committee

Biographical Statement
I am Director of the Special Collections Library at the University of Michigan. In this capacity I provide vision, leadership, strategic direction, and administrative oversight for the operations, services, programs, and resources of the Special Collections Library, which holds internationally renowned collections of books, manuscripts, and archival material. Notable collections and subject strengths include the papers of distinguished authors, poets, and filmmakers; Greek and Islamic manuscripts; American culinary history; anarchism, radicalism, and social protest; children’s literature; Philippine history; the early histories of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine; and transportation history. 

I worked previously for the Newberry Library and at the Yale University Library and the Library of Congress. I have a BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MILS from the University of Michigan. I am an active member of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and am currently serving as the RBMS-appointed co-chair of the SAA-ACRL/RBMS Joint Task Force on the Development of Standardized Holdings Counts and Measures for Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries.

Candidate's Interest
My interest in serving on the Collection Management Tools Roundtable Steering Committee is motivated by my desire to (1) play a more active role in SAA (2) contribute my knowledge and my experience (especially regarding archival collections assessment) to the work of the Collection Management Tools Roundtable and (3) engage with and learn from others who are as interested in archival collections management and the tools that support it as I am.

Daniel H. Weddington
Steering Committee

Biographical Statement
I am currently the Technology Coordinator for Special Collections & Archives at Berea College in Kentucky. I worked formerly as Digital Archivist for the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary and before that as a paraprofessional for Special Collections & Archives at Eastern Kentucky University. I hold an MLIS from the University of Kentucky and a B.A. in History from Eastern Kentucky University.

Candidate's Interest
I am very interested in getting involved in a leadership position with CMTRT. I have been heavily involved with content/collections management system work throughout my archives career, having helped coordinate the implementation of Archon at Eastern Kentucky University; coordinated Bepress implementation at the College of William & Mary as well as managed their DSpace instance; and now coordinating the implementation of ArchivesSpace at Berea College. I am also a current member of the Content Management Systems Interest Group for the Kentucky Council on Archives. I feel very strongly that a large part of our theoretical commitment to providing public access hinges on our practical ability to provide and manage information online. For this reason, I would love the opportunity to do my part to help the archives community better discover, understand, and use the various collection management tools at our disposal.

Caitlin Wells
Steering Committee

Biographical Statement
Caitlin Wells is the archivist for the Rio Grande Historical Collection at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she processes, describes, and provides access to the library’s collections related to southern New Mexico and the borderlands region. Her research interests include collection management and assessment, the experiences of new archivists, and primary source instruction for undergraduate history students. She has served as steering committee member for the Students and New Archives Professionals roundtable, and is currently serving as chair for that group. Originally from Iowa, she received her M.L.S. with a concentration in archives and records management and M.A. in history from the University of Maryland-College Park in 2013. In her free time she enjoys craft beer, historical mystery novels, and spoiling her pet greyhound.

Candidate's Interest
I am interested in serving on the steering committee for the Collection Management Tool Roundtable because I have a deep interest in the use of technology in collections management and how archivists use these tools to improve access to their collections. I support the roundtable’s mission of connecting archivists with information about these tools and how to make collection management systems work for their users. As archivists are increasingly adopting these programs for the first time, or are in the process of transitioning from one to another, the CMT roundtable will continue to serve as a valuable resource for information and support. 

I’ve worked with tracking and describing collections in both Past Perfect and a custom Microsoft Access system, and will serve as department liaison for our transition to ArchivesSpace this coming fall. Most of my work in collections management has focused on how to complete assessments and institute effective workflows when staff time and resources are at a premium. As someone who works in a smaller department, I’m interested in ensuring that the CMT roundtable functions as a forum for archivists to explore collections management tools and help determine which tools are right for their collections. Because there is no “one size fits all” solution to managing archival collections, the CMT roundtable is especially  important in providing a place for archivists to compare notes and systems.