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Thank you to all of our wonderful candidates for volunteering to run for open SAA Collection Management Section positions.
You will be voting for:
Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens!
Alexis Peregoy
Director of the Coit Museum of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
University of Arizona
I am excited to run as vice-chair/ chair for the Collection Management Section, as my work has always revolved around collection management activities in a variety of institutions. Collection managers face multiple challenges in their day-to-day work, and I believe the Section can help shape and guide innovative collection management practices and be a leading hub of information for the community. Topics of interest include the promotion and implementation of best practices and standards, efficient solutions for addressing backlogs, and the integration of collection management tools. During my tenure at the Center for Creative Photography, I implemented ArchivesSpace, Aviary, and AirTable to manage acquisitions and processing work for the archival and oral history collections. I’ve also worked with multiple collection and project management tools, including Archon, PastPerfect, TMS, Luna, Piction, and Trello. In recent years, I adopted extensible processing approaches to manage backlogs, and have worked towards enhanced description practices, including the adoption of EAC-CPF for agent records.
Alexis Peregoy has been working in archives, libraries, and museums since 2010. As an undergraduate, Alexis focused on art history and visual materials. In 2014, she received her Master of Science in Information degree from the University of Michigan, and later received a Museum Studies graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University. She is also a Certified Archivist and Digital Archives Specialist certificate holder. Currently, Alexis serves as the Director of the Coit Museum of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at the University of Arizona. Previously, she worked at the Center for Creative Photography, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Michigan, and the Toledo Museum of Art. Alexis is currently the immediate past chair for the SAA Visual Materials section, and has served in various capacities for the Society of Southwest Archivists, including an executive board member and secretary.
DiAnna Hemsath
Archivist, Assistant Professor
Robert S. Wigton Department of Special Collections and Archives
McGoogan Health Sciences Library
University of Nebraska Medical Center
It would be an honor to serve as a steering committee member of the Society of American Archivists Collections Management Section. In my four years as the archivist in the Robert S. Wigton Department of Special Collections and Archives at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Leon S. McGoogan Health Sciences Library, I have executed many foundation-laying and cleanup projects, including overseeing the packing and moving of collections for a renovation, establishing intellectual control over collections, creating processing procedures, and writing a user guide for ArchivesSpace. Currently, I am conducting an inventory of the oversized archives collection, as well as creating and expanding resource records in ArchivesSpace. With my diverse project experience, I believe I can offer a broad perspective to the steering committee, and look forward to learning, sharing, and growing with fellow members of the section.
DiAnna Hemsath is the Archivist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s McGoogan Health Sciences Library. Before joining the library in 2018, she served as Curator and Collections Manager of the Kruger Collection at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and as a Technical Services Archivist at the University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records Center. As a Certified Archivist and Digital Archives Specialist, she is an active member of the Society of American Archivists, the Academy of Certified Archivists, and the Midwest Archives Conference. Additionally, she holds an MA in Museum Studies. She has been involved in SAA as a presenter, a member of section committees, and as the 2022-2023 chair of SAA’s Privacy and Confidentiality Section.
Jonathan Kirkwood
Archivist
Sloan Museum of Discovery, Flint, Michigan
I am currently serving as Archivist at Sloan Museum of Discovery in Flint, Michigan where I preserve and promote the rich automotive, cultural, and economic history of Flint and Genesee County. More than that, I have worked to raise the profile of the Sloan Archives with more than the communities it has traditionally served. Collection growth and management have focused on marginalized communities to preserve their heritages and histories be they African Americans, Native Americans, or of the LGBTQA+ community. It has focused on fair housing advocacy, organized labor, and the effects of industrialization and infrastructure, economic inequality, and exploitation and racism in urban renewal.
With this work in mind, and all that prior to curating the Sloan Archives, I intend to work toward assisting archivists within and without SAA develop and compare collection management practices, providing them the opportunities to share experience and knowledge, and build relations among one another for the benefit of the archival profession. The more expertise and knowledge shared, the stronger our profession becomes and the more historical records we as archivists uncover, describe, and preserve not only for future use but to also give voices to those who may be otherwise forgotten or misremembered.
I have had the pleasure of working in archives, libraries, and museums for over 14 years, both large and small and publicly and privately funded. Duties have involved reference, cataloging, digitization, archival processing, digital archiving, strategic planning, developing workflows, moving collections to make them more accessible, diverse, equitable, and inclusive for the needs of all users. I hold an MA in Public History from Western Michigan University (2013) and an MLIS in Archives and Digital Content Management from Wayne State University (2021). My education and experience have allowed me to grow into a knowledgeable archivist capable of managing both substantial and growing collections. No matter the challenges set before me I have enjoyed the work of the archival profession and plan on continuing it for many years to come.
Kari May
Digital Archives & Preservation Librarian
University of Pittsburgh
During my growth as a professional, the challenges of collection management have consistently expanded and take on greater and greater need for creative solutions supported by limited resources. A situation that is all too common in archival work. I feel the mission and goals of the SAA Collection Management Section (CM Section) speak directly to this need. I stepped into the archival world at the Kentucky State Archives in 2007 and now lead the digital archives for the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS). I began working with physical materials, moved into electronic records management, and quickly into digital preservation. I have served as a member of planning committees and proposal reviewer for both the Digital Library Federation and National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) conferences. I chaired the Electronic Records Working Group at the Kentucky State Archives, am a previous co-chair of the ULS Planning and Budget Committee, and currently serve as co-chair of the NDSA Excellence Awards Working Group. I believe that I can utilize the range of my experiences to offer the CM Section a broad perspective on ideas and methods for bringing together archivists facing varied collection management challenges and encouraging discussions and the exchange of expertise. I would be delighted to be selected as a member of this group.
Kari May is the first Digital Archives & Preservation Librarian for the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS). She designed and implemented the ULS digital preservation program and continues to lead and develop strategies, workflows, documentation, and policies to safely guide digital assets from receipt to full, secure preservation. Previously, Kari led the development and operation of Kentucky State Government Electronic Records Management Branch. In this role she successfully completed an NHPRC grant supporting the design and development of the Kentucky State Digital Archives including the launch of online access to these records in 2017. She has served as a member of the NDSA Excellence Awards Working Group and currently serves as a Co-Chair. She also represented the group as a judge for the Digital Preservation Coalition’s 2022 Digital Preservation Awards.