2018 Candidates for Description Section Steering Committee

We have three candidates for our three open positions. Cyndi Shein of University of Nevada, Las Vegas is up for Vice Chair/Chair-Elect. Sarah Jones also of University of Nevada, Las Vegas is up for Secretary. Katy Rawdon of Temple University is up for Member-at-Large. Please read below for candidate biographies and statements of interest.

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect

Biography:

Cyndi Shein is the Head of Special Collections and Archives Technical Services at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries, where she leads efforts to ensure the preservation, discoverability, and accessibility of archival materials. She previously held positions at the Getty Institutional Archives; the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Libraries Special Collections and Archives; the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Libraries; and the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum Library and Archives. She earned a BA in English from Westmont College (Santa Barbara) and an MLIS from San José State University. She earned SAA's Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certification in 2013. She served on the SAA-ACRL/RBMS Joint Task Force on the Development of Standardized Holdings Counts and Measures for Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries (2014-2017) and served as Secretary of SAA's Description Section (2016-2018). Cyndi is an advisor on the OCLC Demystifying Born Digital Expert Advisory Group; a member of the Archives Leadership Institute 2016 cohort; and a peer reviewer for the Journal of Western Archives.

Statement of Interest:

I am interested in strengthening the Description Section's impact across the archives and records profession. If elected Vice Chair for 2018/2019, I would fully support the incoming Chair's agenda and the Section's continued efforts to provide a forum for discussions relevant to descriptive theory and practice. As Chair for 2019/2020 I would work with the Descriptive Section leadership and our Council Liaison to develop Section objectives that align with SAA's agenda for that year.

Secretary

Biography:

I am currently the Visiting Special Collections Technical Services Librarian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and have a MLIS specializing in Archival Studies (UCLA 2017) and BA in History (UCLA 2012). My previous positions include working as a processing archivist at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, creating online visual resources using CSU Northridge's Special Collections, and most recently as the project manager for a large-scale digitization project for UNLV Digital Collections.

Statement of interest:

As an emerging professional, I would be delighted to serve as secretary to better acquaint myself with other professionals and gain experience serving a national organization. I see this as an opportunity to not only gain professional experience but also personally contribute to the growth and future success of the profession. I am excited to share my unique perspective and ideas with fellow archivists!

Member-at-Large

Biography: 

 
Katy Rawdon is the Coordinator of Technical Services in the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Her responsibilities at Temple include coordinating and creating procedures and policies for archival processing, accessioning, access tool creation, rare book cataloging, preservation, and collections management. She has worked previously at the Barnes Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the American College of Physicians, and the Beinecke Library at Yale University. She received her BA from Smith College and MLS from Simmons College. She is a former Chair of the SAA Museum Archives Section, recent Treasurer for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, former member of the SAA-ACRL/RBMS Joint Task Force on the Development of Standardized Holdings Counts and Measures for Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries, and a current member of the Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia (A4BLiP) Racism Audit Metadata/Practice working group.

Statement of interest:
As a longtime member of the Description Section, and as someone whose career has been primarily dedicated to archival processing and description, I would very much appreciate the opportunity to join the Description Section Steering Committee as a Member-At-Large. I believe that archival description affects in a fundamental way the ability of our patrons to make use of our collections in a productive way. The section is an ideal place for archivists to learn from each other, share ideas, and give and receive assistance and guidance from their colleagues. The section also plays a crucial role in supporting the standards for description, standards being more and more crucial in an online discovery environment and with the increasing interest in linked data for archives. I also have a particular interest in archivists working with catalogers of books and other materials for the betterment of descriptive metadata across collections, and I have always appreciated the way in which the Description Section includes reports from adjacent groups such as RBMS, OCLC, MLA, and others. As a member of the Steering Committee I would enjoy facilitating this continuing conversation and assisting in the work of the section.

Home | Annual Reports | Standing Rules | Description Expo | Descriptive Notes | Minutes | Reports & Presentations | Section Leadership