DRS Election 2022 Candidate Statements

Thank you to all our candidates for standing in the 2022 Design Records Section election! Members, please review their candidate statements below so that you can make an informed choice.

You will be voting for:

• Junior Co-Chair

• Steering Committee member

• Steering Committee member

We are also voting on making the Digital Design Records Task Force (DDRFT) a sub-committee under the Design Records Section, as detailed below. 

The election will be managed by SAA staff; please keep an eye on your inbox for voting information! 

Junior Co-Chair Candidate:

The following candidates are running for the Junior Co-chair position:

Katie Twomey, Archivist, The Portman Archives

 Bio & Candidate Statement:

I recently finished my Master’s degree in Historic Preservation and have worked at The Portman Archives for the past 5 years in Atlanta, GA. I specifically handle the digitization and record creation for architect/developer John C. Portman, Jr.’s  architectural drawings – both physical and electronic. In the past I have served on my State’s Archival Association as the Outreach co-chair and Manager.  Prior to working at my current position I served as an Environmental Review Historian for Georgia’s State Historic Preservation Office. I look forward to learning and growing in this field and hope that I can contribute to a positive experience for all who take part in the Design Records Section.

Steering Committee Member Candidates:

The following candidates are running for the section steering committee:

Kristin Bjork, Architectural Records Project Processing Archivist, Harvard University Property Information Resource Center (PIRC)

Bio & Candidate Statement:

I am an archivist with over 15 years of experience working with many types of materials including three-dimensional museum objects, photographic collections, design records, oversized visual materials and more traditional library and archival collections, both analog and digital. In my current role, I appraise and process architectural records that are created as a result of construction projects at Harvard University. 

I have been working with design records for most of my career, and I have experience with a wide range of tasks including collections management, reference, paper conservation, collections management software implementation, data migration, digitization projects, and records management. Prior to joining the PIRC, I worked at Harvard’s Peabody Museum in both archival and collections management roles. 

I have a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons University along with a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies from Harvard Extension School.  I would love the opportunity to become more active in the Design Records Section as a Steering Committee Member.

Jade Snelling, Collections Archivist, Virginia Tech

Bio & Candidate Statement:

I am Collections Archivist for the International Archive of Women in Architecture at Virginia Tech. I work with architectural and other design-related records, from accessioning to fully processing incoming materials, that document the contributions of women to the built environment. I’ve worked with donors, researchers, fellow archivists, and faculty to acquire new and improve access to our existing collections. 

I completed the SAA DAS certification in 2018 and am also a certified archivist. Before moving into my current role in the summer of 2020, I worked on mass digitization projects (exclusively of architectural records), so I have extensive experience in material handling, metadata creation, and in digitization equipment, standards, and workflows. Before starting at Virginia Tech in spring of 2017, I worked as a graduate research assistant at the Alexander Architectural Archives while earning my M.S. from the University of Texas at Austin. As I continue to gain knowledge and experience, I’m looking to serve this professional community - both to share knowledge and learn from others in this section and beyond.

Standing Rules Revision: Transitioning DDRFT to Digital Design Records Committee

The leaders of the Design Records Section are proposing updates to the Standing Rules that will be added as a section member referendum on the annual ballot this summer. This change reflects the transition of the Digital Design Records Task Force (DDRFT) to the Digital Design Records Committee.  Please review the proposed changes to section "XIII. Appointments and Committees" here: 2022 Proposed Standing Rules Revision