Candidate Statements for 2017-2019 Co-Chair

Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

Nikki Thomas

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

I am currently the Archivist for Collection Management at UNC Charlotte where I manage and supervise accessioning, arrangement, description, and preservation functions for University Archives and manuscripts, including establishment of policies, procedures, workflows and guidelines. Previously, I was Manuscripts Curator at UT San Antonio, where I managed the university’s manuscript collections from acquisition and arrangement to reference, outreach and digitization. I have an MSIS from UT Austin with an emphasis on archives and a BA in anthropology and women’s studies.

As an archivist, I have been active in documenting underdocumented communities, especially racial and sexuality/gender minority groups and communities. At UTSA I worked to grow the university’s LGBTQ+ collections, particularly by using web archiving. At UNC Charlotte I have been involved in the collecting and outreach activities of the King-Henry-Brockington Community Archives, which is a joint collecting effort between the Library and the Multicultural Resource Center to document Charlotte’s queer community.

On a rather personal note, LAGAR was the first roundtable I attended at my first SAA meeting. I immediately felt welcome and included. I have recently been presenting and giving talks on queer collecting and the challenges inherent in that work. I look forward to working with the growing constituency that LAGAS serves, whether it be LGBTQ+ archivists or those collecting LGBTQ+ materials.

Sharon Wolff

My name is Sharon Wolff, I am a cis-female aromantic asexual from New York State. I have held an MSIS with a concentration in archives and record administration from the University at Albany, State University of New York since May of 2016. While studying there I worked for the M.E. Grenander Special Collections & Archives Department on campus as a graduate student assistant. Most recently I have completed concurrent internships at the Museum of Modern Art and the Lesbian Herstory Archives in New York City.

As a beginning professional I am looking to get more involved in the archive world, and to learn and exercise skills that will serve me well in this career field.  In my opinion, I would make a good co-chair due to my archival studies and my interest in LGBTQIA issues. I have excellent organizational skills and a good ability to express myself in both written and spoken word. Recently I was a part of the renaming committee for this section and, while it was a challenging task, I greatly enjoyed the chance to engage in discussion with other members of the community. As a co-chair I would concentrate on the efforts of current and upcoming projects within the section and work to address the needs of every member of the community, be it the LGBTQIA or archival one.