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We have one candidate for EAD Roundtable Co-Chair this year and three candidates for one Steering Committee Member position. Please read the following candidate statements and don't forget to cast your votes once the electronic ballots go out!
Ruth Kitchin TillmanMetadata Librarian, NASA Goddard Library (Cadence Group)
Education and Experience: Ruth Kitchin Tillman earned her MLS with a focus in archives from the University of Maryland in December 2013. She has just begun a position as the Metadata Librarian at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Last spring, Ruth released EADiva.com, a whimsically-named but serious and user-oriented plain-language rewrite of the EAD 2002 tag library, incorporating full DACS references. The project was aimed at archives students and less technically-experienced professionals, though it also serves as a reference tool for many experienced encoders. It has been recommended by journal articles and both recommended and used in EAD training courses. She is currently working on creating a new version of the site for EAD3 and has assisted the official EAD3 tag library team by proofreading drafts for technical errors. She has made initial outlines to create teaching tools for archives students, focusing on the purpose of the elements and how the encoding fulfills it.
Statement of interest: Since releasing EADiva.com, I’ve looked for more ways to become a part of the broader EAD community. With the release of EAD3, I see a myriad of opportunities for education and collaboration and, as EAD Roundtable co-chair, I would work to facilitate fruitful events and discussions on transformation and implementation. As the new standard intentionally coincides with EAC-CPF, I would seek out opportunities for education and experimentation on using the two more fully together, such as seminars and hackathons. And, finally, I would look into ways to help archives students and those left out of the technological loop become familiar with the standard. I am excited about the potential that this year holds for the schema and would be honored to serve as EAD Roundtable co-chair during it.
Elizabeth DunhamAssistant Archivist for Collections and Records Management, Arizona State University
Education and Experience:
Education:Statement of interest: I would like to serve on the EAD Roundtable’s Steering Committee in order to apply my extensive experience with EAD and collaborative projects to facilitating cooperation among archivists and creating resources that will benefit us all. National collaboration is critical to sharing experience and expertise and will only become more important as we implement standards like EAD3 that none of us have used before. The EAD Roundtable is in an excellent position to facilitate this cooperation and thus to help us “learn together” during a time of major changes to familiar standards. If I am permitted to serve on the Steering Committee, it will be my honor and pleasure to put my experience, enthusiasm, and organizational skills to work toward meeting our collective needs.
Monish SinghAssistant Librarian - Digital Content Services, Marist College
Education and Experience: Monish Singh is Assistant Librarian for Digital Content Services at Marist College. Currently for Marist Archives, he oversees the conversion of finding aids to EAD and trains student assistants on the use of EAD. He is also responsible for the user interface and discovery of EAD finding aids by various federated search engines. He holds a MSc in Information Systems and BE in Computer Science. He is a member of Society of American Archivist and Project Management Institute.
Statement of interest: The true strength of EAD lies in its flexibility. It makes EAD responsive to an Archives' varying needs and allows us to showcase the uniqueness of each collection. With the release of EAD 3.0, we have an opportunity to unleash the true potential of EAD and realize the vision of a de facto standard that promotes collaboration, access and interoperability. As a Steering committee member I will focus to increase collaboration among Archivists to lower the technical barriers to EAD adoption. To that effect, I will work closely with all stakeholders to develop infrastructures that aid EAD creation and develop solutions that incentives its use. I look forward to the opportunity to work with members of EAD Roundtable and the Archives community to achieve these goals.
Claudia ThompsonManager of Arrangement & Description, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
Education and Experience: Professional History: Manager of Arrangement & Description, 1997-current (Archivist, University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, July 2011-current; Associate Archivist, University of Wyoming, American Heritage Center, 2001-June 2011) Education: M.A. in Librarianship, University of Denver, with specialty in archives and historical manuscripts, 1978 B.A. from Metropolitan State College, Denver, major in history, 1977 Professional Service: Performing Arts Roundtable, Society of American Archivists, Co-chair, 2010-2012 DACS Technical Subcommittee of the SAA Standards Committee, 2010-2013 Journal of Western Archives Editorial Board, 2009-2013 Society of American Archivists, Description Section, Steering Committee, 2005-2010 Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists Board, treasurer, 2005-2009
Statement of interest: It's an exciting time to be an archival processor! The strait jacket of the one true way has been discarded, and now paths are open in every direction. The value of standards is to help us find our way without choking off innovation. I served on the TS-DACS subcommittee helping to rewrite DACS with these values in mind. I believe the EAD Roundtable is working with similar issues. EAD must support consistency but not impose conformity. Different kinds of experiences must be brought to the table to ensure that all good ideas, and lots of bad ones, too, are heard. I want to be part of that conversation.