The Metadata and Digital Object Section (MDOS) is holding a special election to fill the following vacancies on the Steering Committee:
- Steering Committee Co-Chair, Two-year commitment. Serves the first year as Junior Co-Chair and the following year as Senior Co-Chair with the option for a third year of service as a Member of the Steering Committee. The MDOS Steering Committee Co-Chair assists in the operation of the Section, serves as acting chair in the absence of a Co-Chair, and participates as a Member of the Steering Committee. The Co-Chair directs and reports the activities of the Section, organizes and runs the annual meeting, leads the Steering Committee, and handles administrative duties, including, but not limited to, submitting the Section's annual report and serving as the Section's liaison to SAA and Council.
- Steering Committee Member, Three-year commitment. MDOS Steering Committee Members attend and actively contribute to regular Steering Committee meetings, help set goals and priorities for the Section, and develop and/or solicit proposals for the Section's session at the SAA Annual Meeting.
- Education Coordinator, Three-year commitment. The MDOS Education Coordinator is a Member of the Steering Committee who arranges informal and plans educational opportunities and experiences, such as informal online gatherings for Section members and events at the SAA Annual Meeting.
- Web Liaison, Three-year commitment. The MDOS Web Liaison manages the Section's microsite and Google Drive space in collaboration with other Members of the Steering Committee. Meet the nominees below before casting your vote!
Steering Committee Co-Chair Nominations
Wilkinson, Elizabeth
Statement
As an archivist who accessions and process collections, creates metadata, and provides reference services, I have seen how critical it is to provide the best description to our special collections resources that we can. The better the description, the better the access and discovery will be, and the more valuable and essential we are to our patrons. I am enthusiastic about the prospect of serving the MDOS section as a Steering Committee co-chair in order to support colleagues in discovering and applying the best approaches and standards to the description of digital objects. My recent work with the creation of our web application profile, and descriptive metadata for software has been energizing and has expanded my viewpoints. I look forward to participating more actively with colleagues on these and other topics.
Biography
Elizabeth Wilkinson is the Archivist in the Description & Access Unit of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia. She is responsible for creating and maintaining policies, workflows, and procedures for effective and efficient organization, description, and discovery of primary resource materials in all formats. Prior to this position, she served as Curator of Manuscripts at Georgetown University, and was the Processing and Public Services Archivist at Purdue University. She holds an MLS and an MA in History from Indiana University. Elizabeth has previously been chair of the Description Section and chair and steering committee member of the Manuscript Repositories Section. Other prior service includes being a committee member and chair of MAC’s Louisa Bowen Scholarship committee; member of MARAC’s Education Committee; co-chair of RBMS’s Workshops Committee, and board member and president of the Society of Indiana Archivists.
Steering Committee Member Nominations
Lucas, Arel
Statement
"As I do metadata I find I'm interested in just about every subject, but especially in metadata best practices, creating vocabularies (thesauri), and how to make metadata interesting, for instance by adding maps, or by placing digital objects in context to the extent time and resources allow. I'm very grateful for the insights and situations described in postings to the Metadata and Digital Object Section and feel I should take my turn at administrative duties."
Biography
Arel Lucas is a Metadata & Digital Collections Specialist for the San Diego State University Library in their Information and Digital Technologies Department. Prior to her 6+ years at SDSU, Arel worked for United Airlines as their administrator for the digital asset management system containing their engineering drawings, and before that for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as Special Collections librarian and manager of their Aviation Safety and Security Archives. Her Master's degree in Library and Information Science is from San Jose State University, her Bachelor's from Stanford.
Searcy, Rachel
Statement
I'd like to join the Metadata and Digital Object Section's efforts to help empower archivists to create, manipulate, maintain, and share archival metadata with an eye toward equitable access to information, interoperability, and reusable data. The MDO Section serves as an excellent resource and partner to other SAA groups to help archivists and archivists-in-training employ best practices, learn about efforts at other institutions, build upon the strengths and skills we already have, and develop toolkits for solutions to common issues with legacy systems and metadata. I’m also a reliable source of puns, although that’s admittedly not terribly relevant in this context.
Biography
I am the Accessioning Archivist at New York University and also act as our primary ArchivesSpace administrator. I hold an MA in History and an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons College, as well as a BA in English and History and a Certificate in Celtic Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I’m deeply interested in our profession’s role in democratically building bridges between our collections and users, and think that thoughtful and innovative approaches to metadata management and archival systems are integral to this work.
Education Coordinator Nominations
Gutiérrez-Jones, Natalia
Statement
My position as Project Archivist at Wellesley College involves working with the Digital Collections Librarian to create processing workflows that prepare us well for future digitization projects. We are also in the process of preparing the launch of our ArchivesSpace PUI, requiring a better understanding of how to give access to digital objects, and improving the quality of our metadata. I would love to be more involved with MDOS as it is such a valuable resource for archivists (particularly those newer to the field such as myself) in learning best practices and strategies from a supportive and experienced community. I am enthusiastic about the role of Education Coordinator in particular because of the opportunity to engage others in learning and staying current on developments and conversations that improve the quality of our work.
Biography
I am currently the Project Archivist at Wellesley College, working with the College Archivist and Assistant Archivist to improve access to the Archives in preparation for Wellesley College’s 150th anniversary in 2025. My day to day work involves processing our backlog, accessioning new materials, updating existing finding aids, and assisting our researchers. I also assist with reference, outreach, instruction, and digitization, in collaboration with our Digital Collections department. I received my Master of Library and Information Science and MA in History degrees from Simmons University in 2018, and my BA in Spanish and Comparative Literature from Haverford College.
Web Liaison Nominations
Serrao, Jessica
Statement
I am interested in serving as the Web Liaison for the Metadata and Digital Object Section (MDOS) Steering Committee to collaborate on new and innovative ways to improve how we manage, preserve and provide access to our digital objects. Having finished my first year as a full-time metadata librarian, this position is a great opportunity to get involved in nationally significant dialogue that can directly impact our practices and our users. Digital archival materials and the audiences they serve are growing in diverse and complex ways, and our practices should evolve to reach their needs. As a Steering Committee Member, I will work to align MDOS priorities with SAA’s Statement on Diversity and Inclusion by promoting practices for more equitable, diverse, and inclusive digital archival objects. I believe in cultural competency and transparency as two core practices that can improve description and enhance discovery of our nation’s rich cultural heritage. As a new metadata professional, I will bring a fresh perspective to the steering committee and strive to foster collaboration and communication to meet member needs. I am honored to be considered for this position and the opportunity to serve.
Biography
Jessica is the Metadata Librarian for Digital Collections at Clemson University where she creates, enriches, and maintains metadata for digital objects from Special Collections and Archives. She is responsible for developing metadata policies and workflows to ensure practices adhere to local and national standards. Jessica has four years of metadata experience in academic libraries. Previously, she processed physical and born digital archival collections as Library Associate at North Carolina State University, and scanned and generated metadata for historic collections as a Graduate Assistant at the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center and as the King Intern for Digital Collections at Duke University. Jessica also researched and created procedures for web archiving quality assurance as the 2016 Princeton Dulles Archives Fellow. She welcomes any messy metadata challenge when it means improving access to digital collections for diverse audiences.
Jessica received her MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Concentration in Archives and Records Management and a Certificate in Digital Curation. She also holds an MA in Public History from North Carolina State University and a BA in Anthropology from Binghamton University. She has been an active member of SAA since 2014.
