2012 Museum Archives Section Election

Cochair-Elect
Candiates: Heidi Abbey and Jennie Thomas

Heidi Abbey, Archivist and Humanities Reference Librarian and Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections, Penn State University (Harrisburg), 2006-present

Candiate Statement:

As an artist, art historian, and academic archivist, I would welcome the opportunity to serve with Jennie Thomas (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum) as Co-Chairs-Elect of the Museum Archives Section and provide leadership for the more than 600 members of this important division within SAA.  Throughout my academic and library/archives career, I have maintained personal as well as professional connections to museums and the larger public heritage community.  I completed an internship at the Yale Center for British Art’s Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts in 1999, and early on in my archival career while at the University of Connecticut, I worked closely with curators and other museum professionals from 2004-2006 on the Connecticut History Online project (http://www.cthistoryonline.org) to digitize collections held at the Connecticut Historical Society, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, and Mystic Seaport-The Museum of America and the Sea.  I understand the administrative and fiscal constraints and educational missions with which most museums must operate particularly during stressful economic times.  Nevertheless, I am passionate about museum archives and would like to continue the revitalization of the Museum Archives Section started by former Chair Leilani Dawson to better serve the needs of the group’s members.  The initiatives suggested by the survey in 2010 seem to focus upon the desire for more collaboration and technology-oriented resource sharing among museum archivists, which is one reason that I volunteered to work with the Museum Archives Section Working Group last year on the standards portal project.  With my experience as a former digital librarian and my strong team-based approach to project management and strategic planning, I believe that I would work successfully with Chair-Elect, Katy Rawdon, and my Co-Chair, Jennie Thomas, to further strengthen the section’s voice within SAA and continue to proactively develop the resources that will enable members to more effectively advocate for and make accessible the archival collections in our diverse institutional repositories.

Professional Experience:  Archivist and Humanities Reference Librarian and Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections, Penn State University (Harrisburg), 2006–present. Digital Reformatting Librarian, University of Connecticut, 2006.  Digital Collections Librarian, Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut, 2000-2006.  Art & Design Library Assistant, University of Connecticut, 1994-2000.

Education:  M.L.S., University at Albany-S.U.N.Y., 1999.  M.A., Art History, University of Maryland at College Park, 1994.  B.A., Art  History and Biology, Juniata College, 1991.

Professional Activities:  Society of American Archivists:  Member since 1998.  Distinguished Service Award Subcommittee, Chair, 2010-2011.  Distinguished Service Award Subcommittee, Member, 2008-2011.  Museum Archives Section, 2006-present.  Museum Archives Section Working Group, Regional Liaison, 2011-present.  College and University Archives Section, 2006-present.  Women Archivists Roundtable, 2006-present.  Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC):  Member since 2006.  Outreach Committee, 2008-present.  Local Arrangements Committees, 2009-2011.  Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS):  Member since 1997.  Professional Development Committee, 1999-2002.  ARLIS New England, Member since 1994.  Other Activities:  American Studies Association (ASA) and Eastern American Studies Association (EASA), 2010-present.  Chair of the Technical and Cataloging Committee for the IMLS-funded digital project, Connecticut History Online, 2004-2005.  

Selected Presentations and Publications: Presentations at MARAC, EASA, Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA), and other regional conferences on archival advocacy and outreach, building digital collections, web design and usability.  Selected publications include the following:  1) several book reviews in ARBA Online; 2) two forthcoming book chapters, “Three Mile Island, Three Decades Later:  The People and Perspectives of Middletown, PA” in Jessica Lacher-Feldman’s Exhibit Development in Archives and Special Collections (Chicago:  Society of American Archivists), and “Digital Preservation:  An Introduction” in Jane Monson’s Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian:  A LITA Guide (Chicago:  Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.); and 3) a forthcoming journal article, “Does a Decade Make a Difference?  Comparing the Web Presence of North American Art Museum Libraries and Archives in 1999 and 2011,” Art Libraries Journal 37.3 (2012):  34-40.  Current research projects focus upon the topics of sustainability and instruction in archives.

Jennie Thomas, Head Archivist, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Library and Archives, 2009-present

Candiate Statement:   As someone who is relatively new to museum archives, I would welcome the opportunity to serve with Heidi N. Abbey (Penn State University–Harrisburg) as Cochairs-Elect of the Museum Archives Section. I feel as if I have taken a crash course in museum archives over the past three years, as my colleagues and I at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum have built a Library and Archives program from thousands of linear feet of scattered materials collected over the course of 20 years. I worked closely with the Director of Library and Archives and Rock Hall museum professionals to ensure we would have the necessary staff, equipment, facilities, and acquisitions budget to shape a sustainable program in the face of fiscal constraints and an uncertain economic future. To create such a program, we emphasized collaborative relationships with local institutions, library and archival standards and best practices, and open source software development as means to reduce operations costs, utilize the best policies and procedures from preexisting library and archival programs, increase outreach, and share our technological advances with other members of the public heritage community. As these concentrations are directly related to the findings of the Museum Archives Section’s 2010 survey and the recommendations of the Working Group, I believe I could be an asset to Chair-Elect Katy Rawdon and Cochair Heidi Abbey as we work to fulfill the goals of the standards portal project. I look forward to the opportunity to continue to learn from the experienced and diverse membership of the Museum Archives Section, and to help lead us towards programs that are viable, sustainable, successful, and fulfilling for our researchers and for ourselves.

Professional Experience: Head Archivist, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Library and Archives, 2009-present. Marilyn Crandell Schleg Archivist and Special Collections Librarian/United Methodist Church West Michigan Conference Archivist, Albion College (Michigan), 2000-2009. Library Technician III/Archival Assistant, Information and Library Services, University of Maryland University College (UMUC), 1999-2000. Other Experience: Preservation Consultant, Sardony Estate (Montague, MI), 2008. University of Maryland (UMD) Special Collections in the Performing Arts, 1999-2000; Performing Arts Library, Circulation Desk, 1999; Preservation Department, Conservation Lab, 1999. National Public Broadcasting Archives, 1998-1999. Teaching: UMUC Graduate School of Management and Technology, Introduction to Graduate Library Research Skills, 2005-2007; School of Undergraduate Studies, Information and Research Methods/Introduction to Library Research, 2001-2007.

Education: M.A., Humanities, Central Michigan University, 2009. M.L.S., with a specialty in Archives, Records, and Information Management, University of Maryland at College Park, 2000. B.A., Music, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 1995.

Professional Activities: Society of American Archivists: Member since 2000. 2013 Program Committee. Performing Arts Roundtable, Member 2011-present. Preservation Section, Member 2011-present. Mentor, 2008-2009. Preservation Publication Award Subcommittee, Chair, 2008-2009. Preservation Publication Award Subcommittee, Member, 2006-2008. Women Archivists Roundtable, Steering Committee, Web Liaison, 2004-2009. Midwest Archives Conference (MAC): Member since 2003. MAC Newsletter, Editor, 2011-present. Archival Issues, Publications Review Editor, 2005-2009; Editorial Board, Member-at-Large, 2004-2009. MAC Newsletter, Preservation Essentials columnist, 2004-2005. Michigan Archival Association (MAA): Member 2004-2011. Conference Coordinator, 2007-2009. Program Committee, Chair, 2007. Local Arrangements Committee, Chair, 2006. Open Entry, Lone Arrangers columnist, 2005-2006. Program Committee, Cochair, 2005. Board, Member-at-Large, 2004-2007. Other Activities: Society of Ohio Archivists (SOA), Member, 2009-present. Michigan Academic Library Consortium, Special Collections Task Force, 2008-2009. Michigan Area United Methodist Church Historical Society, Board of Directors, Secretary, 2003-2009. AccessMichigan, State Database Review Team–Fine Arts, 2003.  

Selected Presentations and Publications: Presentations at SOA, MAC, MAA, Michigan Library Consortium, West Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church (WMC UMC), and for other local historical organizations on building sustainable archival programs, choosing archival content management systems, preservation assessments, Facebook for archives outreach, paper conservation, records management, and the identification and preservation of photographs. Publications include The Pink and Green, a blog for Albion College Special Collections, 2009. West Michigan Legacies: Newsletter of the UMC WMC, 2003-2009 (annual). Legacies: Newsletter of Albion College Special Collections, 2001-2006 (annual).