2020 2021 Election

2020/2021 Election Candidates

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect

  • Katrina O'Brien

Recording Secretary

  • Tara Laver

Web Liaison

  • Shannon Yule Morelli

2020/2021 Continuing Leadership

Chair-Elect

  • Sharad Shah

Newsletter Editor

  • Cate Peebles

Biographical Statements:

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect

Katrina O'Brien

World of Speed

As Head of Archives & Collections at World of Speed motorsports museum, I manage the Museum’s physical and digital collections; create onsite, offsite and online opportunities to build and share the Collection; develop archives and collections-based online tools and exhibitions; and manage volunteers' processing projects. I am interested in the unique capacities of museum archives and building up community-based collections by engaging donors and lenders through multiple points of engagement with an equal interest in preservation and accessibly. For the past year, I have had the privilege of acting as your Chair-Elect, building the MAS 2020 survey, and I look forward to assisting Sharad as Vice Chair, if elected. Having prior served as the MAS Newsletter Editor and presently on the MAS Working Group updating the guidelines being directed current co-chairs, I excited and honored to help MAS and its members as we all respond to COVID19 at our institutions and as part of the MAS community.

Recording Secretary

Tara Laver

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City

I have been the archivist at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City for 3.5 years. During that time, I have particularly focused on increasing access to our collections both internally and externally and outreach to engage the public and staff in the history of the museum through social media, exhibitions, and events. Before coming to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, I spent about 20 years working in university special collections. I am particularly interested in how some of the skills and emphases of working in that environment transfer to the museum space, as well as what we in museum archives can learn from colleagues in business settings. The Museum Archives Section is a supportive and helpful group that provides invaluable, specific resources to its members, and I welcome the opportunity to continue to support its work by serving as secretary and a member of the Steering Committee seems like the perfect way to advance these goals.

Web Liaison

Shannon Yule Morelli

National Gallery of Art

I have worked as a museum archivist for over twelve years—currently at the National Gallery of Art and previously at the Frick Collection. I am a certified Digital Archives Specialist with an avid interest in digital preservation, dedicated to increasing access to archival collections through digital initiatives. I have extensive experience as the archives web liaison in a museum/library context and I previously served on the New York Archivists Roundtable web committee. I would welcome the opportunity to serve the Museum Archives Section by ensuring online access to information about the group's valued activities.

Chair-Elect

Sharad Shah

Employed with the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA) since 2014, Sharad serves as Collections Management Librarian and the Branch Head of the Museum Support Center (MSC) Library, and works in various locations where library branches may have ongoing collections projects. 

Prior to joining the Smithsonian, Sharad (rhymes with "Jared") spent four years working in the Library of Congress's Rare Books and Special Collections Division (RBSCD) and the U.S. Copyright Office. Before moving to the DC-Metro area, he lived in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he worked as an archivist, historical consultant, and in special collections at UNC-Wilmington's William Randall Library, the New Hanover County Public Library, and the Wrightsville Beach Museum of History.

An ACA-certified archivist, Sharad is currently serving as the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect of the Museum Archives Section (MAS).

Newsletter Editor

Cate Peebles

National Digital Stewardship Resident for Art Information at the Yale Center for British Art

I am currently a National Digital Stewardship Resident for Art Information at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven where I am working to preserve born digital art collection records. Previously, I have processed archival and arts-related collections at the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the University of Pittsburgh Special Collections; I received my MLIS with a concentration in Archives Management from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. Prior to becoming an archivist, I worked for a decade in New York as a copywriter and editorial assistant.

As a new professional, I am excited to participate in and provide service to the museum archives community. Over the last year I have served on the Museum Archives Section Working Group and actively participated in this year’s group project. Additionally, I write blog entries for SAA’s Issues and Advocacy Section and serve on the Membership Committee for the New England Archivists. I would be so pleased to contribute my energy, editorial abilities, and interest in museum archives to the group as its Newsletter Editor.