2023 Preservation Section Elections (Updated with ballot link!)

2023 Election: Candidate Statements

Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2023 Preservation Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.

 You will be voting for:

• One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (1 year term as Vice-Chair; following two years as Chair and Past-Chair)
• One Member-At-Large (Two-year term)

Ballots will be managed by SAA staff. Ballots opened Monday, June 26, and will remain open for 3 weeks, closing on Monday, July 17. Ballot Page: https://mysaa.archivists.org/myballots The "View Ballot" link will direct you to the usual SurveyMonkey election ballot. You must be logged in to access the page. Once you submit one ballot, you will be redirected back to the main page to complete the next ballot for which you are eligible.

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Candidates

The following candidates are running for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect position:

Kat Trammell

Archivist, University School of Nashville

Kat Trammell has been the archivist at University School of Nashville since August 2021, and prior to that she was the project archivist for a local non-profit organization. She earned her MA in Public History with a concentration in archives and collections management from Middle Tennessee State University, and she is currently pursuing her MSIS from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also worked as a conservation intern and technician at the Tennessee State Library and Archives for over five years. Kat has served as a Member-at-Large for the Preservation Section Steering Committee and Chair of the Preservation Section’s Education Subcommittee since 2021.

Candidate Statement: As an archivist with several years of conservation experience, preservation is kind of my “thing,” so to speak. I’m fascinated by everything related to preservation, from preventive measures such as disaster planning and response, to performing hands-on remedial treatments. I also really enjoy sharing that knowledge with other archives professionals, students, and members of the public through presentations and workshops. I have brought that same energy to my role as Member-at-Large and Education Subcommittee Chair and I would love the opportunity to continue that work as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect for the Preservation Section.

Steering Committee Member Candidates

The following candidates are running for the section steering committee Member-At-Large:

Donia Conn

Assistant Professor of Practice, School of Library and Information Science, Simmons University

Candidate Statement:

I have been working in the field of preservation and conservation for about 30 years. In that time, I have worked primarily in academia but have consulted with institutions that run from tiny volunteer-run museums to large academic library consortia and just about everything in between. I would love to bring my preservation experience to SAA. I have long been a volunteer for ALA's various preservation committees and, in particular, was an inaugural member of the Preservation Week committee.

Daria Labinsky

Records and Information Management Specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Daria Labinsky has been a records and information management specialist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since May 2021. She is the regional records officer for the Mountain Time Zone (MTZ) offices and has conducted remote disaster training for records custodians. Previously, she worked as an archivist at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta and the National Archives at St. Louis, and as a Preservation Technician in Preservation Programs at the National Personnel Records Center. She has an MLS from Emporia State University and a BS and MSJ from Northwestern University.

Candidate Statement: My interest in preservation dates from when I worked in the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA's) Preservation Programs department, treating and repairing some of the millions of military personnel files that survived the 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire. I later developed an interest in preserving electronic records and received the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certificate in 2019. Now, I assist and train records custodians at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuges and offices, and part of my job is to prepare them for the potentially destructive effects of disasters caused by climate change. I am currently a member of the Education Subcommittee and was a section member for many years. If elected, I will try to put my experience to good use, as the section and its leaders tackle preservation issues.