Preservation Section Elections 2014-2015

Alix Bentrud is the Preservation Services Librarian and Consultant at LYRASIS. She previously worked as a librarian in public and academic libraries and volunteered in museum archives. Alix joined the Preservation Section Steering Committee in 2011, as outreach committee co-chair. She holds an MLIS from College of St. Catherine / Rosary College and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Archives and Preservation Management from the University of Pittsburgh. Alix is enthusiastic about continuing to serve the preservation needs of archives through involvement in SAA Preservation Section Leadership.

Gerald Chaudron has a PhD in History from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and a MLIS with a concentration in Archives from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. From 2008 to 2013, Gerald was the Manuscripts Librarian at Mississippi State University Libraries before becoming the Preservation Librarian at the University of Memphis Libraries in late 2013. He is a Certified Archivist. Between 2011 and 2012, he was a member of the Mississippi Connecting to Collections Advisory Committee looking at preservation issues in the state and facilitated LYRASIS disaster preparedness workshops in Mississippi. While preservation has been an important part of my work since I began working as an archivist, my present position is a new one and I am currently assessing the preservation needs of Special Collections at the University of Memphis. Focused as I am on this work, I consider I bring both experience and a newcomer’s enthusiasm to the position and I believe I would do the same to the leadership of the Preservation Section.

Rebecca Elder is a cultural heritage preservation consultant who specializes in archives, and other cultural heritage institutions with local history collections. In 2014, Rebecca founded Rebecca Elder Cultural Heritage Preservation to provide preservation assistance to collections holding institutions. For the ten years previous to this, she was a preservation consultant and field services officer at Amigos Library Services, performing preservation assessments and training on topics ranging from archival holdings maintenance to emergency preparedness. Rebecca received her MSIS and a Certificate of Advanced Studies for Conservation of Library and Archival Materials from the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin, and now is adjunct faculty at the iSchool, teaching Preservation Management and Treatment Techniques for Bound Materials. Rebecca has also worked at the Harvard University Libraries and the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Rebecca currently serves as the chair of the Grant Review Committee for the Society of American Archivists’ National Disaster Recovery Fund for Archives, and is a member of several other professional organizations.

Elizabeth Joffrion is the Director of Heritage Resources at Western Washington University (WWU) where she leads the Libraries’ Special Collections, University Archives and Record Center, and the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies. Prior to this position, she was a Senior Program Officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Preservation and Access where she coordinated the Preservation Assistance Grants Program. Before joining NEH in 2006, she was the Head Archivist at the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies at WWU and affiliated faculty in its graduate program in archives and records management. She has also taught courses on archives and special collections at Catholic University. She is co-chair (elect) of the RBMS Diversity Committee, a member of SAA’s Cultural Heritage Working Group, and serves on the Steering Team for the Northwest Digital Archives (NWDA). She has held professional positions at the Smithsonian Institution, North Carolina State Archives, and the Historic New Orleans Collection. She received an MA in History from the University of New Orleans and a MLIS from the University of Maryland.