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Heather OswaldHeather Oswald is the Public Services and Outreach Archivist in the Rose Library at Emory University. She holds Masters' in Public History from Loyola University Chicago and Archival Studies from Clayton State University. Throughout her career, Heather has worked in university and museum archives conducting outreach and making collections accessible. In addition to her membership in SAA, Heather is also a board member of the Society of Georgia Archivists and editor of SGA’s journal Provenance.
I am interested in contributing to the work of the Privacy and Confidentiality Roundtable through the position of vice-chair. I have managed the balance between access and privacy at multiple institutions and am now seeking to take a more active role in the conversation. In my current position, our collections are heavily tilted toward contemporary records, as well as the papers of artists and authors. The unique difficulties of these materials have reaffirmed my interest in the continuing development of professional best practices for privacy and confidentiality. In addition, my role as editor of Provenance has given me the opportunity to reflect on the current scholarship around these issues and to think about how we as a profession can best address the challenges of the future.
The Roundtable has great potential to engage stakeholders from across our profession and allied fields in order to meet the expectations and needs of donors, patrons, and archivists. I hope to continue the work the group is doing through collaboration with other Roundtables, Sections and SAA membership as well as educational initiatives that focus on new developments and current issues. Privacy and confidentiality affect all aspects of our work; I will continually advocate for their consideration in our training, professional development, scholarship, and daily interactions.
Katherine DuvallKatherine Duvall has been a Processing Archivist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Anthropological Archives since early 2015. Previously she was an Institutional Archivist for the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, CA where she was responsible for managing the records management and archival needs of one of the Trust’s five programs. Katherine earned her MLIS with a specialization in Archival Studies from UCLA in 2011. She was a member of the Reference, Access, and Outreach Section’s working group on access to electronic records in 2014-2015 and served on the local arrangements committee for the Society of California Archivists in 2011-2012.
At the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) I have encountered a bevy of sensitive material, from medical records and forensic files to materials subject to complex, and sometimes controversial, cultural restrictions. Our role as archivists in the stewardship of these materials is also complex and as a member of the Steering Committee I would look forward to collaborating with the members of the Privacy and Confidentiality Roundtable to engage with these issues. In the face of staff and funding shortages, the proliferation of MPLP processing, and increased demand for online access to archival materials, creating access policies while keeping in mind ethical and practical realities can be daunting. If elected to the committee, I would like to take an active role in helping the roundtable develop ways to support and guide archivists and institutions grappling with these types of issues.
Amelia HolmesAmelia W. Holmes is the 2014-2016 Carolina Academic Library Associate for Special Collections Technical Services at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library. In that role, she has processed manuscript collections for the Southern Historical Collection and the Southern Folklife Collection and University Archives records groups. She will earn an MSLS in August 2016 from the School of Information and Library Science at UNC-Chapel Hill.
As a new archives professional, I have been drawn to the inherent tension between protecting the privacy of people within our collections and promoting access and use of the same materials. Privacy and access are at the heart of the archives profession, and as a member of the Privacy & Confidentiality Steering Committee, I hope to encourage continued, profession-wide discussions around finding balance between the two. Specifically, I would like to encourage more on-going conversations between Annual Meetings.
Dan McCormackDaniel McCormack has served as the archivist/records manager for the Town of Burlington (Massachusetts), since 2002. He is primarily responsible for the town’s public health, personnel, and municipal business records. Prior to serving in Burlington he was a reference librarian at the Brockton (MA) Public Library and a journalist. A member of SAA since 1999, he previously served as the Lone Arrangers Roundtable liaison to the Standards Committee. Currently he is a member of the SAA Foundation’s National Disaster Recovery Fund for Archives Grant Review Committee. He is a member of the Massachusetts State Historical Records Advisory Board.
My candidacy for the Privacy and Confidentiality Roundtable Steering Committee reflects my interest in helping archivists navigate the delicate balance between access, protection of personal information, and security. As archivist for a municipality I encounter those issues on a daily basis and have benefited greatly from the assistance of colleagues, specifically members of this roundtable. As a member of the Steering Committee I will seek to maintain a focus on privacy matters within the field while providing more resources and guidance to the greater archival community.
Privacy and confidentiality concerns are expressed in SAA’s Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics. They have serious implications for what we do and the collections we manage. We need to continually monitor changes in laws, practices and technologies affecting privacy in archives. This roundtable works best when its members engage their collective wisdom on these matters and I will encourage free and frequent discussions where we can have an impact.
I would like to see this roundtable expand the resources and service it offers to our members and other stakeholders. To our fellow archivists and those in allied fields, we can serve as a clearinghouse for the issues, tools, and discussions addressing matters of privacy. To the outside world we need to communicate the unique perspectives and expertise of archivists. Above all, I want this roundtable to continue leading the conversation as privacy issues evolve for archives and archivists.
Lydia TangLydia Tang is an Archivist-Librarian at Michigan State University Special Collections. Previously, she was a Project Archivist in the Music Division of the Library of Congress, and held a number of graduate assistant positions while obtaining her MLIS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, including the American Library Association Archives, University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and Sousa Archives and Center for American Music.
As a relatively new professional seeking guidelines for the rules and procedures for handling issues of privacy and confidentiality in archives and special collections, I am aware of the most recent resources and also the gaps in resources. As a potential steering committee member or vice-chair, I would be interested in expanding the Roundtable’s web presence to be a resource for learning more about how to handle privacy and confidentiality. I would be interested in opening up dialog between institutions who would be willing to share sample non-disclosure forms and processing manuals which address these issues in order to spread awareness and standardize the handling of these issues. Thank you for your consideration!
Elizabeth Wilkinson is currently Archivist in the Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia. She previously held positions at Georgetown University as Curator of Manuscripts, at Purdue University as Processing and Public Services Archivist, and at the Indiana State Library as head of the Manuscripts Section. She earned her MA in history and MLS at Indiana University. She is the immediate past chair of the Manuscript Repositories Section and is involved with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference and the Rare Books & Manuscripts Section of ACRL.
We face privacy and confidentiality issues nearly every day working in special collections and archives as we attempt to strike a balance between access for researchers and enforcing necessary restrictions. I am interested in methods and mechanisms that can assist and support us in navigating the complex decisions we need to make when appraising and processing sensitive materials. I would like to see further educational opportunities for us regarding crafting access and privacy policies for our institutions, how to initiate discussions with donors regarding these issues, and perhaps partner with other roundtables or sections to see how they are grappling with sensitive information/data issues. I would welcome the opportunity to explore these topics with roundtable members.