2021 P&C Section Election: Candidate Statements

Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2021 Privacy and Confidentiality Section election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice. All candidates were asked to provide a statement addressing the question "What projects or initiatives would you be interested in pursuing as part of the Privacy and Confidentiality Section leadership?"

You will be voting for:

• One Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, for a three-year term, serving in year one as Vice Chair, year two as Chair, and year three as Past Chair; and
• Two Steering Committee members (two-year terms). 

Ballots will be managed by SAA staff through Survey Monkey; keep an eye on your inbox for when the ballot opens! 

Vice Chair/Chair-Elect Candidates

The following candidates are running for the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect (or Co-chair) position:

DiAnna Hemsath
Archivist, UNMC McGoogan Health Sciences Library

Biographical information: 

DiAnna Hemsath is the Archivist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s McGoogan Health Sciences Library. She is a member of the Society of American Archivists, the Academy of Certified Archivists and the Midwest Archives Conference.

Candidate statement: 

Having served as a steering committee member for the past two years, I have enjoyed working with the section leadership to share information that helps section members navigate the often-puzzling subject of privacy and confidentiality in archives. As Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, I would be learning with our section members. Our recent section initiatives hosting webinars and reading groups have been well-received. I would like to continue these virtual events throughout the year. The news roundup also serves as a monthly platform for section updates and knowledge sharing. Looking forward, if elected, I would like to learn more about the section members and tailor outreach to address particular P&C sub-topics related to their specific institutions and collections. Thank you for your consideration! 

Steering Committee Member Candidates

The following candidates are running for the section steering committee:

Shelly Black
Libraries Fellow, North Carolina State University

Biographical information: 

Shelly Black is a Fellow at North Carolina State University Libraries where she supports digital preservation in special collections. She received her MLIS from the University of Arizona as a Knowledge River scholar, is a member of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association and REFORMA, and is the 2021 recipient of the SAA Brenda S. Banks Travel Award.

Candidate statement: 

The archival profession is human-centered, so access is only empowering when the privacy and dignity of the most vulnerable are respected. These are the values I would bring as a P&C Section steering committee member. In the past year I had the opportunity to serve on the committee as an early career member, and I’d like to continue supporting the creation of best practices and case studies addressing tricky legal and ethical challenges. I also envision these resources including newer solutions for mediated access, like virtual reading rooms.

The committee recently collaborated with other groups, such as the Native American Archives Section on a Mukurtu workshop. I’d love for us to continue raising awareness of cultural sensitivity and restrictions. I also look forward to creating opportunities for engagement with other sections, such as Archivists & Archives of Color and Accessibility & Disability. Many privacy issues, such as surveillance and trauma, most impact non-dominant communities, and I hope we can facilitate conversations around these topics.

Ashlyn Velte
Senior Processing Archivist, University of Colorado Boulder

Biographical information: 

Ashlyn Velte (she/her) is currently the Senior Processing Archivist at the University of Colorado Boulder and will be President of the Society of Rocky Mountain Archivists in 2021/2022. She previously held a position at the University of Idaho Library and graduated with an MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2016.

Candidate statement:

As part of the Privacy and Confidentiality leadership I am interested in providing membership with resources and programs that would further conversation around privacy and confidentiality in archives. As someone who's scholarship has focused on ethics in archives, including publication of a 2018 American Archivist article titled "Ethical Challenges and Current Practices in Activist Social Media Archives," I am aware how challenging it can be for archivists to navigate complex ethical issues. I would like to build on the current sections momentum from the reading group programs to provide similar opportunities to discuss ethical issues regarding privacy and confidentiality as a group. I would also like to build a library of resources so that archivists at small and large institutions can make informed ethical decisions regarding the complicated nature of balancing privacy and access. This area of archiving has always interested me and I would value this opportunity to give back to the profession by serving in this role.