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Junior Co-Chair: 2 year term. First year serve as Junior Co-C hair, learn the ropes. Second year serve as Senior Co-Chair.
Secretary: 1 year term
Main responsibilities of vacant positions are providing leadership & direction for the Security Roundtable. This includes, but is not limited to, planning the annual meeting, holding additional meetings as needed to evaluate activities/direction of roundtable, sending relevant announcements to the roundtable via the listserv, and updating the roundtable's microsite with news and resources for the roundtable. The Secretary is accountable for keeping minutes and posting them to website and delivering to the listserv. The co-chairs are responsible for making sure reports are submitted to council, delivering announcements to roundtable members, and setting goals for the roundtable during their terms.
Blake Relle received his Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration in archive management from LSU in 2013. Currently, he serves as an Archives Specialist at the Louisiana State Archives where he fulfills request for materials made by the public as well as state agencies. From 2013 to 2015, he served as a digitization intern at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Professionally, Relle has presented on “How to get new archival professionals involved in archival organizations?” and “Should archival professionals do continuing education?” At the upcoming SAA meeting in August, Relle will be on a panel that will discuss how archives and museums can provide access to their collections to people with disabilities. Relle serves as Website and Social Media Coordinator for the New England Archivist Early Professionals and Students Roundtable. He co-wrote a blog post for ProjectArc regarding how the Toronto City Archive reduced its energy consumption by 59%.
This opportunity will provide a way for me to give back to my profession as well as learn from others. It is important to work together in order to come up with best practices to use to secure collections. Exchanging ideas and working together helps our profession protect materials from internal and external theft. We have to work together because we can do more as a whole than we can individually.
Born and raised in Denton, Texas, I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Texas Tech University. I first became involved in archival work as a student assistant at Texas Tech’s Southwest Collection, the university’s special collection related to the history of the American Southwest. After I received my master’s, I worked at the Southwest Collection as its fulltime manuscripts archivist until 1991. I then attended Syracuse University College of Law, graduating with a juris doctor in 1994. I practiced law in New Mexico from 1994 to 2001.
Dissatisfied with the practice of law, I returned to the archival profession in June 2001 when I joined the staff of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum as an Archivist. I was the Roosevelt Library’s Supervisory Archivist from February 2005 until May 2014, when I was named Deputy Director. I served as Acting Director of the Roosevelt Library from January 31 to July 25, 2015. During my tenure at Roosevelt, I played a key role in leading the Library through a three-year renovation project, the design and installation of new permanent exhibits, the launching of major digitization initiative, and two leadership transitions.
Robert Clark is the Supervisory Archivist at the Roosevelt Library at the time of the Barry Landau theft incident that rocked the archival world, and he is currently working at the Rockefeller Archive Center to enhance and improve its security posture and practices. So his interest in security issues runs deep.
I am currently an Archivist in the Schomburg Center's Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division of the New York Public Library. Previously, I worked in the Library for the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literature and its Institute of Christian Oriental Research (ICOR), at Catholic University, where I also received my MILS. As well, I hold a Master’s from Howard University in African Studies and International Relations. I have been a member of Society of American Archivists (SAA) since 2012, and also serve as a active member of the Advocacy Committee of the Archivists Round Table of New York (A.R.T.).
In September 2015, I became the Director of Archives at the Rockefeller Archive Center in Sleepy Hollow, New York, which collects the records and promotes the study of philanthropy and civil society as well as documents one of America’s most influential families. I also am active in the larger archives and history profession. I serve on the State Historical Records Advisory Board of the New York State Archives and am a member of the Society of American Archivists, Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, and American Historical Association. I also serve on the Curatorial Committee of Wilderstein Preservation in Rhinebeck, New York, and am a part of the Advisory Council for the Committee on Teaching about the United Nations.
Since I've been at the Schomburg, I’ve helped to shape policies and procedures around the security of our collections. During my first two years, I created a comprehensive virtual map of the stacks, which included identifying and barcoding all items so that the materials onsite could be easily tracked; additionally, protocols were created to limit access to the stacks in order to gain maximum control over the Division’s holdings. I am also responsible for the layout of the reading room, to ensure increased visibility for monitoring patron use of materials. Throughout my career as an archivist, I’ve always been committed to the protection of archival materials and rare books, which is why I am interested in becoming an active member of the Security Roundtable. I do believe security needs are always changing, especially as technology evolves--forward thinking around theft prevention is crucial. I’d like to be more involved in issues concerning security outside my institution and feel that my background and skill-set would make me a good fit to serve as Junior Co-Chair of the Security Roundtable.
Dainan Skeem is the curator of the 21st Century Mormon & Western Manuscripts collection at Brigham Young University’s L. Tom Perry Special Collections with responsibilities for documenting the current century’s history of the LDS church, Utah, and the West. He was previously employed as an archivist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with responsibilities for the University Archives’ manuscript collections, including the Japanese American Veterans Collection. He also worked as an archivist at the Hawaii State Archives right after graduating with his MLISc from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2007. While in Hawaii, he served as a board member of the Association of Hawaii Archivists from 2009-1013, taking on the role of President-Elect/President in 2012-2013. He is a certified archivist with the Academy of Certified Archivists and obtained the Digital Archives Specialist certificate with the Society of American Archivists.
Having worked at three archival institutions, Dainan has been able to see many security practices put in place to properly preserve cultural materials and ensure they remain accessible into the future. He would be honored to serve as Secretary of the Security Roundtable and would look forward to facilitating educational opportunities and discussions about security technologies, strategies, and challenges.
Jaime Marie Burton currently serves as Director of Research Services and Education at the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), providing leadership for the staff of the Breckinridge Research Room and instruction programs, which provide access to UK’s rare books, Kentuckiana, and vast holdings of manuscript collections. The SCRC serves as a complex division encompassing the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, the King Library Press, the Bert T. Combs Appalachian Collection, the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center, the University Archives, the Digital Lab, where Directors oversee responsibilities for building and collections security. Ms. Burton previously served as Education and Outreach Archivist at the SCRC, College Archivist and Assistant Professor at the Hutchins Library at Berea College, and Assistant Special Collections Librarian at the Maryland Historical Society. She is a Certified Archivist and holds a Master of Arts in Historical Studies from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with a concentration in Public History/Policy Administration, and has served on the board of the Kentucky Council on Archives since 2012.
While my primary professional responsibilities include protecting our collections stored and served for patron use at the SCRC, I am also interested in forwarding the sharing of knowledge in this area, especially related to ACRL-RBMS and other guidelines, and assisting with the implementation of the roundtable’s goals of increased engagement on the listserve through posting of relevant articles, court cases, case studies, items in the news stories, books reviews, article links, and regional information. As part of the roundtable’s leadership, I would like to be involved with the organization of future SAA sessions, implementing any additional areas identified in the 2013-2014 survey, and improving the microsite.
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