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Chair-Elect: Three-year term - first year Chair-elect, second year as Chair, and third year as immediate past Chair
The main responsibilities of the vacant position are providing leadership & direction for the Security Section. This includes, but is not limited to, planning the annual meeting, holding additional meetings as needed to evaluate activities/direction of the section, sending relevant announcements to the section via the listserv, and updating the section's blog and microsite with news and resources.
Candidates for Chair-Elect
As a Historical Manuscripts Project Archivist University of Maryland libraries, I work in Hornbake Library to preserve and make more accessible collections which document the careers of political officials and activities of civic groups in the state of Maryland. I received my MLS from UMD's iSchool (2013) and a PhD in American history from the University of Virginia (2009). My interests include political development and archival history. I have published an article in The American Archivist on the history of how archives were damaged and secured by civilians and armies during the American Civil War. I served as Chair of the Archival History Section in 2016-2017. I also am co-editor of Archival History News, the official newsletter of the Archival History Section, and have returned for a second year as co-editor through July 2019.
I am interested in serving as Chair-Elect of SAA’s Security Section in order to further the cause of archival security, including but not limited to physical security, digital information security, staff security training, and recovery/replevin actions. I have experience writing and editing content for a WordPress newsletter and promoting this blog on other social media outlets. I also have served as Chair of the Archival History Section, which includes over 1100 members. I have written an article entitled “Public Records in War: Toward an Archival History of the Civil War,” which describes how the war exposed public records and state archives across the eastern United States to extreme dangers, including enemy fire, seizure, looting, and arson (http://americanarchivist.org/doi/10.17723/0360-9081.80.1.135). I would be interested seeking input from members in order to grow the membership of the Security Section and making its contributions to the archival profession more visible. The threats to archives from climate change and other environmental dangers, such as theft which occurs as a result of natural disasters and political conflicts, ought to be considered as a security issue.
Ken is the Metropolitan Government Archivist for Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. He is a charter member of the Academy of Certified Archivists, having been accepted into the Academy in 1989. He has held positions in the Tennessee State Library and Archives and numerous other historical organizations.
Beginning my career as an Archivist and now having over 35 years of service, I know well the limited resources that seem to be our lot while providing services to the public. Increased security is often neglected as a result of increasing pressure to provide access. My experience offers practical advice on maintaining the integrity of archival collections, ensuring collections are safe not only from vandalism or theft but from those natural dragons of flood and tornado damage. As the Archives was a victim of document theft while on my watch, an experience best obtained only once, there are practical measures that can be taken to prevent such episodes as much as possible. As a last measure, I can sit down over a good Scotch and commiserate with those who are going through those experiences.
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