2025 UX Section Steering Committee Election

Thank you to all of our excellent candidates for standing in the 2025 User Experience Section Election. Please take some time to review their candidate statements and get to know them so you can make an informed choice.

Candidates

Fatemeh Rezaei

Job Title and Institution: Archivist, University of Baltimore Special Collections and Archives

Bio and Candidate Statement:

I am currently serving as an archivist at the University of Baltimore’s Special Collections and Archives, where I manage a wide range of analog and digital collections, lead digitization and digital initiatives, and founded the library’s digital preservation program. I hold a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), am a Certified Archivist, and have earned both the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certificate from SAA and a Graduate Certificate in User Experience (UX) Design.

I’ve also completed advanced coursework in Information and Interaction Design, with a focus on evaluating and improving the usability of archival systems. I am particularly interested in conducting user experience evaluations of platforms such as ArchivesSpace and implementing inclusive, user-informed design strategies. As an active SAA member, I’m excited about the Section’s initiatives to foster collaboration in UX research and practice. I would be honored to contribute to this work as a Vice chair/Chair elect.

Title and Institution: Head of Public and Research Services, Louisiana State University Libraries Special Collections

Biography 

As Head of Public and Research Services at Louisiana State University Libraries, Kelly Larson oversees the reading room, reference services, and front-line user support of a busy special collections library. She plays a central role in developing the library’s outreach and programming initiatives while supporting instructional efforts and encouraging curricular use of collection materials. With nearly ten years of professional experience in academic archives, including seven years as a “lone arranger” archivist, she brings a user-centered approach to archival access and researcher engagement. Kelly’s professional interests include archival reference services, archival literacy, and teaching with primary sources, with a particular emphasis on learning experience design and universal design for learning. She is also engaged in exploring the intersection of archival user studies and user experience (UX) design to enhance archival services and environments, and to cultivate more meaningful relationships with a diverse and growing patron base. 

Candidate Statement 

It would be a privilege to serve the User Experience Section of SAA in the role of Member-at-Large, as I consider this is an exciting and promising moment for embracing user experience (UX) design in archives and special collections libraries. While archivists are already making great strides in considering users’ experiences across digital platforms, including our websites, finding aids, and digital repositories, UX also offers tools and approaches for re-envisioning our services, communications, instruction, physical environments, and even our strategies for ensuring inclusive and equitable access. Thoughtfully applied, UX frameworks can help us find ways to reduce library anxiety, remove invisible barriers to access, and provide positive, meaningful experiences for researchers of all backgrounds and skill levels. My perspective is informed by nearly ten years of working directly with users in academic archives as well as my current research into archival user studies. I have recently completed a comprehensive literature review that  maps the field’s existing work and proposes ways we can borrow from UX to develop seamless archival encounters for our patrons without compromising our commitment to preservation and responsible stewardship. As a candidate for Member-at-Large, I’m eager to  contribute to the Section’s efforts to promote user-centered, evidence-based practices that help us as archives professionals to connect more effectively with the communities we serve. If elected, I would be honored to help advance the conversation on the role and potential of UX in archives, develop practical resources for those interested in UX methods, and to take part in strengthening the growing network of practitioners engaged in this vital work.

Betts Coup

Title and Institution: Head of Archival Operations, Technical Services for Archives & Special Collections, Harvard Library Arts, Archives, & Special Collections

Bio: 

Betts Coup is the Head of Archival Operations, Technical Services for Archives & Special Collections, part of Harvard Library Arts, Archives, & Special Collections, where she currently manages a team of archivists following an extensible processing model. Her team engages in accessioning as processing as well as redescriptive projects based on user needs. Betts has engaged in usability studies of finding aid content and exploring user feedback for and questions about finding aids and continues to be driven by questions about accessibility, usability, and archival description in her daily work. Betts is currently on the Harvard Library Total Cost of Stewardship Working Group. Within the SAA sphere, she has been a member of the UX Section since its formation, most recently serving as the Immediate Past Chair in 2024-2025, and has served back-to-back terms on the Description Section Steering Committee as the Chair/Vice Chair 2023-2025 and Member-At-Large from 2021-2023, as well as a previous two terms on the EAS Section Steering Committee. Betts is the incoming Lead Blog Editor for Descriptive Notes. She has an MLIS with a focus on Archives Management from Simmons University and an MA in the History of Art and Architecture from New York University. 

Statement: 

My work in the archival field for the past nine years has consistently focused on description, and I have a great passion for exploring the ways in which our descriptive practices impact users and access. Much of my recent work has focused on redescriptive and reparative projects, particularly those based on user needs and feedback, and I have a longstanding interest in the intersection of usability, user experience, and archival description. I would relish the opportunity to continue to be included in our much-needed and expanding conversations around user experience and archival work (descriptive and otherwise) by serving as a Member-At-Large.