Candidates for 2019-2020 Web Archiving Section Steering Committee

Nominees for Vice Chair:

Tori Maches, Digital Archivist, UC San Diego

Running for Vice Chair of SAA’s Web Archiving Section represents an opportunity to use my past, local-level leadership experience, as well as my current role as UC San Diego’s digital archivist, to support the section’s internal efforts, and its collaborations with the wider professional community. In addition, my work managing UC San Diego’s web archiving program has given me a sense of both the progress the archival community has made in preserving web content, and issues which have yet to be fully addressed or resolved. I understand the kind of commitment and community focus the Vice Chair position involves, and look forward to working and learning with the rest of the Steering Committee and section.

Nominees for Communications Manager:

Daniel Mensah, Archivist -Electricity Company of Ghana

I am willing to improve web archiving and also I have the skills to communicate effectively. Secondly am a good team player and am ready to work together with my team to achieve our target or goal. Thirdly am an African from Ghana so I can involve more people from Africa and if possible open an African chapter or help extend to Africa where information science and web Archiving is gaining recognision. Lastly my love for Archiving is deep with 10 years experience in records Management and Archiving. I also have a diploma in Records Management and Archives a degree information science, s certificate in Electronic Archiving from African Institute of Management in Uganda. I have also led many archives and records management projects in my company Electricity Company of Ghana where am an Archivist. I hope I will be concidered because I have the necessary skills to take this mantle.

Nicole Greenhouse, Web Archivist, NYU

 Nicole Greenhouse is the Web Archivist at her alma mater New York University. She has previously worked at the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Center for Migration Studies, the Tamiment Library, the Center for Jewish History, and the Winthrop Group. Nicole has worked on web archiving in some form since she started in the archives in 2011. Currently, her work focuses on the capture and maintenance of the over 5000 seeds in the NYU Special Collections web archives, as well as providing accurate description and access to the collection. I am nominating myself as the Communications Manager to become more involved with the section as well as help me stay abreast of the current events surrounding the web archiving community. It is important that we are aware of new technology developments, other innovations, and projects our colleagues are working on so that we can do a better and more accurate job archiving the web, as well as foster collaboration in our field. Additionally, I have experience with Twitter and social media in general, last year I helped run a #critlib chat in conjunction with Radical Reference on information workers and activist work. Given my experience, I am well suited for the position in the steering committee. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Nominees for Student Member:

Dr. Elizabeth A Pallitto, MI candidate, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University

Dr. Elizabeth A. Pallitto has a PhD in Comparative Literature from the CUNY Graduate Center and a Master’s degree in English from New York University. She won a distinguished dissertation award for “Laura’s Laurels: Re-Visioning Neoplatonism and Petrarchism in the Philosophy and Poetry of Tullia d’Aragona.” Her book Sweet Fire: Tullia d'Aragona's Poetry of Dialogue and Selected Prose (2007) is the first bilingual edition of d'Aragona's 1547 Rime. Elizabeth has taught at Queens College, CUNY, where she won an award for teaching excellence; in Istanbul, at Bosphorus U. and at Fatih University. She was a Digital Humanities Fellow at Seton Hall University last year, and is now at Rutgers University, as a candidate for the MI degree. She also runs WiLL (Writers in League with Libraries) and serves on the Metuchen Arts Council. She can be tracked down at http://elizabethpallitto.ezyro.com/

Lydia Andeskie, Library Assistant, James B. Carey Library - Rutgers University

I am a graduate student in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University with a concentration in Archives & Preservation. Through my courses at Rutgers and my educational background, I found an interest in social justice and archival ethics, particularly pertaining to access, the discoverability of materials, and questions regarding authority, power, and ownership in archiving brutal regimes. Prior to joining Rutgers University, I attended the University of Pittsburgh for a bachelor’s degree in the History of Art & Architecture. My research generally focused on issues of iconoclasm, with a specific interest in historical and modern instances of destruction and censorship in the Middle East. As a student, I began working at Pitt’s Frick Fine Arts Library, a position that opened my eyes to the fascinating fields of information and art librarianship. At the library, I led and participated in several projects as well as created and maintained the Frick Fine Arts Library Instagram account. After a brief stint working in the public libraries in Pittsburgh, it was an easy decision to join Rutgers’ graduate program. My coursework at Rutgers University has been particularly enlightening and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the various facets of the archival profession. The courses I have taken in my first year in the program have instilled a genuine excitement for the future of archives – a field I had always assumed to be waning in the digital age but now understand the increased access potential digitization offers to members of the public. I am also involved with SOURCE – the student chapter of SAA at Rutgers. This group has been an invaluable well of information and opportunity, and I look forward to participating in more SOURCE activities moving forward. At Rutgers University, I work at the James B. Carey Library in the School of Management & Labor Relations as a Library Assistant. In this position, I process and exhibit archival materials relating to labor unions and movements and perform circulation and reference duties. I had the opportunity to return to Frick Fine Arts Library for the summer to participate in special projects, including the creation of finding aids for two archival collections and collecting data on artist’s books. Both of these positions have buttressed my interest in archives and academic librarianship and have fostered professional relationships that provide guidance and support in finding my career direction. I am very excited about the opportunity to join the Steering Committee as the Student Member. With my experience in social media management and both public and academic librarianship, my interest in activist archivy, and a unique perspective gleaned from my research interests, I believe I would be a positive addition to the committee.