We have a two exceptional candidates running for co-chair in the 2015 election! Watch for the online election link from SAA to make your selection.

Co-Chair (Select one: Bethany Anderson, Elizabeth Clemens)

Bethany Anderson

Bethany Anderson is a Visiting Archival Operations and Reference Specialist in the University Archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she manages the processing of digital content and appraises, arranges, and describes hybrid scientific records and data from Illinois’ College of Engineering and science programs. She holds a master’s degree in Archives and Records Management from the University of Texas at Austin, a master’s in Near Eastern Art and Archaeology from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s in Anthropology from the University of Michigan. She previously worked at the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan and at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at UT Austin. She is a Steering Committee member for the Society of American Archivists’ Women Archivists Roundtable (2013- ) and the Acquisitions and Appraisal Section (2013- ), and she served as the Publications Board Intern (2013-14) and a member of the Online Publications Working Group (2014). As an active member of the Midwest Archives Conference, she is currently a member of the Nominating Committee (2015- ) and served as co-chair of the organizing committee for the 2014 MAC Fall Symposium (2013-2014).

Over the past two years, I have had the honor of serving on the steering committee for the Women Archivists Roundtable. Being a part of WAR has been a formative experience for me; I joined the steering committee right after earning my MSIS from UT Austin, and being a member of WAR as I entered the profession gave me the opportunity to collaborate with an incredible group of colleagues and explore the issues that affect women as well as to engage in dialogues across the profession. Being a part of the larger community of WAR members has helped me to develop my own voice and to be able to take comfort in knowing I’m not alone in trying to find what seems at times an elusive balance between family and work-life.

WAR is not only about creating a better place for us in the profession, and identifying and recognizing the challenges that women face, but it is also about finding ways that we, as a diverse and unified voice, can identify solutions and create a network of support for each other. WAR’s interviews with women leaders in the archives profession and live tweets on promotion and professional development, telecommuting, and women and technology, to name a few, have demonstrated the importance of WAR as a vital space for mentorship, support, and engagement on these issues. As the WAR Co-Chair, I will continue promoting these discussions and building upon the solid foundation the WAR steering committee and membership have built together. As these live tweets and first-hand accounts attest, we need to continue these conversations on women in leadership, management, equity in the workplace, and work-life balance, widening the space to encompass more perspectives and revealing the ground we have yet to cover.

Elizabeth Clemens

My name is Elizabeth Clemens and I am an Audiovisual Archivist at the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University. In my current position, I provide care for and access to the visual collections within the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, as well as the University Archives. My subject focus has always been on social history, and within that themes of radicalism, civil rights, urbanization, and women’s history. I received a Master of Library and Information Science with a concentration in archives from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Aquinas College.

Women’s issues have always been of interest to me, particularly the challenges that working women often face: the lack of opportunity for professional advancement, equity in the workplace, and the concept of family and work-life balance. During my time at Wayne State, I have served as chair for the Gender and Equity sub-committee of our Commission on the Status of Women, where we explored these issues through workshops, educational campaigns, and other public events. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with my amazing WAR colleagues to bring these important discussions to the greater SAA membership, and to serve as an advocate for women in our profession.