SAA Education Seeks Exam Managers to Assist SAA DAS Subcommittee

The SAA Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Comprehensive Exam is offered three times per year to SAA members who have successfully completed DAS course curriculum and who seek a professional certificate acknowledging their training and specialization in digital archives and born-digital records. DAS Comprehensive exam managers are tasked with upholding the integrity of the DAS exam by ensuring the security, confidentiality, and relevance of exam items and the SAA DAS exam item bank. 

Position Description

Exam managers maintain security and confidentiality by limiting access to exam items, the item bank, and past and future exams. Managers store all materials in a secure, online location and maintain up-to-date files and file structures. By periodically reviewing items in the exam item bank, DAS exam managers ensure that questions and responses are aligned with the current DAS curriculum and relevant to both the profession and test-takers. Item reviews also help ensure that exam questions are evenly distributed across the four tiers of study. This appointment is a 2-year minimum commitment with the possibility of renewal. No travel is required; all work can be completed remotely. The typical work cycle requires more time in the summer months (preparing the new exam to launch September 1) and a reduced commitment through the academic year, averaging approximately 2-10 hours per month. 

Responsibilities

• Work with SAA’s Education team to understand and calendar the DAS exam cycle 

• Receive and review items drafted by SAA DAS course instructors and other contributors for potential ingest into the DAS exam item bank

• Review and revise the SAA DAS item bank to ensure items are up to date and clearly written, data is complete, and all DAS tiers of study and content areas are adequately covered

• Develop each year’s practice exam

• Develop the multiple choice 100-item comprehensive exam

• Respond to queries about the test and tested items

• Assess the difficulty of tested items by reviewing item responses over time

• Attend monthly meetings of the DAS Subcommittee and liaise with the DAS Comprehensive Exam Support team

• Plan and lead annual item-writing workshop for DAS Subcommittee members

• In collaboration with the DAS Subcommittee, explore implementation of a new exam item database

Requirements

• Experience writing exam questions and/or managing exams

• Digital Archives Specialist or Certified Archivist certification preferred (Note that an exam manager, if not already a DAS certificate holder, may not sit for the DAS Comprehensive Exam during their appointment term and must wait at least two years after their term ends to take the exam. For DAS course enrollment and certificate renewal, exam managers follow the same policies as DAS Subcommittee members.)

Stipend

$1000 per person/year. 

To Apply

Please send a CV and letter of interest to Rana Salzmann, SAA Director of Training and Organizational Development, at rsalzmann@archivists.org. Applications will be reviewed as they are received. We hope to onboard the selected person(s) by July 1, 2023. 

The Society of American Archivists centers its values on diversity and equity, and is committed to building a culture of inclusion. SAA promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its professional activities with an eye to ensuring effective representation of staff, our members, addressing the concerns of the full range of stakeholders represented within our members’ holdings, and reaching out to archivists’ many communities of users. We encourage members from all backgrounds to apply.