SAA Education Introduces Pilot Program for DAS Renewal

CHICAGO—SAA Education is initiating a pilot program to evaluate a new way to maintain your Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certification. This program, called DAS Option B, will run from March 2025 through March 2027. The aim of this program is to assess how to best give more flexibility to DAS holders in renewing their certificate.

How it Works

The DAS Certificate is valid for five years. Normally, DAS certificate holders who wish to renew their certificates must complete four SAA courses from the DAS course list during that five-year period.

With DAS Option B, certificate holders can fill out an application to have external education programs or professional service counted in place of two (2) of the SAA courses. Such activities can be:

• Two (2) live/synchronous seminars workshops or webinars (certificate holders must petition for the courses to be considered towards the renewal certificate); or
• One (1) live/synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid multi-day institute or conference; or
• Two (2) years minimum professional service on the DAS Subcommittee; or
• One-term minimum professional service on the Electronic Records Section Steering Committee, bloggERS! Editorial Board, Metadata and Digital Object Section Steering Committee, Web Archiving Section, or another SAA section or component group focused exclusively or primarily on digital archives initiatives.

After the pilot ends, SAA Education Staff, the DAS Subcommittee, and Council will assess its success and consider whether it will become a long-term, permanent option in the curriculum.

Find full instructions on DAS Option B on the SAA Education webpage, and reach out with any questions to education@archivists.org.