The SAA President or Council appoints representatives to a number of important
committees and bodies outside of the Society. A complete list, with terms
of appointment, is attached.
Representatives are expected:
to attend all meetings of the committee/body or to inform the appropriate
Council Committee if unable to do so. In that case, the representative
may wish to recommend a substitute to represent SAA, if appropriate. The
substitute appointment must be confirmed by the Council Committee in advance
of the meeting.
to report promptly to the appropriate Council Committee after each meeting.
Ordinarily such reports should be in writing, but an oral report may be
made if circumstances warrant.
to complete an annual report. The appropriate forms will be provided by
the SAA office.
From time to time issues may arise that will have a long-range impact on
SAA policy or a significant portion of the profession, or which SAA will
be asked to take a stand. In such cases, representatives will seek the advice
of the SAA President and/or the Executive Director prior to any anticipated
action on the issue. The President and/or Executive Director may in turn
wish to bring such issues before the Executive Committee or the full Council
for consideration and advice to the representatives.
As part of the effort to serve its members, the archival profession, and
users and creators of archival records, the Society of American Archivists
maintains formal communications with a wide variety of groups engaged in
archival, library, research, and other educational work.
Currently, official SAA representatives have been appointed to various organizations,
agencies, and associations. Representatives are appointed to major funding
and policy agencies such as the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission, and the National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of
History, a leading advocacy group. They also act as official representatives
in relation with professional organizations such as the Organization of American
Historians and the Association of Records Managers and Administrators, and
to groups with a very specific agenda, such as the American Library Association's
Committee on Cataloging: Description and Access. These formal ties play a
critical role in enabling SAA to generate action, to determine policy and
standards, to provide information and counsel on archival matters to kindred
groups, and to keep abreast of developments in fields relevant to the archival
community.
Some SAA representatives are significantly involved in policy decisions.
Others play a lesser role in determining agendas that are primarily involved
in presenting an archival perspective to the matters under consideration.
Representatives are selected for their expertise in the matters and organizations
at hand. They are appointed for terms of varying length by the Vice President/President
Elect usually in the months preceding the SAA annual meeting and assume their
representative assignment at the close of the annual meeting. The SAA Executive
Director serves as an ongoing and/or ex officio representative to
several organizations.
The Council Committee on Task Forces and Representatives assigns one of
its members as a liaison to each of the SAA's official representatives to
keep Council and the representatives mutually informed of matters and issues
under consideration during the time between Council meetings. Representatives
also are advised when to keep in touch with specified SAA committees, sections,
roundtables, task forces, and other representatives whose areas of interest
parallel their own. Representatives submit an annual written report to Council
and also consult with Council when needed before and after meetings of the
organizations to which they represent SAA, particularly when the matters
at hand involve major policy positions and decisions affecting the Society
and the profession.
