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SAA 2001 Ballot Results
Hirtle is Next Vice President/President-Elect
of SAA
Bell-Russel, Haury, and Sniffin-Marinoff Join Council
Cline, Marquis, and Square to Serve on Nominating
Committee
Hirtle is Next Vice President/President-Elect of SAA
Members of the
Society of American Archivists elected PETER B. HIRTLE as SAA's next
vice president. Hirtle will begin his one-year term this August and become
SAA's 58th president in 2002-2003. Hirtle is the co-director of the Cornell
Institute for Digital Collections at Cornell University Library, since 1996.
He is also associate editor of D-Lib Magazine. Hirtle holds a B.A.
from Carleton College, M.A. in history from Johns Hopkins University, and
M.L.I.S. from the University of Maryland.
A member of
SAA since 1986, Hirtle has served the association in a variety of capacities:
on Council (1996-99), Program Committee (2000), Blue Ribbon Task Force on
the Information Superhighway (1994), Manuscripts Repository Section Steering
Committee (1993-96), Committee on Archival Information Exchange (1992-95),
and coordinator of the Science, Technology and Health Care Roundtable (1988-90).
In addition, Hirtle has taught workshops for SAA and other organizations,
as well as authored more than 50 articles, book reviews, editorials, and
presentations on digital imaging, new technologies, copyright, and the history
of medicine. In 1989 he was awarded the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service
Award.
Candidates for
vice president/president-elect were required to answer the following questions
posed by the Nominating Committee: What are the two most important issues
that you see facing SAA as the organization enters its 65th year? How would
you seek to address them during your two-year term as an SAA officer?
In his response
to the committee's question, Hirtle stated, "Keeping archival educators and
government, regional, business, university, and certified archivists actively
engaged in the work of the society is . . . the most important issue facing
the society. One way to do this is to keep the SAA a vibrant forum for the
activities of specialized groups. In addition, the member surveys and reports
from the membership committee during the last few years have identified what
members want from the society. The annual meeting program, educational offerings,
and publications program are all being revamped to reflect member needs.
The new officers will need to ensure that the efforts to address member concerns
continue. The new officers can also redouble efforts to reach out to other
archival organizations and try to include them and their members in the work
of the SAA. Finally, the officers must continue efforts to engage American
archivists with their international colleagues. The problems facing American
archivists know no national boundaries, and solutions are as likely to come
from Europe, Africa, Asia, or Australia as from the U.S."
Hirtle further
said that, "The second important issue [SAA] faces [is] mustering the resources
that are needed to advance the profession. The SAA remains primarily a volunteer
organization. While the society can provide a framework in which wonderful
things can be done, it still requires hard work and commitment on the part
of individual members to initiate and develop programs. The new SAA officers
at a minimum must ensure that the society continues to nurture, and not hinder,
the volunteer efforts of its members. In addition, the officers should redouble
their efforts to ensure that the money available to support SAA activities
is spent on the highest priorities."
Bell-Russel, Haury, and Sniffin-Marinoff Join Council
SAA membership
also elected Danna C. Bell-Russel, David A. Haury, and Megan Sniffin-Marinoff
to Council. Their three-year terms begin this August following the conclusion
of the 65th annual meeting in Washington, D.C., and they will serve through
the conference in 2004. They will succeed outgoing Council members Dennis
Harrison, Jane Kenamore, and Wilda Logan Willis.
Candidates for
Council were required to answer this question posed by the Nominating Committee: During
the past few years, SAA has charged a number of task forces to examine issues
of critical concern to the Society: organizational effectiveness, diversity,
membership benefits, the annual meeting, and continuing education, among
others. How can Council assist SAA in integrating the results of these efforts
into its ongoing work for the benefit of its members and the profession? Each
of their responses along with brief biographical sketches follows.
DANNA C.
BELL-RUSSEL is the learning center specialist for the National Digital
Library at the Library of Congress, where she has served since 1998. She
holds a B.A. in public administration and personnel management and an M.S.
in college student personnel services, both from Miami University, as well
as an M.L.S. from Long Island University.
A member of
SAA since 1996, she is currently co-chair of the Committee on Education and
Professional Development and a member of the 2001 Program Committee. She
also has served on the Nominating Committee and Manuscripts Repository Section
Steering Committee. Bell-Russel's professional activities also include participation
in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, D.C. Library Association,
and D.C. Chapter, Special Libraries Association.
In her candidate
statement, Bell-Russel suggested that, "Council should write a series of
articles in Archival Outlook showing how SAA has implemented some
of the suggestions of the various task forces, giving the reasons why other
recommendations have not been implemented and providing information on what
will be done in the future along with a timeline showing completion dates.
This will provide the membership with information on what is being done and
a way to measure the success of the SAA governance in making the recommendations
made by these task forces a reality."
Bell-Russel
further stated that, "Regarding the items not yet done, Council will need
to go back over each report and see what task force recommendations are feasible
to implement and also determine what recommendations complement the SAA strategic
plan. Once Council has decided on what is feasible, they will need to work
with the various standing committees to bring these recommendations to reality.
. . .The Council liaison together with the standing committee chair or co-chairs
would also be responsible for reporting back to the membership with an article
in Archival Outlook and perhaps with an announcement on the Archives
and Archivists list or the SAA Web site."
DAVID A.
HAURY is the assistant director of the Kansas State Historical Society,
where he has served since 1989. He earned a B.A. in history and mathematics
from Bethel College; A.M. and Ph.D. in history from Harvard University;
and M.L.S. from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
A member of
SAA since 1981, Haury serves on the Publications Board and has been the Publications
Editor since 1994. He has also served on the Task Force on Continuing Education.
He is the author
of ten books, thirteen articles, and several dozen book reviews and conference
papers. In addition, he has served in editorial capacities for a variety
of publications, including MAC Newsletter, Archival Issues,
and Mennonite Life. He currently serves on the editorial board of Kansas
History and is consulting editor of the Mennonite Quarterly Review.
Other professional activities include the Midwest Archives Council, Kansas
State Historical Records Advisory Board, Council of State Historical Records
Coordinators, Kansas Records Board, and Academy of Certified Archivists.
In his candidate
statement, Haury noted that, "Over the past two years the SAA Council has
engaged in strategic planning to strengthen and prioritize the work of SAA,
and Council has changed its own structure to relate better to some eighty
boards, task forces, roundtables, sections and other groups within SAA. I
strongly endorse planning and an evolving structure as the keys to an effective
and well managed professional association. It is through its numerous subgroups
that SAA provides many services to its members. . . .Council has demonstrated
an excellent sense of when it needs more information to make a decision;
i.e., by establishing a task force to gather data and analyze an issue. Most
importantly, having served on the recent task force on continuing education,
I know from first-hand experience that Council empowers and listens to these
task forces."
Haury further
stated, "SAA Council needs to continue to listen to the members. It must
continue to appoint task forces of the members to be its eyes and ears. Then
it must act on the recommendations of the task forces. . . . Strategic planning
is a good way to review recommendations and set priorities. The work of the
task forces must be integrated into the planning process."
MEGAN SNIFFIN-MARINOFF is
the head of Institute Archives and Special Collections at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, since 1999. Prior to that she was an assistant professor
at Simmons College Graduate School of Library & Information Science.
She earned a B.S. in journalism from Boston University; M.A. in history and
a certificate in archives management from New York University; and has completed
Ph.D. coursework in history at Boston University.
A member of
SAA since 1980, Sniffin-Marinoff has served the association in a variety
of capacities: as a faculty advisor to the SAA Student Chapter at Simmons
College, Nominating Committee, Committee on Education and Professional Development,
Archival Educators Roundtable, Public Information Committee, College and
University Archives Steering Committee, Committee on Regional Archival Activity,
and Awards Subcommittees. She is the former president of the New England
Archivists and is a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists and Massachusetts
Historical Records Advisory Board.
In her candidate
statement, Sniffin-Marinoff said that, "Nothing is more frustrating than
spending time--in some cases years--on a task force or committee with the
goal of identifying critical issues needing attention, only to see that work
end up in a report on a shelf or not attended to effectively. It is critical
for Council to help devise ways to follow-up on the hard work of members.
. . . I would suggest that often what works best--and sometimes is forgotten--is
first to make certain that basic and simple approaches are not only in place
but observed. For example, Council must assure that the organization is doing
all it can to share broadly the results of task force work easily and in
a timely manner. "
She added that, "the
inevitable variety of experiences among Council members makes possible the
identification of specific or overlooked areas where integration can occur
and even members who can be tapped to help. Council can and should assist
and cajole those who worked so hard to bring results to fruition to effectively
pass-off information to as wide an audience as possible. At the same time,
Council should be vocal and identify talented new, young and 'underutilized'
members eager for the opportunity to take an idea and run with it as part
of that pass-off. Often, the most effective way to effect change is to find
others with similar needs and to work together. Therefore, Council members
should bring to the table their regional and other professional relationships
outside of SAA to seek ways to effect change through new or strengthened
alliances with others."
Cline, Marquis, and Square to Serve on Nominating Committee
The SAA election
also yielded three members to serve on the 2002 Nominating Committee: Scott
Cline, Kathy Marquis, and Brenda Susan Billups Square. The committee is responsible
for identifying and selecting next year's slate of candidates as well as
drafting questions to be posed to the candidates. Two members of Council,
to be appointed by the incoming president, also serve on the Nominating Committee.
All candidates
for the Nominating Committee were required to respond to the following questions
posed by this year's committee: The charge of the Nominating Committee
is to create a diverse slate of candidates that is as balanced as possible.
How would you define diversity in seeking candidates to run for SAA office?
How will you seek to ensure that, as a member of the Nominating Committee,
you have identified candidates that represent as broadly as possible the
membership of SAA?
SCOTT CLINE is
the city archivist for Seattle and a lecturer at the School of Information,
University of Washington. He has served on many SAA committees and currently
is in the middle of his term as president of the Northwest Archivists.
In his candidate
statement, Cline said that, "Our leadership should reflect the diversity
of our membership. In selecting leaders for SAA we need to recognize that
diversity can mean many things. Diversity, generally, is defined in the socio/cultural
terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. In selecting our
leadership we must also consider the professional and geographic diversity
of our membership. Our members are spread across the breadth of North America
and are employed in many different types of institutions."
KATHY MARQUIS is the head of the reference and access division at the
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. A member of SAA since 1978,
where she has served on many committees, she is also a member of the Midwest
Archives Conference, Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, and Women Historians
of the Midwest Board.
In her candidate statement, she noted that, "Broadly defined, diversity means
understanding that people of a variety of cultures or backgrounds come to a
single organization like SAA with differing goals and values, and widely differing
ways of achieving both. Paying attention to diversity in selecting a slate
of candidates means . . . that SAA understands that representing this diversity
strengthens the association, both by becoming more inclusive, and by taking
advantage of a variety of viewpoints and ways of finding solutions."
BRENDA SUSAN BILLIPS SQUARE is the director of archives and library
at Amistad Research Center of Tulane University. She is a former chair of SAA's
Archives and Archivists of Color Roundtable and a past president of the Louisiana
Archives and Manuscripts Association.
In her candidate statement, Square said that, "The work of the Diversity Task
Force has provided a basic framework that can lead the membership to a greater
understanding of the significance of diversity in the twenty-first century.
In the coming years, SAA will be challenged to assume an even greater position
of leadership in advancing diversity within its leadership and membership ranks
. . . . I would examine the demographics of SAA and work through the existing
structures to organize a diverse slate of candidates. In as much as the Society
has already established the roundtables as a forum for diverse concerns, these
roundtables would be called on to assist the committee in identifying a diverse
slate of candidates for leadership positions."
Ballot Box
The 2001 ballot was mailed on February 28th to 2,847 individual members of
the Society of American Archivists who were asked to vote for a vice president/president-elect,
three Council members, and three members to serve on the Nominating Committee.
Twenty-nine percent of the ballots mailed were cast (828), which is a slight
decrease in voter participation from last year's election (see table).
SAA thanks all candidates for standing for office, congratulates those elected,
and welcomes them to important leadership positions.
Trends in SAA Voter Participation
| Year |
Ballots Mailed |
Votes Cast |
Participation % |
| 2001 |
2,847 |
828 |
29% |
| 2000 |
2,910 |
879 |
30% |
| 1999 |
2,957 |
794 |
27% |
| 1998 |
3,149 |
889 |
28% |
| 1997 |
3,209 |
902 |
28% |
Thank You!
A special thank you to the official SAA ballot counters--Becky Haglund Tousey,
Michael Bullington, Laura Graedel, and Rebecca Hartman--for volunteering a
morning of their time to tabulate the votes cast in the 2001 SAA election.
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