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SAA
Names Seven New Fellows
November 2000
Seven members
were named Fellows of the Society of American Archivists on August 31,
2000, during an awards ceremony at SAA's 64th annual meeting in Denver.
Bruce Ambacher, Jackie Dooley, Anne Gilliland-Swetland, Kristi Kiesling,
Philip Mooney, Richard Szary and Kenneth Thibodeau received the highest
honor bestowed on individuals by SAA, thus joining 127 current members
so honored. Established in 1957 and conferred annually, this distinction
is awarded to a limited number of individuals for their outstanding contributions
to the archival profession.
The Committee
for the Selection of SAA Fellows evaluates nominees on the following criteria:
appropriate academic education and professional and technical training;
a minimum of seven years professional experience in any of the fields
encompassed in the archival profession; writing of superior quality and
usefulness in advancing SAA objectives; and contributions to the archival
profession through work in and for SAA.
As specified
by the SAA constitution, election as Fellow is by 75 percent vote of the
Committee for the Selection of SAA Fellows. The committee consists of
the five immediate past presidents of SAA and three Fellows selected by
Council. The members this year were William J. Maher (chair), Luciana
Duranti, Nicholas C. Burckel, Brenda Banks, Maygene Daniels, Timothy L.
Ericson, William K. Wallach, and Elizabeth Yakel.
Following
are citations given by presenters during the awards ceremony.
Bruce
Ambacher
Jackie Dooley
Anne Gilliland-Swetland
Kristi Kiesling
Philip Mooney
Richard V. Szary
Kenneth Thibodeau
See also
"And the 2000 SAA Awards Go To..."
Back to SAA Recognitions home page
Bruce
Ambacher
Bruce Ambacher
has held a variety of positions at the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) since 1976, and he has been a member of SAA for more than 20 years.
He has served both NARA and the profession exceptionally well. At NARA
he has been recognized for exceptional service five separate times, including
more recently in his current capacity as special assistant to the director
of the Electronic and Special Media Records Services Division. While his
publications include several historical pieces, his major research contributions
have dealt with records management and electronic records. He has presented
his research at a number of national and regional professional meetings,
including SAA, ARMA, NAGARA, and MARAC. Within SAA Bruce has co-chaired
both the host and program committees, and chaired sections on government
records and acquisitions and appraisal. Bruce served as associate editor
of the Mid-Atlantic Archivist and MARAC president, and he is currently
treasurer of the National Archives Assembly, having served earlier as
its vice president and president. He also teaches the "Administration
of Archives and Manuscripts" course at George Mason University and is
the electronic records instructor for the Modern Archives Institute.
In his
electronic records role at NARA, Bruce has dealt with such sensitive issues
as updating the FBI's records schedule, evaluation of CIA records, preservation
of the PROFS case electronic records, and coordination of the agency's
participation in the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Bruce is also
contributing to an effort to develop an ISO standard for an Open Archival
Information System.
For his
past and continuing contributions to SAA and the profession, we are proud
to welcome Bruce Ambacher as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.
—Nicholas C. Burckel,
Marquette University
Jackie
Dooley
Many of
us were probably first introduced to Jackie Dooley through her 1988 article "An Introduction to Authority Control for Archivists" (Archival Informatics
Newsletter and Technical Reports, part 2, summer 1988), a cogent
and clear explanation, as one supporter wrote, "of a critically important
concept [which] helped many an archivist enter the world of online information
retrieval with a real understanding of the power of indexing and shared
vocabulary." As head of Special Collections and University Archives at
the University of California, Irvine and throughout her career, Jackie
has "energized the development of national standards for intellectual
access to visual materials, archives and special collections." She has
argued persuasively in papers, articles, and committee meetings for archivists
to provide more subject indexing, for standardized form and genre terms,
and authority-controlled headings so that varied user communities could
locate relevant research resources in both published and unpublished
sources.
She has cajoled her colleagues to improve descriptive approaches and
preached an adherence to national standards.
Jackie's
work with visual materials, rare books and archives has provided her
with a somewhat unique understanding and perspective on the issues
facing archives
and special collections libraries, which has led her to recognize the
intersection of interests among archivists, special collections librarians,
and other professionals in cultural agencies. Through her considerable
political skills and her network of colleagues, she has worked to bring
these communities together in a variety of projects and programs. According
to one admirer, Jackie sees "professional affinities where others ignore
them," and she emphasizes "those affinities for the benefit of users of
information worldwide." This ability to bring people together to work
toward common goals is one of the hallmarks of Jackie's career. Her professional
vision is one of inclusion, where a variety of cultural agencies with
common goals, shared needs, and a variety of methods and tools come together
for mutual benefit.
As an example,
Jackie played an indispensable role in contributing to the development
and success of Encoded Archival Description (EAD). In the early 1990s,
Daniel Pitti, the chief architect of EAD, and his colleagues at the
University
of California, Berkeley were attempting to build a system for machine-readable
finding aids. They envisioned, according to Pitti "only a local, provisional
solution." Jackie encouraged a totally different solution, one that encompassed
a national and ultimately international effort, a solution that was based
on engaging the wider community. Her contributions did not rest there,
however, as she became a leading member of the development team, taking
on the task of organizing two special issues of the American Archivist devoted
to EAD (vol. 60, nos. 3 & 4), assuming editorial responsibilities
for the EAD Tag Library (SAA, 1998) and the EAD Application
Guidelines (SAA, 1999), and working to ensure EAD's emergence as a
standard.
For her
ability to move us all beyond the walls of our separate repositories,
libraries and archives in the interest of the common good, please join
me in recognizing Jackie Dooley as a Fellow of the Society of American
Archivists.
—William K. Wallach,
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
Anne
Gilliland-Swetland
It is with
great happiness that I announce the selection of Anne Gilliland-Swetland
as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA). Anne's contributions
to the archival profession have been both varied and significant. In the
areas of research and writing, professional service and teaching, she
has helped to move the archival profession forward and better prepared
to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
Anne is
a leading researcher in the area of electronic records and digital technologies.
From examining electronic conferencing, to designing an expert system
for the appraisal of electronic mail, to examining ways in which archival
materials could be presented on the World Wide Web to enhance instruction
in the K-12 environment, to the current InterPARES (International Research
on Permanent Authentic Electronic Records in Electronic Systems) project
that addresses the problems of maintaining the authenticity of electronic
records of enduring value over time, Anne has made significant contributions
to the archival knowledge bases in the digital realm.
Professional
service is a prominent feature on Anne's resumé. She served on
SAA Council and on numerous SAA committees; yet this only represents
a
small portion of her professional service. Anne is also active in regional
organizations and has been a member of advisory and review committees
for archives across the country. As in her research, Anne's professional
service has an international dimension. She was also selected by Monash
University in Australia to be an international expert reviewer for the
SPIRT (Recordkeeping Metadata Standards for Managing and Accessing Information
Resources in Networked Environments Over Time for Government, Commerce,
Social, and Cultural Purposes) research project.
Perhaps
no area impacts the future of the archival profession more than teaching.
First at the University of Michigan and since 1995 as an assistant professor
at the University of California at Los Angeles, Anne has taught and helped
to shape the next generation of archivists. Over the years, I have seen
her interact with and encourage students not only to understand archival
concepts, but also to challenge traditional paradigms. Following her example,
many of Anne's students are also professionally active and frequent contributors
to archival publications.
A colleague
noted "Anne may have begun her career in the Old World, but she has taken
the New World by storm." Anne's energy has always impressed me, but when
I think of her I often think of the other things she has shared with
us:
friendship, enthusiasm, and wry, insightful humor. It is a pleasure for
me to be the first to officially congratulate Anne on her election as
a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.
—Elizabeth Yakel,
University of Michigan
Kris
Kiesling
It is a
special thrill for me to introduce Kris Kiesling as a Fellow of the
Society of American Archivists. I first met Kris in the late 1970s
at
the University of Minnesota's Social Welfare History Archives, where
we were both introduced to archival work. Later, after her graduate
education
at the University of Michigan, Kris successfully competed for one of
the prized positions in American archives, that of head of the Department
of Manuscripts and Archives at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research
Center,
University of Texas at Austin. Kris has built a truly impressive archival
career and her contributions to the Society of American Archivists
over
the past decade have been little less than remarkable. Those who nominated
her for this honor showered her with adjectives modifying her qualities,
adverbs modifying her actions, and superlatives when regular adjectives
and adverbs just wouldn't do—and rightly so. They called her exceptional,
outstanding, extraordinary, tireless, innovative, intelligent, committed,
stunning, resourceful, devoted, eloquent, and most interestingly, she
was described as a "human Rosetta stone" and a "veritable human lightning
rod."
So, why
all the fuss about Kristi Kiesling? Simply put, Kris has for the past
several years been at the center of a sea change in archival descriptive
standards and practice. While her professional activism includes major
SAA committee assignments and collaborative projects such as leading RLG's
primary resources initiative and directing a statewide effort known as
the Texas Archival Resources Online, Kris is best known perhaps for her
tireless efforts along with others to develop Encoded Archival Description
(EAD). She quickly realized EAD would be an important addition to the
descriptive tools available to the archival community.
Through
her leadership roles on the Committee on Archival Information Exchange
and as chair of the EAD Working Group she explored the potential of EAD
and promoted its use. Kris was instrumental in securing funding for the
development of EAD, establishing the organizational structure within SAA
through which EAD could evolve, negotiating with the Library of Congress
for shared governance of EAD, establishing EAD as a new archival descriptive
standard, and serving as taskmaster for, as well as co-contributor to,
the EAD Tag Library (SAA, 1998) and the EAD Application Guidelines
(SAA, 1999).
Additionally,
through SAA's EAD workshop, which she co-developed and co-taught more
than 32 times, she has introduced more than one thousand archivists
to
this powerful descriptive tool. As one supporter wrote, "her expertise
in archival description and her calm certainty about the importance of
improving finding aid structures helped us all reach beyond legacy data
practices." For her leadership abilities, her organizational skills,
her productivity, her thorough understanding of her chosen specialty
in archival
description, and her talent to convey technical knowledge to colleagues
in a compelling and comprehensible manner, please join me in welcoming
Kris Kiesling as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.
—William K. Wallach,
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan
Philip
Mooney
Philip
Mooney is, in the words of one nomination supporter, "the business archivist's
archivist. The archival program at the Coca-Cola Company is no archival
theory; it is one of the most successful and long-running corporate archival
programs in the country and a model to which most other business archivists
aspire. Phil has built this program in an environment that is not known
for supporting archival endeavors. That he has been managing this program
in the private sector for 23 years is a testimony to his skill and talent."
In addition
to building the program at Coca-Cola, Phil Mooney gives generously of
his time, his energy, and his knowledge to colleagues in the profession.
An SAA member since 1969, he served on the Archives and Society Task Force,
and as one of the early leaders in the Business Archives Section he helped
to make the section one of the most active and productive groups in the
SAA. Phil has served on numerous program and local arrangements committees;
chaired the Nominating Committee; and became an instrumental player in
the formation and development of the Academy of Certified Archivists.
Phil's
record of publication rivals or exceeds many of his peers based in academic
settings. Most recently he has contributed chapters in Advocating Archives
(SAA, 1994) and the Records of American Business (SAA, 1997).
Over the years Phil's writing has reminded us that scholarship and academic
values are not the only justifications for archives—concerns such
as trademark, licensing, marketing, and the bottom line have their place
as well.
To many,
Phil Mooney is best known for his longstanding tenure as an instructor
in the SAA workshop "Business Archives: The Basics and Beyond," which
he began teaching in 1979. In this role he has helped to launch the careers
of many business archivists. As one put it, "I have carried the lessons
learned during the business archives workshop with me to the professional
realm, and continue to draw upon them in my daily work." As another supporter
observed, "Phil Mooney is to business archives education what Cats was
to Broadway, except that Phil has had a longer run!"
Perhaps
his most important contribution has been, as one recent workshop student
wrote, as a "welcoming," "affable," and "approachable" representative
of SAA and the profession generally. One colleague who first joined SAA
in the 1970s recalled, "As a new member...I was eager to participate
in SAA activities, but was uncertain how to get involved. I recall Phil's
encouraging and friendly introduction to SAA when we just happened to
sit next to one another as a session. Since there was no briefing at
that
time for first-time attendees or new SAA members I was particularly grateful
for this engaging description of the organization and how it worked."
So for
these and other contributions, the SAA is very pleased to say "thanks" to
Phil Mooney and welcome him as a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.
—
Timothy L. Ericson, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
Richard
V. Szary
A most
distinguished group of archivists has recognized Richard V. Szary for
his consistent excellence as an archivist at the Smithsonian Institution
and Yale University and as a seminal thinker and leader of the profession,
who employs new technology to improve descriptive and user access.
What
is most notable, however, is the constant theme among his colleagues
that Richard is "not one to seek or dominate the limelight, but he is always
there, lending his expertise, supporting the work of others, and advancing
our field." Others note that "He focuses on actually solving complex,
difficult issues of archival access, not on promoting his own persona,
pronouncements, or predilections." At the same time, Richard's solid
intellect and mode of analysis has enabled him to make visionary contributions
to
the development of descriptive practice, especially in the area of authority
control, standards, and Encoded Archival Description.
Following
Asian Studies graduate work at the University of Illinois, Richard worked
from 1975 to 1988 at the Smithsonian Institution, first in the archives
and then in the Office of Information Resource Management. At Yale
University
since 1988, Richard has earned a strong reputation as a leader and highly
effective archivist. In a tough, competitive academic environment,
Richard
has obtained $1.5 million in institutional support to rebuild the Yale
University Archives, no doubt through his quiet, persistent, and thoroughly
professional advocacy for archives, heritage, and user services. A
cosmopolitan
roster of supporters of Szary's nomination praised him for his visionary
leadership in international description standards. Few would disagree
with one reviewer's comment that Richard's work at Yale to be the most
important of his many contributions to this profession. Through election
to Fellow of the Society of American Archivists, we honor the model
he
provides of an intelligent, passionate, compassionate, and dedicated
archivist who is indeed one of the "quiet giants" of the profession.
—William J. Maher,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kenneth
Thibodeau
I am honored
to announce the election of a Fellow who has distinguished himself and
our profession through his strategic vision and leadership in the effort
to resolve critical issues in archival administration of electronic records.
Kenneth Thibodeau began his career in 1971 as a teacher of the history
of science and great books at the University of Notre Dame. In 1975 he
joined the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as an archivist
in the original Machine-Readable Archives Division, which then was engaged
in early efforts to manage digital data. From 1978 to 1988, he was responsible
for records management at the National Institutes of Health and was involved
in strategic planning for information resources there, an experience which
gave him important practical knowledge of the needs and problems of creators
and users of digital data.
In 1988,
Ken returned to NARA as the new director of electronic records programs.
Since then, he has had a key role in developing responses to key issues
in the archival management of electronic records in the federal government
and beyond. Under his leadership, the NARA Center for Electronic Records
has formulated integrated solutions for tracking and preserving electronic
records with permanent value. The Archival Preservation System, which
evolved under his guidance, established a technically sophisticated means
to preserve major data files that made it possible for NARA to successfully
respond to critical legal requirements. The Center's Electronic Records
Inspection and Control System automated the verification process for accessioning
electronic data.
Beyond
these accomplishments, Ken has served his profession through his tireless
efforts to promote an understanding of electronic records in the larger
archival community. He has sought opportunities to explain issues and
strategies for managing electronic records—publishing widely and
giving an astonishing 75 presentations during the past 12 years alone.
He has recognized the importance of electronic records in the international
arena and used his knowledge and professional standing to advance discussion
within the International Council on Archives. He has worked with designers
of information systems to establish a broader understanding of archival
requirements.
Ken is
known for his generosity in sharing his knowledge, for his ability to
present complex ideas with clarity, for his skill in working with his
colleagues to accomplish practical goals to serve the American people.
He is a model archivist in our complex new electronic world, and for this
we are honored to name him a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists.
—Maygene Daniels, National
Gallery of Art
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