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Joining ART as a Board Member

This May, ART will hold elections for 5 different positions. The term of each position is two years, a length of time which allows each member to contribute their unique expertise to the archival community within these collaborative roles. Read below to learn about the experience of transitioning directors.


President Karen Jamison Trivette

Serving the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (ART) as its President has been not only an honor but also a true pleasure. During my tenure, I've had the privilege to work alongside remarkable professionals, both on and off the Board of Directors, who all exhibited the utmost in dependability and great spirit. I truly cannot say enough about how wonderful it has been to work on such a strong team; leading it has been virtually effortless! The effort I did take -- whether it was to write reports, coordinate meetings, or initiate various projects -- was a joy to experience. I encourage any of you with an interest in developing your leadership skills and serving your professional community to consider running for Vice-President/President-Elect/Past-President of ART. Your service will reward you as much as it will reward your colleagues!

Contact me with questions: president@nycarchivists.org

Vice President Cristina Vignone

It has been a truly rewarding experience serving as ART’s Vice President. This role is unique in that after a year of service, it transforms into the Presidential role. While this may seem intimidating, I have found that working closely with the President and each of the committee directors in my Vice Presidential capacity is the perfect way to prepare for ultimately assuming the duties of the President. Everything you need to know to become President—how each committee operates, how to function as the official spokesperson of the organization, how to preside at meetings of the Board—I have observed while carrying out my Vice Presidential duties. If you’re interested in growing your leadership and communication skills in addition to becoming familiar with the inner workings of the ART organization and its incredible members, you should consider applying for the Vice President/President/Past-President position.

Contact me with questions: veep@nycarchivists.org

Director of Outreach Lindsay Anderberg, 

Serving as the Director of the Outreach Committee of Archivists Round Table is a way to make connections to local communities, hone organization and leadership skills, and flex your creative muscles. Organizing and leading meetings and events used to be quite intimidating to me, but they are now things that I feel comfortable and confident doing. In fact, I now look forward to organizing our spring event because it is a chance for me to produce the kind of event that I would want to attend.

My first year as Outreach Director this event was Death Records, a look at how professionals-- both archivists and non-archivists-- collect and use death records and tips for the general public who may be interested in preserving or uncovering family histories. The following spring we organized an event with a completely different theme: oral histories and the impact on NYC communities (Meant to be Heard: Voices from the community).

This freedom in event planning is a wonderful opportunity to build community involvement in ways that are personally meaningful, as well as to be inventive with the structure of the event itself. Organizing the annual k-12 Archives Education Institute connected me to teachers, a community of archives users that I wouldn't normally interact with through my job, but this connection strengthened my pedagogical techniques when teaching with primary sources at my home institution. I'm not only proud of the work I've done as the director of this committee, but I've also gained transferable skills in leadership, community outreach, and event planning. If you are someone who cares about your archives community and your NYC community, Director of the Outreach Committee is a perfect fit for you.

Contact me with questions: outreach@nycarchivists.org

Secretary Katherine Martinez

My approach to the role of Secretary was to consider how ART workflows for communication could be improved internally as well as within our member network. At the start of my term, this entailed an evaluation of areas where platforms and processes were in need of simplification or updates.

1. Website Management
Prior to my joining, the board did not have a point person for the website which led to inconsistent editing, design, and overall, an unwieldy history spanning almost 7 years. I felt this was a priority as the core source of information for our community outside of meetups. Although it was not technically written into the Secretary job description, the traditional role of this position is to manage correspondence and records, which I see the website as a modern equivalent.

Performing a content inventory, revising the structure of the site, and updating the theme, took almost a full year.


2. Establishing Cloud Storage, Moving to Gmail
Connecting the board through Google Drive exposed how much documentation was created through the course of our work, and ways this content could assist new members as they begin their term. We have been working together to create manuals, schedules of recurring dates, and other resources to facilitate the progress of ART during the year. In connection with setting up Drive, I also urged the board to migrate from GoDaddy accounts to Gmail, which former Treasurer, Michael Andrec, spent several months completing.

3. Simplifying Minutes Workflow
One of the more straightforward responsibilities of Secretary is to take minutes during our monthly meetings. Each member would create notes in separate templates and save in a variety of formats (pdf, word, google doc). The board now compiles meeting notes into a single google doc which may be downloaded as a pdf later. This not only made the process easier in the creation stage, it maintains fonts and styles, and keeps our final files organized (before / after).

I have witnessed how each position is molded by the individual and when matched with the right interests, can be an incredibly rewarding form of professional development. I highly recommend running for a seat on the board.  

Contact me with questions: secretary@nycarchivists.org

Director of Membership Rebecca Chandler

As the Director of Membership, I have been given the privilege and opportunity to serve the community. It may not be the flashiest of positions, but it has appealed to my sense of organization and given me pleasure knowing I have helped make the organization run more smoothly than it may have otherwise. Through events and outreach to MLIS students, I have helped to strengthen ART's place in the field, as well as my own. I leave my position on the ART board with improved leadership and event planning skills and more rooted in the community. I was first attracted to ART due to its community and approachability; serving on the board has further impressed on me that those qualities remain true.

Contact me with questions: membership@nycarchivists.org

Director of Communications Rossy Mendez

It has been an honor to serve as Director of Communications for ART. ART is an active and engaged organization that hosts numerous workshops and events and as such, the position entails keeping abreast of happenings both within and outside ART’s domain. In addition to posting to social media channels and sending emails to our constituents, the position involves a great deal of collaboration with other ART committees and outside archival groups. Together we developed promotional strategies and found ways to reach those in the archival community and beyond. The position was not without its challenges but it was a tremendous learning experience. The committee explored new platforms to increase our base and our engagement with our constituents. It started to disseminate news beyond ART events to include the archival community at large. On a personal level I have learned a great deal about time reaching audiences and communicating messages which has been invaluable in my professional life. I think the position could be a great opportunity for any archivist who is interested in learning more about making archives accessible or who just enjoys sharing archival news.

Contact me with questions: communications@nycarchivists.org

Deadline for nomination submissions is 07 June 2018, midnight EDT.

Learn more and submit your nomination


Questions? communications@nycarchivists.org

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