The NDSR Advisory Group seeks seven volunteers to serve 1-year terms steering the body’s stewardship of NDSR program resources, development, and sustainability. Please read the statements provided by the candidates nominated by your peers from current and completed NDSR programs and then proceed below to select as many of seven of them to serve in the Advisory Group in 2019. This ballot will remain open through Sunday, November 25. Questions about it or the body may be directed to the Advisory Group at: advisoryboard@ndsr-program.org. Thank you for voting!
Candidates:
Ashley Blewer works at the intersection of archival practice and technological implementation. She specializes in time-based media preservation, digital repository management, infrastructure/community building, computer-to-human interpretation, and teaching technical concepts. She works at Artefactual Systems, Inc. as their AV Preservation Specialist on the open source, OAIS-based preservation actions framework, Archivematica. As AV Preservation Specialist, she writes and maintains software, provides expertise in complex digital media, and provides technical support and training for clients such as the Museum of Modern Art, Denver Art Museum, Tate Galleries, and UCLA. She is an active contributor to MediaArea’s MediaConch, a open source digital video file conformance checker software project, and Bay Area Video Coalition’s QCTools, an open source digitized video analysis software project. She holds Master of Library and Information Science (Archives) and Bachelor of Arts (Graphic Design) degrees from the University of South Carolina. She has been invited to provide instruction and training on introductory command line, FFmpeg, and digital file format verification programs to cultural heritage professionals at various skill levels internationally. Her training materials for these various workshops, talks, and conference organization experience are available online at her AV Preservation Training website and Talks pages. She is passionate about the future of education for emerging digital preservation leaders and is eager to support the “transparent, participatory, and accessible” strategy of the National Digital Stewardship Residency program in its diverse and ever-changing future endeavors.
Charlotte Kostelic. I am Charlotte Kostelic and I hope to continue to support the greater NDSR community as a member of the National NDSR Advisory Group. In 2017 I was the NDSR at the Library of Congress and Royal Collection Trust (UK) where I completed a project related to metadata interoperability for digital collections in the United States and United Kingdom. My NDSR cohort and the support that they provided was invaluable for my experience as a resident and I hope to serve on the National NDSR Advisory Board to support and advocate for future residents. In my current position as Digital Collections Specialist at the Library of Congress, I support the stewardship and maintenance of born-digital collections across curatorial divisions of the Library. The residency experience was an important step in my career in digital stewardship and I hope to be able to help identify new institutions and communities that can continue the NDSR program. The resources that the Advisory Group has created to support potential NDSR administrators are valuable and can ease the grant application process. I hope to be able to encourage more applicants to use the resources to apply for funding for NDSR cohorts while also supporting residencies that are inclusive and fairly compensated.
Coral Salomón. I am interested in serving on the National Digital Stewardship Residency advisory body because I want to promote the NDSR program across different communities and offer guidance where needed. I was part of the inaugural NDSR Art cohort, where I explored preservation issues surrounding born-digital art collections and resources at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to this, I was a fellow at the Frick Art Reference Library and worked at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, where I helped create the sole digital archive dedicated to the history of the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States. I am particularly interested in promoting NDSR in Spanish-speaking communities and institutions that are not aware that this resource exists. I would like to promote NDSR in Puerto Rico, since cultural institutions in the archipelago are struggling due to federally imposed austerity measures and are still recovering from the damage caused by hurricane Maria. As a former NSDR resident, I would also like to offer support and provide recommendations to strengthen and ensure the longevity of the program. I want to contribute my time and efforts in making a difference in the NDSR program.
Dave Rice. Hi, as the Director of Media Library and Archives at CUNY Television I’ve served as a co-mentor in NYC-NDSR and AAPB-NDSR and actively participated in the development and growth of NDSR. For the last year, I’ve served as an advisory board member and would like to do so again. As a program focused on advancing the digital stewardship capabilities of our communities, I’m very interested in participating in, encouraging, and guiding this crucial program.
Jeanne Kramer-Smyth. NDSR Host Mentor, World Bank Group, NDSR-DC 2013-14 & 2016-17. I am particularly interested in increasing diversity in program hosts and residents, ensuring sustainability of the NDSR program, increasing awareness of NDSR and its work, and providing feedback and structure for NDSR administrators and prospective hosts. As an archivist at an international organization I can bring a perspective from outside government and academia, while my prior career in database software design and development enables me to bring hands-on tech experience to the table. I have additional relevant experience in blogging, social media, information architecture, web content, review of project proposals, and building connections across communities.
Judy Ruttenberg. As a two-time NDSR host and mentor since 2013, I have seen the program’s value first-hand—from the talent it attracts to the quality of educational and professional opportunities it offers to the selected residents. As a Program Director at the Association of Research Libraries, I have an abiding interest strengthening and coordinating digital stewardship activity within our member organizations and within the library community broadly. I am interested in serving on the NDSR Advisory Group in order to help make strategic connections between this program and similar workforce transformation initiatives in the research library community, and to bring the perspective of research library leadership to NDSR’s continued development.
Peggy Griesinger. Hi everyone! I’m Peggy, an NDSR-NY alumnus resident and co-author (with my former cohort) of the NDSR-centric paper, “What makes a digital steward: A competency profile based on the National Digital Stewardship Residencies” (2016). As evidenced by my continued involvement with my cohort, I am a strong believer in the importance of the cohort model as a key to success for NDSR programs. As an Advisory Group member, I would focus on developing the cohort model even further, to ensure that all NDSR participants have a fulfilling and enriching experience in the program. I am also interested in expanding the reach of NDSR to include more participants from underrepresented groups, as well as new geographic areas, LAM specializations, and institution types. I believe that the NDSR program is built on a great foundation, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to make it even better.
Shira Peltzman. I am a passionate believer in the value of both the National Digital Stewardship Residency program and the role it has played in cultivating a new generation of digital stewards. With only one iteration of the NDSR program (NDSR Art) currently active, the NDSR community faces formidable challenges around sustainability: How do we foster future iterations of NDSR? What can we do to improve diversity among participants and hosts alike? How can we encourage expansion and evolution of the NDSR model while still retaining the core features that have made previous cohorts such a success? As an inaugural member of the Advisory Group I have helped get these important conversations off the ground. I am deeply committed to Advisory Group’s mission, and if re-elected, I will continue to work toward strategies that address these challenges and concerns.
Oya Y. Rieger. It is a great pleasure to express my interest in joining the NDSR Advisory Group. As a previous member of the Art Advisory Group, I am familiar with the mission and work of the initiative in fostering and promoting national efforts to improve digital stewardship across disciplines. Throughout my career, I’ve overseen a wide range of digital stewardship programs including digital scholarship, digitization, preservation, conservation, research data management, digital humanities, and special collections. I spearheaded grant funded projects to create digital preservation workshops, develop preservation strategies, conduct research on new media archiving, implement preservation programs in Asia, design digital curation curriculum, and design alternative sustainability models. I believe in the power of collaboration as we continue to strengthen the residency program and implement new strategies to broaden diversity and inclusivity of both individuals and programs involved in the initiative. I am particularly interested in the organizational aspects of digital stewardship, such as the creation, implementation, and assessment of business and sustainability models.
Snowden Becker. Working with the NDSR Advisory Group to create foundational documents and a sense of mission in 2018 has been a terrific experience. In the year to come, I would look forward to helping onboard new Advisory Group members and ensure continuity in our work; supporting the development of new NDSR projects and funding prospects; and working to further delineate the specific competencies, skills, and project parameters that contribute to successful outcomes for digital stewardship initiatives in a wide range of settings.
Tali Han. I am the primary mentor for resident Jean Moylan (2018-2019 NDSR Art Resident), who is exploring how digital audiovisual materials are stored, described and preserved on an institution-wide level with the goal of identifying any existing gaps in the digital preservation infrastructure and ultimately suggest improvements. As the main liaison between the resident and various departments, I will ensure that her findings and suggestions from the residency are implemented and incorporated in the long-term. During the past several months as a host and mentor, I have experienced and benefitted from the strong network and community of NDSR. If elected as a national NDSR Advisory Group member for the 2019 term, I hope to give back to the community through outreach and promotion of the NDSR activities and mission especially in the arts. I wear multiple hats in my current position at the Guggenheim and understand the challenges of advocating for the department as well as working collaboratively to promote digital stewardship across the institution and stakeholders. With my experience managing several grant-funded projects on preservation and access, and collaborating with institutions to host and mentor fellows, I hope to offer support and guidance in areas that I can contribute. I hope to use this opportunity to share my enthusiasm for collaborative problem solving and experience in digital stewardship aligned with the NDSR mission.
Vicki Tobias. I am the program coordinator for Curating Community Digital Collections, a program modeled on the NDSR residency program. I’m also an instructor for the UW-Madison iSchool, focused on Archives and technology-related courses. I welcome the opportunity to share my experience with NDSR and become more involved in their work. Thank you for your consideration.
NDSR 