As the Chief Records Officer and the Chief Law Librarian of the New York State Unified Court System, much of my work is administrative, but my work has also included working personally on a giant years-long inventory of all of our oldest records, from 1674 on, and working in amazingly dirty conditions.
As a kid, I wanted to be a “fireman” or a “policeman,” as those were the only known choices. I didn’t know what my dad was, because it was too amorphous, and because he started his career as a CIA analyst.
My little known hobby or talent is, though this isn’t little known, I spend much of my time making poems, essays, drawings, and sculptures (often with references to archives), and documenting these creations in a huge relational database that serves as a catalogue raisonne.
I joined and stay with MARAC because I believe in making connections. Part of the allure to archives for me is that archives connect to other bodies of records and facts in the past and they allow us to imagine those pasts through the natural human act to connect.
Any position(s) held in MARAC: Chair, Caucus Chair, Steering Committee Member-at-Large, Local Arrangements Chair, Program Chair, and others.
Why I chose to volunteer: I have volunteered for the connection to people and the ability to help create MARAC’s and our future.
My recommendation to anyone interested in getting involved is: Ask to be involved, and do it in person, or directly with an email or call. My integration into MARAC was slowed because I originally volunteered annually on a form when I paid my dues. That didn’t work.
Final words: Let’s get together for an in-person MARAC meeting soon!
