Candidates for Secretary
Mary Ellen Ducey
Jennie Thomas
Mary Ellen Ducey
Background
Employment: University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, University of Nebraska Lincoln-Libraries, Assistant Professor, 1999-2005, Associate Professor, 2005-present; Special Collections Librarian/Archivist, I.D. Weeks Library, University of South Dakota, 1996-1999.
Education: M.A., History, University of South Dakota, 1999; M.L.S., Indiana University, Bloomington, 1995; B.A., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1988.
Selected Professional Activities: MAC: 1996-present; Local Arrangement Committee Co-Chair (Omaha), 2017 Spring Meeting; Nominating Committee Chair (2017); Council, 2013-2016; Archival Issues Editorial Board, 2009-2012; Education Task Force, 2009-2010; Education Committee, Chair, 2003-2007, Member, 2000-2007; Program Committee (St. Louis), 2008-2009, Strategic Planning Meeting, 2006; Local Arrangements Committee Co-Chair, (Omaha) 2005-2006; Program Committee Co-Chair (Bloomington, IN), 2004-2005; Program Committee (Rapid City), 2001-2002; Program Committee (Lincoln) 1998-1999; Bowen Memorial Scholarship Committee, 1998-2000.
Other: International Quilt Study Center & Museum (IQSCM) Fellow, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2001-present; Center for Great Plains Studies (CGPS) Fellow and Board, 2009-present. Nebraska Center for the Book Board Member and Officer, 2008-2017, President, 2015-2017.
Question for Candidate: The MAC secretary has many duties and responsibilities working with individuals and officers within the MAC organization. How will you manage these relationships and tasks so that they are carried out in a timely manner and ensure your accessibility to MAC members and officers?
Response from Secretary Candidate Mary Ellen Ducey:
I appreciate the opportunity to continue to support MAC as a candidate for secretary. Throughout my years as a MAC member, I have seen how collaboration and teamwork enhance MAC as an organization. My experience and knowledge are a good fit for the position, particularly as many of the characteristics and skills are familiar to me in my professional role of University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. For example, I am accurate, detail oriented, and organized. I recognize that clear and consistent communication and the ability to listen well are vital in order to keep MAC members informed and engaged. I have implemented these skills in many organizational settings. I am ready to respond to emails and phone calls, or other technology, and to successfully take on important tasks. I understand that attention to time management is imperative, particularly during the increased activities of fall and spring meetings. I am familiar with project management principles and see them as valuable guidelines to accomplish goals and objectives. My experience in building and maintaining a strong relationship with MAC and its members, as well as my enthusiasm for learning, and my determination to do my best is a strong asset. I look forward to the exciting opportunity to be a part of the MAC team and to continue to give my time to add to its ongoing success.
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Jennie Thomas
Employment
Director of Archives, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, 2016-present (Head Archivist, 2010-2016; Archivist, 2009-2010); Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Maryland University College, 2003-2007 (Adjunct Professor, 2001-2002); Marilyn Crandell Schleg Archivist & Special Collections Librarian / United Methodist Church West Michigan Conference Archivist, Albion College, 2000-2009; Library Technician / Archival Assistant, UMUC, 1999-2000.
Education
M.A., Humanities with a focus in identity & community: humanities in a global culture, Central Michigan University, 2009; M.L.S. with a specialty in archives, records & information management, University of Maryland College Park, 2000; B.A., Music, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 1995.
Professional Activities
MAC: Member since 2000; Secretary, 2017-2019; Council, 2014-2017; Publications Coordinator, 2015-2017; Newsletter Redesign Task Force, 2012-2014; MAC Newsletter Editor, 2011-2014; Archival Issues Publications Review Editor and Editorial Board, 2005-2011; session chair Spring 2009, Fall 2003 meetings; presentations at Spring 2002, 2012-2014 meetings.
SAA: Member since 1998; Publications Board, 2016-2020; Annual Meeting Host Committee co-chair, 2015; Museum Archives Section co-chair, 2013-2014; Annual Meeting Program Committee, 2013; Mentor, 2008-2010, 2013-2016; Preservation Publication Award Subcommittee chair, 2008-2009, member, 2006-2008; Women Archivists Roundtable Steering Committee member and web liaison, 2004-2010; presentations at 2012, 2015 conferences.
Other: Archives Leadership Institute, 2017; RAAC representative for Cleveland Archival Roundtable (CAR) and Education Committee member, 2016-2018; Society of Ohio Archivists (SOA) Advocacy & Outreach Committee co-chair, 2015-2016; DPLA Ohio Sustainability Working Group, 2015-2016; NHPRC Access to Historical Records grant reviewer, 2014, 2015; SOA Archives Month Subcommittee, 2014; Cleveland Archival Roundtable Steering Committee, 2013-2018; Michigan Academic Library Council Special Collections Information Task Force, 2008-2009; Michigan Archival Association (MAA) conference coordinator, 2007-2009; MAA Annual Conference Program Committee chair, 2007, co-chair, 2005; MAA Annual Conference Local Arrangement Committee chair, 2006; MAA Board, 2004-2007; AccessMichigan Fine Arts State Database Review Team, 2003; presentations at Society of Ohio Archivists, Michigan Archival Association, Music Library Association Midwest Chapter, MARAC, Post45, and Michigan Library Consortium meetings, 2006, 2009-2014, 2017.
Publications: “Preserving Rock and Roll History on the Northcoast,” eds. Scott Carlson and Norie Guthrie, Music Preservation and Archiving Today, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2018. “Using Blacklight for Archival Discovery,” Exploring Discovery: The Front Door to a Library’s Licensed and Digitized Content, Ed. Kenneth J. Varnum, ALA, 2016. Articles in Ohio Archivist, Open Entry, MAC Newsletter, and RAO News.
Question for Candidate: The MAC secretary has many duties and responsibilities working with individuals and officers within the MAC organization. How will you manage these relationships and tasks so that they are carried out in a timely manner and ensure your accessibility to MAC members and officers?
Response from Secretary Candidate Jennie Thomas:
From my first term as MAC secretary, I’ve learned this position sometimes acts as the glue that holds everything together and, at other times, is the grease that keeps things moving.
Thanks to the efforts of the Documentation Working Group and my predecessors in the secretary position, there are detailed descriptions of duties and timelines included in the Secretary Manual that help to guide the required work. Over the past three years, I’ve taken that information and refined it. I have set up notifications and reminders on my Outlook calendar to follow-up on activities that involve multiple parties across MAC leadership and occur at particular times of year, such as annual membership renewal and election notices, and for deadlines, like those for MAC Newsletter content. I also use Trello as a means to track longer-range projects and in-progress work. I maintain a spreadsheet on the MAC Google Drive account, where I keep track of everyone currently in leadership positions, which allows me to not only confirm the right people have access to the documentation they need on Google Drive, but ensures we have the best contact information for individuals across the institution. I’ve also shared information across MAC leadership manuals with the chairs of those groups to guarantee we’re all working from the same guidelines and can make adjustments if discrepancies are found.
If reelected, I look forward to continuing to enhance the secretary’s descriptions of duties and timelines to ease the transition between secretaries and to ensure the information provided via position and committee manuals is consistent across the board so members of MAC leadership can work more efficiently together.
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