Congratulations to the 32 new Digital Archives Specialists (DAS)! These archivists, who represent a variety of repositories around the country, earned their DAS Certificate from the Society of American Archivists (SAA) after completing the required coursework within twenty-four months and passing a comprehensive examination in January 2026.
The innovative DAS curriculum, developed by experts in the field of digital archives, is structured around seven core competencies: understanding the nature of records in electronic form; defining for a variety of audiences the requirements, roles, and responsibilities related to digital archives; formulating strategies and tactics for appraisal, description, management, organization, and preservation; integrating technology to provide access to digital collections; planning for the integration of new tools for successive generations of technology; curating, storing, and retrieving original masters and access copies of digital archives; and providing dependable organization and service to designated communities across networks. Participants complete ten required courses from four tiers addressing these competencies.
The new Digital Archives Specialists are:
Alanna Quan; Anastasiia Denysenko; Andrew Rea; Bree'ya Brown; Caitlin Holton; Charlene Martin; David Moore; Emma Hatch; Evan Miller; Grant Shaw; Heather Shockey; Ishmael Ross; June Fryerwood; Kaitlyn Pettengill; Kevin Dusenberry; Kristiana Weseloh; Lessie Dingler; Lora Morgan; Mary Kate Kwasnik; Mary Kaye Coons; Matthew Davis; Megan Bruckner; Molly LaPorte; Morgan Grayson; P. Christine Rodriguez; Rebecca Finnigan; Rebecca Slinger; Rory Graves; Sam Schiller; Samantha Bruer; Stephanie Carter; Zoé Maughan
A total of 1,055 people have earned Digital Archives Specialist certificates since the program began in 2011. For more information, visit www2.archivists.org/prof-education/das or contact SAA Education (education@archivists.org).
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SAA Headquarters
Society of American Archivists
Chicago IL
saahq@archivists.org------------------------------