SAA Students and New Professionals (SNAP) Section Webinar
Archives as a Second Career
Wednesday, 31 May 2023
9am Hawaii–Aleutian / Noon Pacific / 1pm Mountain / 2pm Central / 3pm Eastern

Zoom Registration: https://bit.ly/43dg4Td

Presentation and Discussion with:
Rob Hudson, MSLIS, Assistant Director, Carnegie Hall Rose Archives
Catherine Dayrit Mayfield, MLIS, CA, Associate Director, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Maryland
Steve Schaffer, MLIS, Archivist, Milwaukee County Historical Society

What is it like to decide to switch to archives as a mid-career professional? What are the pitfalls and benefits? How do you translate experience earned in other professional activities into soft- and hard-skills in the world of archives?

Join the SAA Students and New Archival Professionals (SNAP) section as we welcome three archival professionals who made the leap into archival practice.

We'll discuss their former career trajectories and what drew them to archival work, how they navigated the transition, and what they wish they knew then what they know now. We'll also ask them about best tips and practices for making a mid-career transition as well as skills and experience that helped them in their new profession.

Rob Hudson, MSLIS, has been an archivist at Carnegie Hall since 1997, where he works to ensure discoverability and access to Carnegie Hall's archival resources and collections by creating, structuring, and interpreting authoritative records on the institution's history. He spearheaded the publication of the Hall's performance history as Linked Open Data and has served as a delegate to the Linked Open Data in Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LODLAM) Summits in Venice, Italy (2017), and Los Angeles (2020). In addition to his MSLIS, Rob has bachelor's and master's degrees in music education and performance. He is a member of the Archivists Roundtable of Metropolitan New York (ART).

Catherine Dayrit Mayfield, MLIS, CA, is a Certified Archivist and Associate Director of Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Maryland College Park. Her work focuses on growing access to information and collections, in the library and online. As an undergraduate, Catherine studied Journalism and Mass Communications at New York University, then began her career as a writer and editor before transitioning into the library and archival fields. Catherine received her MLIS degree from San Jose State University and has since worked in the public library, government archives, a historical society, and academic library.

Steve Schaffer, MLIS, has been a professional archivist for nine years. Prior to that, he was a master electrician in the IBEW Local 494 and owned his own electrical contracting firm. He received his Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2008. During that time, he interned with the Milwaukee Archdiocesan Archives, and after graduation, had been a volunteer at the Wauwatosa Historical Society, the Wisconsin Naval Ship Association in Sheboygan, and Marquette University.

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