At the 2009 AIC annual meeting Issues Session several people commented that it would be nice for members to understand the workings of AIC a bit better. The best way to really learn about how AIC works is to get involved but, I hope that by profiling AIC Board members, staff and here on the blog, our members will find that they understand a bit better what people are doing to serve their profession and their colleagues. Maybe you’ll be inspired to volunteer if you aren’t already! Check back here regularly for further posts.
Now for a bit about me, the AIC E-editor…
The launch of the new AIC website in the spring of 2009 finally gave the us a platform onto which we could realistically take advantage of current technological capabilities, meaning that this was an exciting year to become AIC E-editor.
The E-editor job signifies that within AIC’s structure there are three ways in which we produce and disseminate content (the journal – JAIC, our newsletter – AIC News and, now, our website and associated online resources such as CoOL). As such I am a member of the AIC Publications Committee where I advise on and maintain standards for AIC publications in regards to electronic formats. I report to AIC’s Executive Director, Eryl Wentworth, and, on the AIC Board, the Director of Communications. On a day-to-day basis I work mostly with Brett Rodgers, AIC’s terrific Publications Manager.
One of my primary responsibilities is providing oversight of the website content with particular emphasis on the development of content for our audience of professional conservators. I work with Brett to both maintain site content as well as helping generate new content that will be of interest to our members and the general public. Some examples of this include:
- – Soliciting and editing submissions for the Stories in Conservation feature on the AIC website – please contact me if you have a Story to submit!
– Working with various AIC committees and task forces to help them generate useful professional content for the website. In the past year I have been working with the Oral History Project, the Green Task Force and the Emergency Response committee.
– Communicating with the Specialty Group officers regarding the website and its use. Discussions are currently underway on how to best integrate SG websites with the AIC site. Additionally, we want to help SGs use the capabilities of the AIC website and database to their advantage if your SG is working on a project where the website, web publishing or the wiki site may be of use, please let me know.
– Liaising with the AIC Wiki catalogue group. We are excited about the transition of the SG catalogues to the wiki site and look forward to helping other AIC members learn how to use this platform for the benefit of all of our members.
In my position I am also encouraged to provide general feedback on how AIC is or should be using other web resources such as social networking sites. The creation of this blog is an example of this effort. We hope that our membership will use this site as a way to interact with colleagues across specialty groups to discuss issues of interest to us all. Additionally, now that AIC has assumed responsibility for CoOL I am also excited to be part of the group that will begin to assess how we can be appropriate stewards of this important resource for the international preservation community.
In short, my job is to be a liaison between my colleagues in the AIC membership, and the AIC Staff and Board. I hope that everyone will feel free to contact me if I can be of service.
When I am not working on AIC projects I am a partner in A.M. Art Conservation, LLC, a private practice in the New York area that provides preservation consulting, conservation treatment and collection management services to institutions and individuals. I am Co-Chair of the Integrated Pest Management Working group which produces the www.museumpests.net website and mother to twin boys and a baby girl.