SNAC is an international cooperative including, but not limited to, archives, libraries, and museums, that is working to build a corpus of reliable descriptions of people, families, and organizations that link to and provide a contextual understanding of historical records.
The SNAC Cooperative governance structure consists of an administrative team, which includes the Director, Operations Coordinator, and Technical Lead, along with an Operations Committee that is made up of the administrative team as well as working group chairs.
In addition to maintaining CPF and related resource descriptions in the SNAC database, members are expected to contribute to the governance of the SNAC Cooperative. Participation in governance may take the form of serving on the SNAC working groups or contributing feedback to working group products. Member staff may also, following training, become members of the SNAC School faculty.
Lead Administrative Team
- Dirctor: Susan Pyzynski
- Director Emeritus: Daniel Pitti, UVA
- Operations Coordinator and National Archives External Liaison: Jerry Simmons
- National Archives External Liaison, Dina Herbert
- Technical Lead: Jason Jordan, UVA
Operations Committee
Includes SNAC Administrators and Working Groups Chairs
Working Groups
Staff of SNAC Partner Institutions are welcome and encouraged to volunteer on one or more of SNAC’s Working Groups.
- Communications
- Editorial Policy and Standards
- Technical Infrastructure
- Reference and Research
- SNACSchool Team
Working Group Chairs
- Currently, Working Group chairs are determined on a volunteer basis.
- If SNAC administrators feel that it is warranted, particularly as membership increases, they will review whether an elections-based process should be instituted.
- Each Working Group is led by either one or two chairs as appropriate.
Expectations of Working Group chairs
- Chairs are expected to serve at least a 2-year term, though this term is not binding if chairs are unable to continue due to other commitments
- If willing and able, chairs can continue to serve beyond the initial two years
- In order to provide the opportunity for others to serve in this role, chairs should check in with their working group members after serving consecutive 2-year terms to see if others are interested in transitioning into the role of chair
- If chairs do not wish to continue to act in this role beyond the two-year commitment, they should try to recruit their own successors by first checking in with working group members.
- The time commitment for chairs is about 5 hours per month, and includes one monthly working group meeting, monthly Operations Committee meetings, and projects as appropriate
- Chairs are expected to attend and participate in the Annual All-Partners’ Meeting
Working Group Members
- Currently, Working Group members are determined on a volunteer basis, with consent of the chair.
- If SNAC administrators feel that it is warranted, particularly as membership increases, they will review whether an elections-based process should be instituted.
Expectations of Working Group members
- Working Group members are expected to serve a 2-year term though this term is not binding if members are unable to continue due to other commitments
- If willing and able, members can continue to serve beyond the initial two years
- The time commitment for Working Group members is 1-3 hours per month
- Members are expected to attend monthly meetings and participate in projects as able
Annual All-Partner Meeting
- Typically held in September
- SNAC governance members as well as partner primary / alternative representatives are expected to attend
- Meeting content typically includes the following:
- Reports from SNAC Administrators
- Working Group chairs deliver their annual reports (departing members, new members, special projects, etc.)
- Special presentations by governance members or partner institutions regarding particular projects and initiatives
SNACSchool Team
Staff of SNAC Partner Institutions are welcome and encouraged to volunteer with SNACSchool.
- SNACSchool events happen monthly, over a span of two afternoons
- SNACSchool events are all-virtual unless otherwise designated
- SNACSchool Team meets quarterly
- Special “Train the Trainer” events provide ad hoc for new instructors and reviewers
Communication channels + documentation platforms for governing bodies
- Listservs
- SNAC Operations Committee
- SNAC Cooperative Members
- Working Groups
- Zoom (or whatever video conference platform Working Groups prefer)
- Slack
- Google drive
- Monthly newsletter
- SNAC website (About section)
Code of Conduct
The SNAC Cooperative adheres to the following code of conduct.
