Harvard University Art Museums appoint first curator of archives:

The Harvard University Art Museums has announced the appointment of Susan von Salis as the associate curator of archives.

In her new position at the museums, von Salis will be responsible for developing acquisitions and access policies for the archives, overseeing the arrangement and description of the Art Museums’ collections, and managing preservation initiatives. She will also participate in planning upcoming institutionwide efforts such as the renovation of the museums’ facilities and upgrading of the Art Museums’ Web site. She will remain actively involved in Harvard’s digital library-related initiatives – especially OASIS (the EAD resource) and VIA (visual image access database).

The archives contain a broad range of materials that date from the founding of the Fogg Art Museum in 1895 and document the Harvard University Art Museums’ buildings, institutions, collections, and staff along with the teaching of art history, museum curatorship, and art conservation in the United States.

With 16 years of experience as an archivist at Radcliffe’s Schlesinger Library, von Salis has served the New England Archivists organization since 1989, in the positions of membership secretary, representative-at-large, and chair of the Hale Award Committee, outreach committee and task force on organizational efficiency.

Von Salis has a master’s degree in history with a concentration in archives and public history.