n. (abbr. DAS)a curriculum and certificate program created and managed by the Society of American Archivists to provide a full range of up-to-date training in managing electronic archival resourcesRoth 2011, 23SAA’s new Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certificate program is designed specifically to assist archivists in dealing with the digital deluge on a number of levels. Developed by SAA’s Digital Archives Continuing Education Task Force (DACE) with input from the Education Committee, Sections, and Roundtables, the goal of the program is to create a national community of archivists who are better educated to manage the demands of born-digital records.Tibbo 2011, 2As my presidency draws to a close, I’m pleased to announce some very good news. In May, the SAA Council approved creation of a new Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Program that we believe will go a long way toward addressing archivists’ capacity to work with born-digital records. DAS also achieves one of the technology objectives in SAA’s strategic plan. ¶ The program consists of two parts: the DAS Curriculum and the DAS Certificate Program. ¶ The structured curriculum features four tiers of study.Tibbo 2012, 26We tackled the issue of the lack of widespread graduate digital archiving programs by updating the “Guidelines for a Graduate Program in Archival Studies” (GPAS 2011) and designed the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Curriculum and Certificate Program in response to the profession’s continuing education needs.Radick 2013a, 130The descriptions of digital archivists are examined in two ways, or using a hybrid approach. First, by demonstrating how two documents meant to provide guidance and instruction regarding digital archives exemplify the problems of how digital archivist is used. These are the Society of American Archivists’ (SAA) Digital Archives Committee on Education (DACE) 2011 Report of the Digital Archives Continuing Education Task Force through which the SAA’s Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certificate is laid out (and the online description of the program); and the AIMS work group’s 2012 Born-Digital Collections: An Inter-Institutional Model for Stewardship (AIMS) which offers recommendations for working with born-digital material.Trinkaus-Randall 2013, 12One only has to look at the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) curriculum; our work with EAD, EAC-CPF, and DACS; the publications that we have written and published; and numerous other activities to recognize the impact that we have had on archives nationally and internationally.Gilliland 2014a, 106This dynamism in turn has necessitated curricular expansion in graduate archival education as well as in continuing professional education (for example, through the Society of American Archivists Digital Archives Specialist program) and the contemplation of new educational delivery methods for working archivists who need to acquire and update the necessary skills.Dryden 2016, 479When asked to write a book review, it is often the case that one has not read the book. The reviewer must find time not just to write the review, but to read the book carefully. Thus, it was a pleasure to be asked to review Rights in the Digital Era as I already own a well-thumbed copy and am familiar with its contents in my role as an instructor of the privacy and copyright courses in the Society of American Archivists’ Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) certificate curriculum.Benoit and Force 2019, 40In early 2016, SAA’s Committee on Education (CE) was tasked with the revision of the GPAS. Of its 17 members, the CE only included 2 archival educators. The lack of educator representation within the CE limited any GPAS connection with the contemporary pedagogical environment. CE membership required only “a balanced mix of archival educators and of practicing archivists” rather than a specific number. Additionally, the CE’s assigned duties and responsibilities had rapidly expanded over the past decade to include continuing educational opportunities, the Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certificate, and the Arrangement & Description (A&D) Certificate programs.a person who has met the requirements for the certificate from the Society of American Archivists demonstrating knowledge in managing electronic archival resourcesSAA 2013e, 25Congratulations to the first Digital Archives Specialists (DAS)! Fourteen archivists were the first to earn a DAS Certificate from SAA after completing the required coursework within twenty-four months and passing the comprehensive examination in August 2013.Williamson, Vieira, and Williamson 2015, 513Williamson is a certified archivist and digital archives specialist, and chair of the Membership Committee, Society of Southwest Archivists.Katz 2022She is a Certified Archivist, has an MLIS from the University of Washington, and holds a certificate as a Digital Archives Specialist.
