Tufts names new director of Digital Collections and Archives

Daniel Santamaria officially assumed the position of director of Digital Collections and Archives (DCA) on Sept. 2, filling the position previously held by Anne Sauer (LA ’91, G ’98) before she left Tufts for a new position at Cornell University in early April. University Records Manager Eliot Wilczek served as interim director from April through August.

Vice Provost Kevin Dunn led the search for the new director. Santamaria's appointment as director was officially announced on June 4, according to an email announcement to the university from Provost and Senior Vice President David Harris.

Associate Provost Boris Hasselblatt, who oversees the DCA, said that Santamaria has come at a time of both challenges and opportunities for the DCA, which supports teaching and research at Tufts through the preservation of university records and collections. The DCA reports directly to the Office of the Provost.

“I really expect that there [are] going to be a lot of interesting things happening in the Digital Collections and Archives,” Hasselblatt said. “[Santamaria] comes in with a very open and creative view of the role of the Digital Collections and Archives and the university -- a lot of energy to act on it, and that includes thinking very much about the connections between Digital Collections and Archives and various aspects of the Tufts community.”

He added that the DCA will be looking to make a number of hires during this semester, and this may serve as an opportunity for Santamaria to have his say in the future of the DCA, which currently only has six staff members.

Hasselblatt said that although no definite strategic plan has been formed yet, there is a push to support continued open access for research papers for Tufts faculty and students, and effectively increase what the digital collections can do.

Before coming to Tufts Santamaria was at Princeton University, where he served as the assistant university archivist for technical services at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library since 2005, according to the announcement.

“Tufts -- in the archive community -- has a really good reputation,” Santamaria said.

Wilczek said Santamaria will bring experience to his new role as director of the DCA.

“Dan is a well-respected figure in the archives field, and he’s done a lot of work with standards for ... arranging and describing archival records and managing collections,” he said.

Santamaria said the department at Princeton was larger, but similar to Tufts' in a number of ways. He explained that the university archives collect all the official records created during business at the university and more.

“Beyond the official records, we collect things that document the university in general -- student group, artifacts, memorabilia, any format that documents the university,” he said. “We also collect a few outside collections that aren’t specifically related to Tufts at the university itself, but document topics that teachers are interested in or other sorts of material that support research or teaching at the university.”

Santamaria said one of his goals will be to increase access and transparency to further involve and inform students, alumni and faculty of the resources of the DCA.

Wilczek added that the DCA’s collections continue to grow, as do the complexity of some of the records and the interest in their use.

“I think Dan brings some insights into archival practices and standards that will be useful, and his experience in managing large archival collections where he previously worked and getting a lot of staff to work efficiently and effectively at that, I think will be important," he said.

Wilczek noted that since the staff of the DCA is small, all members work together.

“It’s a pretty collaborative work environment, where everybody in the department is working with each other on various projects and various activities," Wilczek explained.

Hasselblatt added that the DCA will benefit by having both Santamaria and Wilczek, as he also had experience directing the DCA.

“He did a fabulous job running the archives this last year, and so Dan Santamaria can rely on a lot of insights and leadership from Eliot Wilczek as well as things move forward, and I think that will be very valuable,” he said.

Hasselblatt sees many possibilities for the future of the DCA under Santamaria's leadership.

“He’s coming in with an open mind, a lot of energy and interesting ideas as well," Hasselblatt said. “I certainly look forward to what he’s going to do."

 

-- Alexa Horwitz contributed reporting to this article.