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Kata

Lauren Kata

Archivist Lauren Kata works in collections management, preservation digitization and digital access. Her practical research is in developing best practices and guidelines for Kata_photo_2014describing, preserving, and providing access to oral history, and she currently serves as co-chair of the Oral History Association’s Metadata Task Force.

Oral history has been an interest and passion throughout Lauren’s career, nurtured through involvements in a variety of projects such as those related to the history of women in engineering, southern labor history and activism, global mission and missionaries, and most recently, local culture and oral history in China. Collectively these projects and others have provided opportunities to participate in all aspects of the oral history life cycle, from administration to interviewing to curation and dissemination. They have also provided opportunities to listen, and honor, and grow to understand the value of oral history; not only for building the documentary record, but more importantly, for appreciating and capturing meaning in communities and individual lives.

Lauren is a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA), and the Society of American Archivists (SAA) professional association. She is a past chair of the SAA Oral History Section, and served as Coordinator of SAA’s 75th Anniversary Oral History Project. She earned a B.A. in American Studies and History from Case Western Reserve University, and an M.A. in History and Graduate Certificate in Archival Administration from Wayne State University. Since 2009, she has served as the Archivist for Collections Management and Digital Access for The Archives of the Episcopal Church.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Lauren’s home base is Austin, Texas.

 

 

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