FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Karen Witham, Florida State University Libraries 850-645-8925 kwitham@fsu.edu
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ANNOUNCE NEW ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES Sammie L. Morris to Head Department Including World-Renowned Napoleon Collection, the Claude Pepper Collection, Heritage Protocol, and The Florida State University Archives
Tallahassee, Fla. (June 21, 2010) – Sammie L. Morris has joined the Florida State University Libraries as Associate Director for Special Collections and Archives, filling a position left vacant upon the December 2009 retirement of Lucy Patrick. Prior to joining the University Libraries, Ms. Morris served as Associate Professor of Library Science and Head of Archives and Special Collections for Purdue University Libraries. She earned her master’s degree in library and information science, with a concentration in archival enterprise, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1998. “We are delighted to have Sammie join our leadership team,” said Dean of University Libraries Julia Zimmerman. “She has a wealth of relevant experience and expertise that will help us continue to grow our special collections and archives in a thoughtful manner. She brings new ideas, technologies and processes to improve selection, preservation, and access for scholars worldwide.” Ms. Morris is an active member of the Society of American Archivists and the Academy of Certified Archivists. She currently serves as chair of the Manuscript Repositories Section of the Society of American Archivists. She has published book chapters and articles in a variety of professional archival and library science journals, and served on the editorial board for the College and University Archives Thesaurus published by the Society of American Archivists in 2009. Ms. Morris has co-developed and co-instructed graduate and undergraduate courses on archival theory and practice for Purdue University. Her areas of research interest include best practices for archival administration and leadership, preservation and digitization of archival materials, and the evolving roles of special collections librarians and archivists in the digital age. The Florida State University Libraries (http://www.lib.fsu.edu/) actively contribute to scholarship at Florida State University through their collections, services, and expert personnel. Libraries in Tallahassee include Strozier Library, Dirac Science Library, the Claude Pepper Library (also home to the Governor Reubin Askew Collection), the FAMU/FSU Engineering Library, and libraries in the Colleges of Communication & Information, Law, Music, and Medicine. There are also libraries at the Panama City (Fla.) campus, the Panama City (Panama) campus, and at the Ringling Museum (Sarasota, Fla.). The libraries are decentralized to provide specialized services, programs, and collections for their users, while sharing an online catalog and a common electronic circulation system. ###