Meet the Archives Management Team

By Ken Williams

As part of Utah’s Public Service Recognition Week, we want to honor the men and women of the Utah State Archives and Records Service who work to ensure the management, preservation, and access to governmental records.

The State Archives management team provides leadership to the various sections and programs within the Archives. The sections and programs work together to assist governmental entities to manage their records efficiently, to preserve records of enduring value, and to provide quality access to public information.

Rosemary Cundiff began her state service in 2000 when she joined the records processing section. She currently works as the Government Records Ombudsman and Records Services Coordinator. In the ombudsman role she serves as a resource for people making government records requests or appealing denials of requests. She also mediates disputes between requesters and responders and works to facilitate a positive outcome. Rosemary’s knowledge and expertise with the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) often finds her conducting training on records issues, interacting with agency records officers, and overseeing all aspects of records services.

Jim Kichas started his state service in 2002 as a member of the Archives’ records processing team. Currently, as Patron Services Coordinator, he oversees all aspects of patron services including records processing and reformatting, reference services, management of the Archives Repository (which is powered by an automated storage and retrieval system), the digital archives and electronic records program, and the volunteer/intern program which supports archives activities and projects. Jim has also been active for several years in Archives Month and is president-elect for the Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists.

Alan Barnett has been with the State Archives since 2003. He is the manager of the Research Center and also a records processing archivist. Alan’s expertise in records acquisition, records processing, and preservation often finds him advising state agencies engaged in preserving and making available the State’s historical records. He works closely with the Archives’ local government and regional repository programs to assist archivists in the preservation and care of their records.

Kendra Yates has been with the State Archives since 2014. She first came to the Archives as a records analyst and now serves as the Records Management section manager. Kendra recently completed her Certified Public Manager training and a year-long project creating the training “Records Management Essentials.” In addition to her management duties, Kendra serves as the records analyst for elected offices, legislative offices, and Utah’s district courts.

Lisa Catano came to the State Archives in 2016. She manages the State Records Center located at the Clearfield Freeport Center. The Records Center houses over 135,000 cubic feet of records and the permanent microfilm vault. As manager, Lisa oversees the transfer and storage of records to the center and the final disposition of records (either destroyed according to established retention schedules or transferred to the State Archives for permanent preservation). Recently, Lisa and her colleagues completed certification as forklift and equipment operators.

Brian Carpenter has been with the State Archives since 2001. Brian came to the Archives from Ithaca, New York, where he worked for Cornell University’s micrographics department. Prior to Cornell, Brian also served in the U. S. Air Force where he processed top-secret aerial photographs. Brian’s extensive background in microphotography serves him well as the manager of the Archives’ reformatting section where various types of reformatting can be provided to state agencies, local governmental entities, and the Archives itself.

You can meet more of our staff through out our blog posts, both here and on our Researching the Utah State Archives blog.

Thank you for joining us this week to recognize the hard work of our wonderful employees here at Utah’s Division of State Archives and Records Service. We are proud of all they do to ensure that Utah’s future generations will have access to the stories of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.