Murray named fellow
UD Library's Murray inducted as fellow of Society of American Archivists
11:24 a.m., Sept. 20, 2011--The University of Delaware Library has announced that Timothy Murray, head of Special Collections Department, was inducted as a fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) during a ceremony Aug. 26 at ARCHIVES 360, the 75th annual meeting of the society in Chicago. The distinction of fellow is the highest honor bestowed on individuals by SAA and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the archives profession.
Murray is one of the preeminent voices speaking for special collections, and more particularly for literary manuscripts in the nation. Three themes emerge in the letters received in support of his nomination: his work as a mentor to students and young librarians, his expertise as an archivist and his ability and willingness to bridge the gap between archives and librarianship.
Honors Stories
National Medal of Science
Warren Award
A member of SAA since 1983, Murray has attended more than 25 annual meetings. His strength rests in his ability to share his expertise and create interesting and arresting programs for the membership. He has served on SAA program committees, the Publications Board and chaired the Manuscripts Repositories Section and the Privacy and Confidentiality Roundtable.
Most recently he served as co-chair of the Association of College and Research Libraries/SAA Joint Statement on Access to Research Materials in Archives and Special Collections Libraries Task Force.
Murray is a frequent contributor to publishing and lecturing on the issues of acquisition and collection development, access to collections, preservation, ethics, privacy and the other legal questions relating to literary manuscripts.
“There are surprisingly few special collections professionals who bridge the bibliographic world of rare books, archives and manuscripts as well as Tim with one foot in SAA and the other in ALA (American Library Association),” noted one nominator. Another nominator commented that, “Tim’s subject expertise ranges across all aspects of literary archives management and he has had a demonstrable impact on contemporary practice in this field.”
As another nominator stated, “Tim has for many years contributed extensively to all of us and to our knowledge of our profession. He has encouraged us to think more deeply and enabled us to advance the profession further than we might have expected.”
Murray is one of eight new fellows named in 2011. There are currently 170 fellows of the Society of American Archivists.
“The University of Delaware Library is indeed delighted by this tribute to Timothy Murray. It acknowledges his achievements in the field as well as the esteem in which his colleagues in the archival world hold him,” stated Susan Brynteson, vice provost and May Morris Director of Libraries.