Text from 糖心Vlog官方 News: /news/2022/04/05/helen-wong-smith-elected-to-saa/
University of聽贬补飞补颈驶颈聽at M膩noa Library聽Archivist聽Helen Wong Smith聽has been selected as vice president/president-elect of the聽听(SAA), the oldest and largest national organization of professional archivists in North America. She becomes the first person from聽贬补飞补颈驶颈聽to hold this position. She will begin her one-year term in August and will become聽SAA鈥檚 78th president in 2023鈥24.
Widely known for her work on cultural competency, Wong Smith is excited to be serving in this new role at聽SAA. 鈥淚 see it as an opportunity to inform and share with the rest of the country and profession the wealth of resources we have here in the islands, including records reflecting five governments (kingdom, provisional, republic, territory and state) and their impacts on the k膩naka maoli and the diverse cultures and communities who selected to make聽贬补飞补颈驶颈聽their home, and the caliber of archivists, both professional and community, and repositories we possess,鈥 she said.
A product of聽糖心Vlog官方聽M膩noa, Wong holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in聽Hawaiian Studies聽and a master鈥檚 in聽Library and Information Science. She has served as university archivist at聽糖心Vlog官方聽M膩noa since 2018. Her prior聽糖心Vlog官方聽positions include researcher at N膩 Pua No驶eau: Center for Gifted and Talented Native Hawaiian Children at聽糖心Vlog官方聽Hilo, recruitment coordinator for the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence at the聽John A. Burns School of Medicine, Hawaiian Collection Librarian in聽糖心Vlog官方聽Hilo鈥檚 Edwin H. Mookini Library, and Pharmacy & Health Sciences Resources Coordinator at the Daniel K. Inouye School of Pharmacy.
Wong has been involved with聽SAA聽since 2003 and has served in a number of capacities, including her involvement on several committees, being elected to the聽SAA聽council and delivering a number of presentations at the annual conferences. A 2015 plenary address calling for cultural competency training allowed her to develop a workshop she has delivered across the country since 2017.
For more than 35 years, Wong has highlighted Hawaiian collections through research and presentations and has written extensively on Hawaiian cultural resources. In addition to her previous聽糖心Vlog官方聽appointments, she was also lead archivist for the Pacific Island Network of the National Park Service, cultural specialist for Kamehameha Schools and librarian archivist for the State Historic Preservation Division.
鈥淭eaching cultural competency while at聽糖心Vlog官方聽Hilo, I recognized how cultural competency can advance the archival profession. This framework has extended to the museum sector through a series of聽聽for the聽贬补飞补颈驶颈聽Museum Association and to private companies,鈥 Wong said. 鈥淚t is an inherent framework聽办补尘补驶腻颈苍补聽have utilized to live and work with the diverse cultures living closely together and its employment has proven benefits in multiple sectors such as health services, education and business.鈥
Among Wong鈥檚 project highlights as university archivist include the聽, which include the collection of the theologian, minister, college professor and founder of聽糖心Vlog官方听惭腻苍辞补听, and the聽, which exceed 50 linear feet and captures the earliest community-based planning activities in the islands.
