What Our Members Are Saying: Linda Smith

Your Name: Linda Smith

Title and Affiliation: Independent Archivist

Year(s) of ARLIS/NA Membership: 2 (2024-present)

About Yourself and Your Workplace

What do you love about your work?

I love that archiving allows for—and actively supports—lifelong learning. Whether I’m working with experimental art videos or the personal papers of a family who came to the United States as refugees, I get to challenge my beliefs and knowledge, be inspired, and grow at every step of the process. 

Tell us about the kind of library you work in. What do you wish other librarians understood about the kind of library you are in? What makes it great? What makes it challenging?

I’m currently the archivist at the Zohrab Information Center, which is housed within the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. I wish people knew that even if someone isn’t Armenian by heritage, there’s a lot of amazing materials that tell a story that is familiar to so many minorities. Even though I’m Mexican-American, I have learned a lot about Armenian people here that has helped me to make sense of my own past and experiences. I am essentially the lone arranger, though my supervisor helps me with big picture considerations. This is both a challenge and exciting! 

About Your Experience with ARLIS/NA

Who or what inspired you to join ARLIS/NA? What’s kept you renewing your membership after that? 

I heard about ARLIS/NA through my involvement with the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (A.R.T.). I wanted to increase my involvement with archivist and librarian groups, and given my experience with art archives, ARLIS/NA was a no-brainer for me. I am a regular contributor for ARLIS/NA Reviews and the ARLIS/NA NY chapter newsletter, which is an excellent and fun way for me to continue my writing practice through an archival lens. I love the events—especially those in the NY chapter—and conferences and connecting with fellow members and my first mentor Tess Colwell! 

What’s one of the best ideas or pieces of advice that you got from an ARLIS/NA member or event? How did that improve your work or change your thinking?

My mentor Tess Colwell recommended that I think about collaborating on a panel proposal with other individuals who had similar experiences and interest in the same areas of research I had for conference proposals. I previously had very limited experience with panels, but she noted that conferences love getting people together to talk about a topic from multiple angles and viewpoints. This led to my accepted panel at the 2026 ARLIS/NA conference in Montreal! 

What other professional organizations are you a member of? How does your involvement with ARLIS/NA complement or inform your engagement with those organizations? 

I am also a member of the Archivists Round Table of Metropolitan New York (A.R.T.) and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA). Given my interest in and work with a variety of art collections, ARLIS/NA complements that passion in a more direct way. It is also an area that I do not have schooling in, and serves as an educational platform for me to learn more about art broadly with the pressure or judgment of a school setting. Ultimately, this all makes me a better steward of art collections.