Vision Maker Media is proud to announce Alison Lotto as its newest staff member. Lotto has accepted the position of archives specialist for Vision Maker Media. Alison's position is located at Vision Maker Media's offices at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln alongside Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET).

A grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will allow the continuation of ongoing efforts to care for Vision Maker Media's 38-year-old collection of media and print assets. In collaboration with NET, the Nebraska State Historical Society, and the Library at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Vision Maker Media will inventory and catalog collection assets. The inventory process entails the gathering of associated metadata and the migration of this information into an online collection database. A preservation and access plan will be developed which will be formatted to comprise an online "How-to Guide" for Native American media collection holders and cultural institutions.

Vision Maker Media's Executive Director Shirley K. Sneve (Rosebud Sioux) commented, "Alison is a great addition to the Vision Maker Media staff. Her education and work experience with archival repositories and libraries have brought her a great depth of knowledge about media preservation."

Alison holds a Master of Arts in History from New York University, a Masters in Library and Information Science from Long Island University-The Palmer School, and a Bachelor of Arts in History with a concentration in Victorian Studies from Vassar College.

Throughout Alison's career, she has worked with a varied group of collections and archives. Prior to joining Vision Maker Media, Alison held the position of project archivist at the Whitney Museum of American Art and archivist at the Grolier Club, both in New York, N.Y. She has also held archivist roles at New York University and Columbia University.

Lotto said, "My husband and I just relocated to Lincoln, Neb., and I'm looking forward to making some of the rich media collections in Lincoln available to the broader public."

Written by Jessica Rustad

Interview conducted by Shirley Sneve and edited by Alex Epperson