Archivist Thiel Receives National Award

August 2008--At its annual meeting, the Society of American Archivists (SAA) has awarded Mark Thiel its 2008 Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., Memorial Award.  Thiel, archivist in the Marquette Libraries' Department of Special Collections and Archives since 1986, was recognized for his exhaustive 2007 five-volume Guide to Catholic-Related Records About Native Americans, an electronic resource.

Thiel's Guide was cited by the awards committee for "its thoroughness, its detail, and the precision of its records." Thiel collected information in the Guide for more than 25 years from over 1,000 repositories in 43 states and 15 foreign countries.  Thiel holds a M.A.T. (History) and B.A. (Sociology-Anthropology) from the University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point and is a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists.  His work at Marquette includes management of special collections relating to the Catholic Church and Native Americans, including the records of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, the Commission for Catholic Missions among Colored People and the Indians, and the Tekakwitha Conference.

Created in 1974, the award honors Sister M. Claude Lane, O.P., the first professionally trained archivist at the Catholic Archives of Texas in Austin, who served there from 1960 until her death in 1974.  Nominees for the award must demonstrate involvement and work in the Religious Archives Section of the Society of American Archivists.  Founded in 1936, the S.A.A. is North America's oldest and largest national archival professional association.