She received her Ph.D. from UCLA, where her dissertation examined how university archivists learn to appraise through social interaction. In addition to archivists and appraisal, her research interests include archival education and the sociocultural aspects of records and record keeping. She received her MLIS with a specialization in archives from UCLA in 2007. She received a BA in Humanities with a minor in Anthropology from Northern Arizona University. Anderson has worked in university archives, special collections, a rare books library, law libraries, and police records. Anderson is the immediate past chair of the Appraisal and Acquisitions section of the Society of American Archivists and currently serves on the SAA Committee on Education.