INFO 256 Module #7 Assignment: Personal Reflection

Personal Reflection

Taking the class Information 256, Archives and Manuscripts has been beneficial to me. Not only has it provided a great introduction to formal education in archival science, but it has also served as a reminder that we develop the skills we aim to achieve through teaching. The end of this semester marks a significant milestone in my career as an archivist. I began working in an academic archive in 2015 as a graduate student in my university’s history department.

The opportunity to work in an archive meant that I would be among history enthusiasts who could sift through their collections and uncover wonderful hidden treasures to share with the academic community. In addition to my ten years of experience in archives, this course has demonstrated that it is not about why we do this work. We preserve the records and describe them to serve others, not ourselves. My initial goals for entering this profession were misguided, if not naive. Recently, while preparing formal documents for the administration of the archives and special collections department at my library, I was asked what I wanted my legacy to be.

This was the first time I realized that I had considered this kind of notion. Reflecting on this concept brought up different ideas about what I wanted to accomplish in my career and how I wanted to be remembered as a historian and as an archivist. It was then that I realized that I only wanted to ensure that others could build off of what I created in my scholarly activities and to go beyond what I found. That is the essence of what it means to be a public historian.

This class, along with another course, Preservation Management, has helped me develop the important policy and procedural language to maintain and manage an institution’s archive. The public library where I work now recently opened a room dedicated to allowing patrons access to archives and special collections. Having worked in an academic archive before my current position, at my alma mater, I realize now that I was relatively sheltered and enjoyed a robust support network for professional development in archival science. Working in a public library has a different work dynamic, and the patrons I serve include a more diverse group of people, and I’m glad to provide them access.

The most useful modules to me in this course were Modules 6 and 7. I am relatively new to managing an archive, but have learned over the years about records retention and management from my managers and colleagues through training and experience. Managing staff and volunteers is completely different from managing students. I’ve had to adapt my workflows in these different environments, and the formal educational training I received in that module gave me the language to articulate security measures and methods to protect the privacy of our users and the donors of collections.

Having worked in the field for over a decade in different capacities as both a processing archivist and the head archivist, I’ve acquired a significant amount of practical experience and mastered the basics of an archivist’s main responsibilities. They provided a good review and a nice reminder that I am complying with best practices. I also made extensive use of the readings and shared them with my staff and other volunteers I’ve trained this semester. Additionally, I shared these readings with the volunteers I’ve trained at partner institutions, strengthening bonds and fulfilling commitments to disseminating preservation and conservation knowledge. My library’s administration was very pleased with this, as they viewed it as a maximization of resources since they are funding my MLIS as part of a contract I accepted to work there.

Module 7’s content proved very useful for exploring current trends in archives and the direction the field is taking. I will admit that since moving to my current position, I have not kept up as well as I did while working in an academic library setting. This course motivated me to carve out time to read about current trends, which is something I want to continue pursuing. One particular reading that I enjoyed discussed AI and archives. I learned how someone developed an AI program to help identify images for an online digital collection of local history. The tools that are being developed could help tackle the huge amounts of backlogged collections in archives around the world.

In module 7, there is a section where our instructor lists several continuing education resources. I was glad to be reminded of WAI. The Western Archive Institute (WAI) is something I’ve wanted to attend for several years. They were known as a great resource to help archivists with no formal education acquire good training through their workshop. I know a colleague who attended that training before earning their MLIS. The pandemic closed many things, including that training. I am happy to say that it will reopen in 2026, and I will recommend that training to volunteers and new staff I meet in the future.

The position I find myself in now can be reflected in the reading, The landscape of archival employment: A study of professional archivist job advertisements, 2006-2014. I would not have been able to work in the current position I’m in now without the years of experience I accumulated at my previous job, and geographically speaking, working in a public library in this position is not common. The fact that temporary employment continues to be the entry point for people who are entering the archives field is something that persists, and the lack of funding options could further limit those opportunities in the future, especially those who rely on federal funding.

Finally, the readings in the last module of the course resonated with me because I was relieved to learn that I was not alone in the challenges I face at work and how other archivists have produced papers discussing these issues. In this module, our class explored the crucial role activists play and their efforts to ensure access to an institution’s historical materials. The overall message of the article resonated with me; the cycle of poverty it described is something my previous institution, as well as my current one, is experiencing. The broader, almost universal issue of archivists needing to explain the nature of their work, measurable goals, and justification for funding highlights how much the archives field needs to advocate for itself and reach out to stakeholders to gain the support necessary to achieve its mission.

This course reinforced fundamental concepts necessary for me to be proficient at as an archivist, and it allowed me to connect with students and the professor about modern issues and emerging practices, and concepts in the archives field. The readings about emerging issues and technologies were a great way for me to consider how I would meet those challenges. The readings were helpful to me in a variety of ways, not only to read and learn more from a formal educational framework, but also so that I could use them to train my staff and volunteers, and completing it served as an important milestone in my professional career.

Resources
Caswell, M. (2014). Seeing Yourself in HistoryCommunity Archives and the Fight Against Symbolic Annihilation. The Public Historian, 36(4), 26-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/tph.2014.36.4.26 Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9gc14537

Tansey, E. (2016). Archives without archivists.

Tansey, E. (2015, June 5). The landscape of archival employment: A study of professional archivist job advertisements, 2006-2014. Tansey | Archival Practice. https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ap/article/view/1084/787