After my last update, I dove headfirst into my new position as archives assistant. Transitioning to a full-time position from a 19.5 hr/week student worker job has really shaped my future outlook in unexpected ways.
Some of the things I have been working on in these last six months:
Copy cataloging
Limited original cataloging (theses)
DACS
Digital preservation standards
Metadata standards for digital content
Institutional Repositories
Exhibit making
Records management
Processing university records
My undergraduate studies are winding down. Before I took this full time position, I was set to graduate by May 2012. Now, I'm limited to 6-9 hours per semester. With the course rotation at my relatively small state school, that means I won't graduate until December 2012. On the plus side, this gives me plenty of time to scope out graduate programs.
I had previously found myself on the "public history" side of archives, but now I am leaning towards records management. I am hoping to set up a few informational interviews in the near future to get some more insight on this.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Friday, September 9, 2011
New job, new research
On September 1st, I began a new full-time position in the Muntz library UASC as the archives assistant. I am in the final stage of processing and describing the McClendon papers. Terra and I have some really exciting ideas for this collection once the finding aid is finalized.
In the meantime, I have a few research projects going in local history. The first is a survey of Smith County Prohibition crime and the second is a survey of post-Reconstruction lynchings in Smith County. Both are quite promising, with significant returns from a scan of historical newspapers.
More to come later. I'll try to update more than once this semester!
In the meantime, I have a few research projects going in local history. The first is a survey of Smith County Prohibition crime and the second is a survey of post-Reconstruction lynchings in Smith County. Both are quite promising, with significant returns from a scan of historical newspapers.
More to come later. I'll try to update more than once this semester!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Forrays into publishing, and other adventures
With the semester well under way, and most of my midterms behind me, I have an opportunity to catch up.
Amazing things have been happening since the conference.
First and foremost, our local campus chapter of the Walter Prescott Webb Society (a Texas history group for university students, affiliated with TSHA) is experiencing some kind of renaissance. We have somehow managed to attract a plethora of talented and tenacious history students who really want to "do" things. Recent projects we have undertaken include a guest lecture series, volunteer commitments at local history events (a Civil War reenactment and a Pioneer Day), and the design/purchase of club tchotchke (pins, shirts, a banner). We have also discussed hosting student conferences and creating a chapter newsletter.
I am conducting an unofficial campaign to get myself elected "Second Vice-President", a bizarrely named position which includes membership management and community outreach. In addition to handing out calendars of community events each month and soliciting volunteers, I have designed a membership survey through Survey Monkey (AWESOME resource) which has proven exceptionally informative. Elections will be held later in the month.
The internship mentioned previously (at the Parrot Park and Old Mill Pond Museum in Lindale, Texas)is well under way. I have adopted the Blacksmith Shop as my area of interest. I was a blacksmith's apprentice in high school for Shadowhawk Blades out of Winnsboro, Texas. Because our work frequently involved archaic tools and techniques, I gained a life-long appreciation for the topic.
My intern duties at the Old Mill Pond Museum include cataloging, appraising, and describing tools and equipment which date back to the Great Depression (and the turn of the century). Finding the resources to appraise these tools has been a real adventure. I have made it my mission to leave a healthy catalog of sources for the interns who will follow me. We are the inaugural group, so I am compiling everything from scratch. The real danger with the internship is the temptation to spend my entire weekend on the site. It is an astounding collection of historic tools, machines, gadgets, and displays representing Lindale, Texas from 1890-1940.
Check out the museum's Youtube channel here, including live tours and working demonstrations.
The next event worth noting: Our new archivist has arrived. This is a major milestone in the growth of our department, and I am very excited about future projects. The finding aid I created last semester should be published to the website soon. I am still processing the Sarah McClendon papers (about eight archival boxes of material left to go). Once this drudgery is completed, I will create a finding aid for this collection as well. It is a tremendous opportunity for me, and I am learning constantly (even through the drudgery, I will admit).
Last but not least, I have taken on a rather ambitious project. I have volunteered to act as "interim" chair for the Chronicles publication committee of the Smith County Historical Society. The Chronicles have been dormant for over seven years, although the market for backordered issues remains rather robust. We anticipate that a revival of the Chronicles will attract new members and strengthen interest in the activities of the Historical Society.
That being said, my work is really cut out for me on this project. I have limited experience with publishing and editing (fortunately, we have no shortage of volunteer editors, as well as a volunteer to handle layout and design). The bulk of my duties, as I see them now, will consist of coordinating between authors and editors, reaching out to local groups, promoting the Chronicles, and possibly writing grants. At this point, our venture is purely exploratory. We will meet again in about two months; at that time, I hope to have a host of information prepared as well as a "plan of attack".
So. Enough said for tonight (or maybe too much!)
Amazing things have been happening since the conference.
First and foremost, our local campus chapter of the Walter Prescott Webb Society (a Texas history group for university students, affiliated with TSHA) is experiencing some kind of renaissance. We have somehow managed to attract a plethora of talented and tenacious history students who really want to "do" things. Recent projects we have undertaken include a guest lecture series, volunteer commitments at local history events (a Civil War reenactment and a Pioneer Day), and the design/purchase of club tchotchke (pins, shirts, a banner). We have also discussed hosting student conferences and creating a chapter newsletter.
I am conducting an unofficial campaign to get myself elected "Second Vice-President", a bizarrely named position which includes membership management and community outreach. In addition to handing out calendars of community events each month and soliciting volunteers, I have designed a membership survey through Survey Monkey (AWESOME resource) which has proven exceptionally informative. Elections will be held later in the month.
The internship mentioned previously (at the Parrot Park and Old Mill Pond Museum in Lindale, Texas)is well under way. I have adopted the Blacksmith Shop as my area of interest. I was a blacksmith's apprentice in high school for Shadowhawk Blades out of Winnsboro, Texas. Because our work frequently involved archaic tools and techniques, I gained a life-long appreciation for the topic.
My intern duties at the Old Mill Pond Museum include cataloging, appraising, and describing tools and equipment which date back to the Great Depression (and the turn of the century). Finding the resources to appraise these tools has been a real adventure. I have made it my mission to leave a healthy catalog of sources for the interns who will follow me. We are the inaugural group, so I am compiling everything from scratch. The real danger with the internship is the temptation to spend my entire weekend on the site. It is an astounding collection of historic tools, machines, gadgets, and displays representing Lindale, Texas from 1890-1940.
Check out the museum's Youtube channel here, including live tours and working demonstrations.
The next event worth noting: Our new archivist has arrived. This is a major milestone in the growth of our department, and I am very excited about future projects. The finding aid I created last semester should be published to the website soon. I am still processing the Sarah McClendon papers (about eight archival boxes of material left to go). Once this drudgery is completed, I will create a finding aid for this collection as well. It is a tremendous opportunity for me, and I am learning constantly (even through the drudgery, I will admit).
Last but not least, I have taken on a rather ambitious project. I have volunteered to act as "interim" chair for the Chronicles publication committee of the Smith County Historical Society. The Chronicles have been dormant for over seven years, although the market for backordered issues remains rather robust. We anticipate that a revival of the Chronicles will attract new members and strengthen interest in the activities of the Historical Society.
That being said, my work is really cut out for me on this project. I have limited experience with publishing and editing (fortunately, we have no shortage of volunteer editors, as well as a volunteer to handle layout and design). The bulk of my duties, as I see them now, will consist of coordinating between authors and editors, reaching out to local groups, promoting the Chronicles, and possibly writing grants. At this point, our venture is purely exploratory. We will meet again in about two months; at that time, I hope to have a host of information prepared as well as a "plan of attack".
So. Enough said for tonight (or maybe too much!)
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