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By Lance, on February 3rd, 2010
Rebecca Goldman of the archives webcomic Derangement and Description began Crash Space for Archivists (CSFA) as a way for people in the profession to find free places to stay (or crash, as the kids say) while traveling for conferences and such. Her inspiration came from a post at Beaver Archivist, which itself was inspired by a generous offer on the A&A listserv! In response to my Mini Rant on the need for more affordable SAA educational options, she graciously offered to share the hosting of CSFA with NewArchivist. We agree with her assumption that we new professionals are most in need of finding free lodging, and are thrilled to add to this archival 2.0 synergy (yes, I say things like synergy).
Please see the Crash Space for Archivists page for more info, to see the list of people who have volunteered space, or to offer your own crash space. We plan on keeping the CSFA page up permanently, so feel free to bookmark it.
Thanks to Rebecca and all of those who have already offered to help out your fellow archivists!
By Sophie, on January 27th, 2010
This is the first post in our From The Trenches Series focusing on the archival job hunt. Please see the preceding link for more info and Sophie’s bio. Thanks so much for your contribution, Sophie! ~ ed.
Looking for a new job is never easy, no matter how you land in that position. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they actively enjoyed it, whether they found themselves doing so voluntarily or involuntarily. While I never planned on staying at the position I had been at for several years, I certainly never planned on leaving it as I did. I was slightly blindsided when I had found out that my position was being eliminated. The economy has certainly been in sorry shape and my institution was feeling the effects, but I had been assured multiple times due to the nature of my library and our very small staff, my position was secure, simply because there wasn’t someone else in the department who could absorb those duties. “You’ll be fine because no one can do what you do.” I held on to that. But despite all earlier assurances, I was blindsided when I was gently told by a very upset manager that despite her best efforts, my position was being eliminated. After the various stages of shock, anger, and resignation, all I could ask myself was “Now What?”
Finding yourself looking for a job especially when you weren’t planning on doing so is harrowing. It doesn’t help that libraries, archives, and institutions which employ information professionals across the board are hurting, resulting in downsizing, hiring freezes, if not outright closure (which is what’s likely to happen to where I used to work soon). So… now what? I’m in a particularly fun situation (in both the genuine and sarcastic) sense in that due to my partner’s work situation, relocation is not really an option for me, so I’m confined to jobs within a certain area. I received my MLIS with an emphasis in archival studies and after almost two years of working as a librarian, I’m primarily gunning for archival positions, which has always been my primary interest. Especially after attending SAA 2009, I was reminded that being archivist is what I want to do, it’s why I stayed in library school and it’s what I love, so now what’s left to do dive in and hope for the best.
What I’ve done so far is update my resume, got my references in order, and put out some feelers through colleagues that I’m looking for archival work. I’m a Certified Archivist, so I’m hoping that’ll help given that my most recent experience has been working in a research library. I have resumes sent out and I’m waiting to hear back. This process is nerve-wracking in the best of circumstances, but now we have something else to contend with… archivists with more experience who have been forced back into the job market are going to be applying for the same jobs as those fairly new in the field and those just entering the field. I’d be lying if I said this didn’t scare me. Why hire me when they may get someone with more experience for less money? But you can’t think like that. I’ve been told this more than once, it’s critical once you’re applying for a professional job to see yourself as such. If you meet the qualifications, you have the education, you are a professional, not a student seeking an internship. Don’t brag or be overconfident, but this is not the time to be shy, not on paper in your cover letter/resume, not in the interview. I’m making a point to try and apply for jobs that I know based on past experience and my own personality I know I would enjoy doing. I’ve learned this the hard way that if you apply for something because you think you should, it comes across and usually works against you.
Now here’s hoping that I’ve followed my own advice and for good news as I wait to hear back from the places I applied. All the best.
By Lance, on January 14th, 2010
We are please to announce the beginning of the new blog series, From the Trenches, an examination of two people’s journey through the search for their first jobs in the archival profession. Our From the Trenches bloggers, Jason and Sophie, will be providing semi-regular posts covering the ins and outs of their search. Both bloggers will be using pseudonyms, and only the NewArchivist editorial staff will know their true identity (like All the President’s Men, without the naughty nickname). We hope to have posts from them up very soon. A hearty thanks to Jason and Sophie for their willingness to contribute!
Please see the From the Trenches Series page for Jason and Sophie’s bios and more information.
Thanks!
By Lance, on January 7th, 2010
It is that time of year again, when we all shake off the effects of holiday cookies, champagne, and time with the family to take a sober look at the things we need to improve upon. Hence, the New Year’s Resolutions. Of course I have made the usual list of resolutions this year, such as actually using my gym membership, getting on top of my student loans, and stop challenging people to fist fights when they question my use of the Oxford comma. However, for the first time I have also made a list of professional resolutions. The following are things that I believe I can do to make myself a better archivist as I enter my second year in the profession (thanks to Emi for the idea and help with this post).
I hereby resolve to:
Contribute to Archival Literature I am currently finishing coauthoring an article with one of my recent professors. Working with a person who has experience in the peer-reviewed writing process has been very helpful. The question will be can I do it on my own. I think my writing is strong enough (I can actually write an entire piece without movie references, I just choose not to on this blog). The interest is there too. The challenge will come from budgeting my time wisely enough to sustain the writing and research required for an article. It is one thing to devote time to something through a partnership where you do not want to let the other person down, it is another to make yourself the sole taskmaster. I am already thinking of some topics, so lets hope I can devote the time and write, write, write (not to mention convince someone to publish it).
Keep Learnin’ I think I speak for most recent graduate students when I say that the last thing I want right now is more school. However, I do think professional educational and training opportunities are important. I have been toying with taking a programming, database, or other technical class to compliment my archival education. Some of the SAA courses also look interesting, although some are out of my range. I figure I will start out with short time commitments and inexpensive tuition so I do not conflict with my student loan debt and gym resolutions. No PhD for me yet…
Find Community Service Opportunities During my time in graduate school I participated in the student SAA group’s community service program, where we would go out and lend a hand at several local cultural heritage locations. At first, I expected this to be similar to the type of volunteering that usually happens at archives and libraries. While we did move some boxes and sort some papers, what was surprising to me was that the people who worked at these institutions really desired our archival expertise. Even though we were only grad students, they wanted us to give them advice on a variety of archival topics. One place wanted us to tell them the proper way to merge two large topical files. Another place wanted us to recommend what materials should be separated so she could go to the governing board with reassurances that it was OK to throw away some material. Another wanted help updating their acquisition policy. While I was in school I saw community service as a great way to get your hands dirty and complement all the theoretical learning, not to mention a great resume builder. Now, I see it as a way to help those small or in-need places that could benefit from just an afternoon of advice from a professional (albeit New) archivist. I especially want to look for opportunities in the historically rich city of Detroit. Maybe we can get a group of area charitable archivists together!
 Lauren Lippert working hard during a visit to the Canton Historical Society in Canton, Michigan Well, there you have it. I will try to keep you all posted on my progress throughout the year. Or, if they end up in the same place that I think the gym membership will, I will delete this post in March and never speak of these archival resolutions again…
Happy New Year!
Off Topic Mini-Rant: I wish SAA would offer more online educational and training opportunities. I can afford the class, but can’t afford the travel. I bet a lot of people are in the same boat and would be interested in such offerings. Just a thought.
By Lance, on December 9th, 2009
We here at NewArchivist Headquarters are interested in beginning a series of posts focusing on a job search as it happens. We are all familiar with the drama associated with a job search and think it would be quite valuable for readers to get updates on the sometimes exciting, sometimes frustrating job hunting process. This series would be quite useful for those who are currently looking for employment, soon to be entering the job market, or who have not had to go through a search in a while.
Image courtesy of Flickr member Kevin H. / CC-BY-NC-ND
To facilitate the production of this series, we are looking for a current job hunter to regularly add posts to the blog. We would prefer that this person be looking for their first professional position in the archives field, and can be someone in their last year of grad school. The contributor will have the option to blog under their real name or, if they prefer, blog under a pseudonym so they can dish, dish, dish (all names will be changed to protect the innocent, of course).
If you are interested, please contact Lance.
Update: Thanks for all of the responses, the level of interest took me by surprise! We will be making an announcement soon.
By Lance, on December 7th, 2009
While I am not sure if three links really constitute a “O-Rama” type situation, we wanted to pass along some interesting things that have been posted over the past couple of weeks. Enjoy!
By Lance, on November 24th, 2009
My Thanksgiving usually is comprised of gorging myself on deviled eggs, watching football, and taking crap from the Buckeye wing of the family, again… *sadness filled pause*
Anyway, besides the usual thankfulness of health, happiness, a wonderful family, and a spouse who likes college hockey, this year I will be adding things that have either helped in my budding career, or that helps our profession. Here are some highlights:
Open Source Software and Freeware OK, I know this is an geeky way to begin my list, but it is true. The computer on which I am currently typing also has local installations of Archivist’s Toolkit, Drupal, WordPress, and Apache. I know that open source is not necessarily free because of the learning curve involved, and sometimes it can be kind of frustrating being on your own. However, I love the fact that I can download these tools and play with them. Imagine if we had to go to Microsoft or some other vendor for all of this stuff. I am hoping soon to make the switch to Open Office, and maybe even a Linux based system as well (perhaps it will run on a solar powered machine made of granola and hemp).
The National Treasure Franchise Yes, the Nicolas Cage character is not an archivist and there are several things in that movie that made us all cringe, but let me tell you a story. The first movie was released to video at about the same time I did a short internship at NARA. I watched the video with my then 6 and 10 year old nephews and offhandedly mentioned that I was just at the National Archives. The six year old asked me if my job was like what Nicolas Cage’s character does in the movie. As I pondered my answer, I first looked at the TV, on which Nicolas Cage was rolling the Declaration up like a Bon Jovi poster and partaking in some witty banter with the beautiful conservator. I then looked at my nephew, who was waiting for my answer, his trusting eyes looking at me with anticipation. I said: “Yes, yes it is.” I will continue this lie until he is old enough to understand that the truth of what Uncle Lance does is actually as cool as the lie. So, despite the bad preservation practice and historical inaccuracies, anything that makes me look cool and puts butts in the seats at the National Archives is alright by me. Besides, if you are going to misrepresent what an archivist does, it could be worse (before I get sucked into the debate on the preceding clip, I refer you to Derangement and Description, whose take on this matter is spot on).
Grad School Cohort/Twitter Before I went to grad school, a friend of mine, whose wife earned a MBA a couple of years earlier, told me that my grad school cohort will become quite important to me. Well, Chris from New Jersey was right. Even though I am older than most of my former classmates (that is why this blog is called NewArchivist, not YoungArchivist), they have proved to be an invaluable help to me by providing a place to ask “dumb” questions and vent about the common frustrations of a new professional. I see the group of archivists on Twitter as a similar type of resource. While Twitter interaction obviously lacks the face to face element (and you run the chance of broadcasting your ignorance to the world), where else do you have an opportunity to communicate with archivists from all different locations, expertise, and experiences (without having to risk getting mired in #thatdarnlistserv)? I do not get a chance to contribute as much as I would like on Twitter, but I hope to increase my participation in the future and help add my small part to that discussion.
Well, there is a sampling. Please feel free to add some of your thankfulness to the comment section, and happy Thanksgiving from all of us at NewArchivist!
 Deviled Eggs are Freakin' Awesome
By Katherine, on November 8th, 2009
When you’ve just graduated and are still looking for a job, it’s easy to feel like getting that first job will solve all your problems. Then you get the job offer and it comes with a whole new set of adventures to tackle. If you’re like me, you plan and implement your move half way across the country in the span of three weeks. If you’re really adventurous, desperate, or the job is just awesome, you might find yourself moving to a place where you don’t know anyone.
During and for the first month after my move, I enjoyed the challenges that were coming my way. The people in my office are simply amazing. They’re really good at answering my questions about things like where I should look for curtains and how cold I can expect it to get in Boston this winter. I actually found my apartment because my boss has a friend who is a realtor. You have to love the boss who meets you when you get off the bus from the airport and presents you with a city map. (I have to say this is probably one of my favorite gifts ever because it is useful and expresses confidence in my abilities, sort of like when Dad gave me a car jack the Valentine’s Day after I turned 16). During this time, I had fun pretending that I was a pioneer, striking out on my own to make my way in the world. As Dad pointed out before I left, it’s not like things were two hundred years ago when people left home and never came back, when it could take weeks or months to get a letter half way across the country. For a while, it was fun to wander around and buy new things, building my professional wardrobe and decorating my new apartment.
Then the adrenaline rush wore off. It hit home that there wasn’t anyone in this city that I’d known longer than six weeks. I felt (and often still feel) lonely and isolated. There are many days when I wake up and just want to see the familiar face of someone, anyone that I have history with. (Even if it was someone I hadn’t talked to often or maybe even actually liked when I knew them previously, I would love them just for being in this city at this time.)
I know that feeling at-home in Boston is largely dependent on me. I won’t feel completely comfortable here until I have commitments (outside of getting up and going to work every day) and friends that I can call at the last minute when I suddenly decide that I absolutely must go out for pizza or who will help me sneak snacks into the movie theater and then make fun of me while I talk to the characters on screen. This weekend I joined a brunch group that I found on meetup.com. I figure that brunch is a nice, safe way to meet new people. In the spring I’m planning to take some sort of lessons that involve boats; I’m not sure whether it will focus on rowing or sails, but regardless, it will not be an activity I could easily pursue in Missouri. And until I have memories in Boston, I still have my phone and friends all over the country who are going through the same thing.
By Bria, on November 2nd, 2009
We are excited to have Bria Parker as a guest contributor this week. Bria has a Master of Science in Information and works for a large academic library in the Midwest. She is also the first New Librarian to contribute to our site (we are so inclusive). I think this post is something that a lot of us new information professionals are grappling with and will spark some great comments, so please feel free to add yours. Thanks for the awesome post, Bria! ~ Ed.
DISCLAIMER: I have a great boss, and none of this is directed at him. ~ Bria
If you’re like me, you were required to take some sort of management course in Library School (Information School, Archives School, whatever). And if you’re like me, much of it seemed like a spectacular waste of time, because really, how many of us are managing a department or institution right out of grad school? Oh you are? How nice for you. You can stop reading now.
For the rest of us, management seems to be in the distant future. For now, we must content ourselves with being managed by others. Whether your an archivist, librarian, or like to live dangerously and walk a fine line between the two, being managed, being a cog in the wheel, is not something grad school really prepares us for. Sure, sure, we are prepared for working in groups and we all probably are adept at interpersonal relationships. But that is with our peers. So what can we do to prepare ourselves for developing effective relationships with our superiors
Sure, sure, we’ve all had jobs before now in which we were managed, but when it comes to the professional world of libraries and archives, how do us neophytes operate in the pre-existing hierarchy that is [insert institution here]. We are now professionals, too, so how do we assert our thoughts and ideas when we disagree? What happens when you disagree with how things are done? Or about the way things are about to be done? What happens when you disagree so strongly that maintaining the status quo compromises your belief in what’s right? What can you say? What is the appropriate action? How could anyone get so worked up about old stuff?
If you’re a New Archivist, it is likely that you are currently facing this dilemma, or will soon. How does a new archivist (or librarian) balance the feeling that you might know more about a particular aspect than your superior(s) (either the particular aspect in question is your specialty, or you’ve studied it more recently than others) with the feeling that perhaps you’re just too naive to really understand the bigger issue. I was recently faced with this exact issue, and it broke my confidence. For months others and I had planned and planned, and had developed reasonable specifications. I felt like the research I had done, and all of my previous study really prepared me, and that the right path was chosen for the project at hand. Then someone stuck a stick in our spokes. “No. We aren’t doing that.” Umm…what? Had I been completely wrong? Where was this coming from? Do others not trust me? Am I too stupid to see something?
Unfortunately, a management class and group projects with peers did nothing to prepare me for such a crisis of faith in myself, nearly buckling to the decrees of others whom I felt did not truly understand the issue (despite us having talked about it for months).
The situation that brought on this rant has been resolved (thankfully) in a manner that did not require me to give up much ground (the compromise was a true compromise, with both sides giving a little). My colleagues and I were able to successfully defend the decisions and choices that were being questioned by others. No feathers were ruffled and nothing was as confrontational as the email exchanges leading up the successful meeting had indicated. This is a good thing. Yet while I leave this situation feeling that yes, my knowledge and training did prove to be correct, I was not really able to address the feeling of naivete and inadequacy that plagued me during the two weeks this went on. I was never able to resolve to myself whether or not one of the issues was that I just didn’t get the big picture.
Ultimately, this has been a great learning process for me, and no class would have prepared me for this lesson. But I’d like to know some of your experiences and seek your wisdom. In the future, what should one do? How can one manage the dichotomy of knowledge versus naivete? What if this hadn’t come to a peaceful solution? Should I have stood my ground and possibly made a bad impression? Or should I have buckled to their collective will? Enlighten me, New Archivists!
By Guest Contributor, on October 20th, 2009
Our next guest contribution comes from no other than Rebecca Goldman of Derangement and Description. We are big fans of her work (not to mention Twitter buddies) and are thrilled she has contributed an original comic to the blog. Rebecca has, in her words, “NewArchivist cred” herself. She started her first archives job at the Drexel University Archives in August 2008. This comic is part one in a two part series, so keep you eyes peeled for the next installment. Thanks so much Rebecca!
The photo in panel two comes courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales’ Flickr collection.
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