Three years ago, I assumed bloggers were mostly people who were obsessed with something or other, like science fiction, or were people on the extremes of the political spectrum who needed a forum for their crazy manifestos. So, either I am now one of those people, or I have realized, (through my sometime unwilling exposure to web 2.0 at school) that blogs are in fact a great way to get something unique and possibly even helpful out there. Even though I do have a unhealthy obsession with Darth Vader, I think I fall into the latter category.
And you are? I am an archivist. After several false career starts, let’s just say that I have an extensive collection of name tags and hairnets (that will not be my last Wayne’s World reference), I decided I should stop making excuses and finish the bachelors degree I started some years earlier. I did just that, taking advantage of a great program offered through Northwestern University. While I was there, one of my professors encouraged me to look outside the realm of academic history and explore other career paths. I interned, then worked, at the Chicago History Museum and fell in love with the archives. I knew that I wanted to work in that field.
I came to the University of Michigan’s School of Information (SI) for two reasons 1) to earn a Master of Information (MSI) with a specialization in Archives and Records Management and 2) get tickets to UM football (I am a lifelong Wolverine fan). Neither experience turned out how I had expected. The trials of the football program are somewhat out of the scope of this blog (I will say that I stand by Coach Rodriguez). However, my experience at school is in-scope and is really what led me to create this blog.
I thought that I would get an education that would lead me to work with historical manuscripts. However, almost from the onset of my experience at SI, I was fascinated by the challenges of archiving digital records. While there I took classes that dealt with both paper and digital records. I also worked and interned at several places on and off campus that allowed me to further explore these digital challenges.
Look Out World. So, I graduated in May and currently have a job I love in the Digital Preservation unit of ICPSR, a digital archive of social science research on UM’s campus. I hope to write about my experiences learning about this new profession and touch upon the following topics:
- The challenges of merging technological solutions into the archival profession
- The emergence of web 2.0 technologies and the institutions and professionals that embrace them
- Advice and helpful hints for students and new archivists everywhere
- Whatever else pops into my head
I will also serve as the webmaster for this site, mostly because I like the idea of being referred to as “webmaster.”
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy my contributions! ~Lance lance@newarchivist.com
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