Steering Share: Meet Claire V. Gordon

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of our newest Steering Committee member, Claire V. Gordon. Other members currently on the I&A Steering Committee include: Elizabeth “Liz” Call, Holly Rose McGee, Danielle Simpkins, Caitlin Rizzo, Burkely Hermann, Jacqueline Devereaux, and Marissa Friedman.

1) What was your first experience working with archives?

I have always had a fascination with the materiality and meaning embodied in artifacts, so when I was given the chance to work directly with artifacts as a volunteer at the Autry National Center, it set the stage to becoming an archivist. Over time, after speaking to archivists in the museum and library sector, I decided to earn my MLIS and focus on archival theory. My first archival work was during my graduate studies at UCLA as an archival assistant for the Barbara and Willard Morgan Archive, processing Willard’s working papers, and Barbara’s prints and artwork.

 

2) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you? 

I believe that investing in and prioritizing the processing of under-represented and mis-represented archival materials should be work that is centered and supported by institutions and fellow professionals alike.

 

3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee? 

As an early career archivist, I look forward to learning from my colleagues about the nuanced issues that persist in the archives profession and having open-minded discussions about how to address them.

 

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession? 

I am an avid hiker, and can often be found communing with local flora and fauna. I also enjoy creative expression through cooking, art and crochet.

September 27, 2023November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archival description, archival labor, archival theory, archives profession, Interviews, misrepresented materials, new professionals, redescription, underrepresented communities Leave a comment

Steering Share: Meet Burkely Hermann

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of Steering Committee member, Burkely Hermann, National Security Archive, and current I&A Blog Coordinator. Other members currently on the I&A Steering Committee include Danielle Simpkins, Caitlin Rizzo, Sheridan Sayles, Liz Call, Holly Rose McGee, and Claire Gordon.

1) What was your first experience working with archives?

I first worked in an archives after graduating from college with my B.A. in Political Science and History, as a researcher at the Maryland State Archives for a project trying to track down the stories of Maryland Revolutionary War soldiers, called the “Finding the Maryland 400” project, having a flexible start and end time, often either working with a historian on staff or independently. While that job only lasted six months as the grant money from a non-profit ran out, it began my interest in archives, which was rekindled in later years when I started my MLIS degree and worked at NARA’s College Park location as a work study in my last semester.

While I was drawn toward genealogy when working at the Maryland State Archives, I remember digitizing documents, using a push cart to move heavy books from the stacks to my desk, the in-house system I used to input information, or the many databases I used day in and day out. On the other hand, there were mold remediation efforts during the end of my time there. Worst of all, however, was the public transit nightmare I endured to get to the archives. Every day, I went on a light rail train to the end of the line, then a caught bus down to the archives itself. One wrong transfer or traffic would cause delays either by minutes or by hours. One major lesson I learned from the whole experience was to work somewhere that is accessible through public transportation!

2) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

That is a hard question. I would say precarity in the archives profession is very important, as many of my jobs since graduating have been precarious, whether working at a grant-funded position at the Maryland State Archives, an unpaid internship for NARA, or a graduate assistantship at University of Maryland, where I earned my MLIS degree, focusing on Archives and Digital Curation. Connected to this are those trying to unionize archivists, have fair pay, and safe working conditions, among other efforts to help archival issues.

Currently, I work at a non-profit which relies on grant funding, so in that way, it is a bit of a precarious position, I suppose, as a loss of funding could lead, possibly, to cuts in wages and benefits. I am glad that archival precarity has received a lot of attention in recent years and I hope that it continues to be seen as important by those in the profession, including in the SAA. This seems by the case from what I can gather when filling out the A*Census II.

3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

I hope to connect with like-minded archivists who are concerned with various archival issues, such as reparative processing, redescription, institutional sustainability, institutional racism, and preserving social media posts. I’ll be using my perspective to positively contribute to the Issues & Advocacy Section (I&A) to continue existing advocacy and outreach efforts, including continuing to promote the value and importance of the archival profession.

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

Well, read a lot of webcomics and watch a bunch of animated series. And I write reviews of shows and comics I read, some of which have archivists and librarians! Also, for fun, I write fiction and incorporate some archivists into some of my stories. I occasionally do family history research for both sides of my family and have some blogs about that as well. When I’m not doing all of that, and it’s good weather, I go on hikes and read books.

February 7, 2022November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: A*CENSUS, archival description, archival processing, archives profession, born-digital records, databases, genealogy, institutional racism, institutional sustainability, internships, Interviews, job security, library degrees, NARA, National Security Archive, outreach, popular culture, precarity, redescription, reparative processing, social media, unionization, web archiving 7 Comments

Steering Share: Meet Andrea Belair

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of new Vice Chair / Chair-Elect Andrea Belair, Library Project Specialist at the Clark Art Institute. She is left her position as chair in Sept. 2022, upon accepting a new job as a school librarian near her record store.

What was your first experience working with archives?

I wish I could say that I’d had experience in an archive before I was in graduate school, but I can’t remember any. They always sounded cool and mysterious, but I didn’t really work with archives much until my first internship during graduate school, where I processed a small collection of records of the local fire department. The internship was at the North Jersey History and Genealogical Center in Morristown, New Jersey, and I had to travel there by train from Rutgers in New Brunswick. I created a finding aid in EAD, the records themselves were very dirty, so I had to clean them off and asked tons of questions about everything I did. The archivist there was great as a person and as a professional. This was only a part of an internship that had many facets, but I think processing that collection made me feel that I’d like a goal of becoming an archivist, although I was often told back then that I’d never find a job in archiving so I was trying to keep my hopes minimal. 

2) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

As many others have said with this question, it’s hard to answer because there are so many issues that are so important. I am always thinking about climate change but I’m not sure what archivists really can do about it, and I think about decolonization a lot. However, one issue that has been hitting close to home lately for me is that of mental health. I know that archivists are not alone in this whatsoever. Lots of archivists take a beating when it comes to their mental health, and this is one area in which much of the general workforce became more aware of during the pandemic. I have just changed jobs, but the toxicity of some of my former workplaces, combined with things like the stress of a low salary, and especially the lack of recognition for your work, can really take their toll on one’s mental health. I have been in situations where supervisors didn’t understand what I did and didn’t trust that I understood it either, and that could be very stressful and taxing. It’s hard to constantly feel the need to prove yourself and your worth, and it has led me into some very dark places mentally. Once I even asked a supervisor outright to try to trust me because I’d like their support, to which the response was that they hadn’t been the one to hire me (although they had indeed hired me) and that was rather demoralizing. It takes advocacy to an entirely new level when you need to try to uphold respect for the profession while trying to advocate for recognition for yourself as an individual who deserves respect as a human being. This really comes down to workplaces in general, but many archivists are employed in academia, which can sometimes have tendencies to maintain a toxic hierarchy that can be hard to change. I cannot imagine how frustrating this must be for others who don’t have the levels of privileges that I’ve had.

3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

I would very much like to regain my focus and become more involved in advocacy for the archival profession. As I said in the last question, I think I’ve become a bit out of the loop and focused a lot on my personal circumstances lately, and I’d really like to connect my experiences with the profession in general again. I am now working in a museum, which is quite different from the academic environments that I’ve been involved in for some time, so it will be interesting to be able to see issues and advocacy that arise within this framework. I’m already seeing a lot of differences. 

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

I love hiking and I co-own a record store with my husband. Now that winter is here, I’m outside a little less often and inside the record store more often. 

January 24, 2022November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archival processing, archives profession, climate change, fires, internships, Interviews, library school, mental health, museums, record stores 1 Comment

Steering Share: Meet Caitlin Rizzo

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of the Steering Committee member, Caitlin Rozzo, Archivist at the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center, Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. Other members currently on the I&A Steering Committee include Danielle Simpkins, Burkely Hermann, Sheridan Sayles, Liz Call, Holly Rose McGee, and Claire Gordon.

What was your first experience working with archives?
This is always a favorite question of mine! The first time I encountered the archive, I was a sophomore in college. In the spring, I decided to launch myself head first into a project that I was objective unqualified to perform and I applied for a summer job as a Research Assistant for a professor on campus, Dr. Marguerite Rippy. I spent what felt like a magical summer researching an all-black production of Macbeth that Orson Welles directed as part of his work with the Federal Theatre Project, which required me to go to places like the Library of Congress and National Archives and Records Association. I remember very distinctly my first ever trip to an archive was the Library of Congress. The day before I met with Dr. Rippy who told me very plainly that the goal for the first day was simply to get my research card and warned me that the first day of research you always feel very lost and a little like an idiot, so as long as I got the card I should celebrate my success. Fast forward to a very confused 19 year old wondering in the tunnels (I am not even sure how I got there) at 3:00 p.m. so desperate to leave and so terrified of asking for help that I followed a group of people with suitcases around for about ten minutes hoping somehow that suitcases signified an intent to leave a building. (Truly, who would drag around suitcases if they were just planning to Sorkin walk through the tunnel? This part of the story remains a mystery.) The good news is that an hour later, I did manage to find the exit and, utterly disoriented, make my way to the metro. I kept coming back and about a week later I made my first archival “discovery”—a little advertisement for the show in Texas where the black-cast was segregated from white production staff. Two years later, when I was searching for internships I applied to the Library of Congress Junior Fellowship program. I ended up staying there for three fabulous years (and, reader, I still wound up lost in those tunnels again and again, but seriously it remains very worth it.)

What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?
This is difficult for me to answer because there are a lot of things that concern me in archives. I was incredibly fortunate to get my MLIS at the University of Maryland when Dr. Ricardo Punzalan was teaching there and I often repeat a phrase he would say that feels central to my engagement with and love of archives: “History is offensive. If it doesn’t offend you, then you might not be looking that closely.” He is such an amazing example of how a critical approach to a subject is born out of a great love for that subject and a belief in that subject’s value. This is a nice way to say that many things concern me, but that’s probably because I actively strive to be a person who is concerned and who is attentive to the struggles of others.

I would say if I had to pick one thing to talk about in this moment that issue would be divestment and prison abolition in archives and special collections. I am part of a wonderful group that meets regularly to talk about the ways the ideologies of the prison-industrial-complex pervade special collections and the ways that we benefit as a profession from prisons and prison labor. I recently have been working on a statement and thinking about how to phrase this for folks that might think that Special Collections exists in another universe from the systemic oppression of millions of the most vulnerable populations and communities around us. I think for me the idea that right now in the United States about 2.3 million people are desperately in need of evidence, of records, of proof to set themselves free should feel sinister to us as archivists. How does that word ‘evidence’ that sustains our positions (our jobs, our material wealth, and our freedom) condemn others? What do we have to do with that if we benefit from it? And truly how do two worlds seem at first so completely separate? I know of several librarians that work with incarcerated populations but very few archivists have anything to do with the incarcerated. Why is that? There are researchers, users, scholars (whatever you would like to call them that would connote to you their worthiness) who happen to be incarcerated. I have read their poetry, transcribed their letters, and maintained their work in the archive. I think we owe these individuals something better.

What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?
I hope to gain a sense of how advocacy can work in technical services. I’ve actually just started a new position that is a little more capacious, but previously all of my archival experience centered on technical or collection services. Most recently, I served as the Head of Collection Services for the Eberly Family Special Collections Library, but I often find that the work can sometimes feel unconnected from the conversations that seem the most interesting and necessary for the profession. I think largely that’s been changing with the incredible work of archivists that are tackling issues like redescription and reparative processing; however, I have found that it can be challenging to argue for advocacy in technical services. There is always the backlog, there is always software that need refinement or managing. I think of the words technical debt which always weigh heavy on your shoulders in technical services. Sometimes I think technical services gets too weighed down by those burdens of the “traditional” work of processing, description, and digitization to get to participate fully in these conversations, but the best professional development work I ever got to do was attend a Project STAND conference in Chicago and hear former Black Panthers speak to their experience with archives and activism. Those kinds of experiences feel vital and necessary to the work I do. The technology and the archival labor is not neutral. When you are so stuck trying to catch up with other institutions or new rules, it can feel really challenging to engage in what some people might cast as “value-added” work. The truth is that engaging critically with the issues and advocacy around the practice is foundational and necessary work for all of us. I firmly believe it cannot be additional or optional.

What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?
Well, lately my love of loafing and people watching has been cut short by the pandemic. I am at my core such a literature nerd, but somehow this also translates to a deep love for really “bad art.” I love bad poetry, strange/awkward one man shows, bad movies—I like seeing the things that don’t quite work out or materialize the way you thought they would. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the podcast “How Did This Get Made?” but I could listen to that endlessly. I also love podcasts from this moment deep in quarantine. The “Still Processing” podcast just came back and I could listen to the episode that breaks down the culture of public apologies a million times over. Other than that, I am generally playing around with one of my own failed crafting projects and loving on my furry family (one dog, two bunnies, and many unrealized plans for expansion of the pack).

June 3, 2021November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archival description, archival processing, archives profession, discovery, government archives, internships, Interviews, library degrees, Library of Congress, NARA, patrons, podcasts, poetry, prison abolition, prison labor, Project STAND, redescription, reparative processing, special collections, Whiteness 6 Comments

Steering Share: Meet Bradley J. Wiles

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of the Steering Committee member, Bradley J. Wiles, a PhD student in Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, School of Information Studies.

1. What was your first experience working with archives?

I first encountered archives from the user perspective doing research at a university archives for a local history project. I came away with the impression that these folks (archivists) really have their act together because I was able to get what I needed very rapidly and the specific person I dealt with had an almost preternatural sense of what I would be interested in looking at and what follow-up questions I was going to ask. Needless to say, I was impressed but I didn’t really make much of a distinction between what archivists actually do from what other library and information professionals do. It was only some years later while working in a financial services firm that I started to appreciate the volume and complexity of modern records and how consequential their management (or mismanagement) can be. At that time a friend had been urging me to go to library school but I only decided to do it when I discovered that the program I was looking at offered an archives and records concentration. Since then my career has taken a number of different directions, but I’m somehow always drawn to archives in one way or another.

2. What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

The most important issue to me underlies or ties into almost every other issue that we as a profession seek to address–that of institutional sustainability. I think making sure we have stable and vibrant institutions–ones that are responsive to changing social conditions and value the profession’s expertise and perspectives–is key to enacting disciplinary and professional priorities related to education, training, job security, opportunity, outreach, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. We are unable to make progress in any of these areas without a strong foundation composed of the networks of institutions, professional groups, community stakeholders, and external champions who frequently have different ideas of what an archives is or should be in any given time or place. Very few archives exist as independent, self-sustaining entities and are thus dependent on institutional structures to carry out the key activity of any archives–to capture records and information for long term preservation and use. If these basic functions cannot be sustained long term at a societal level, then archives are worthless and all related goals are meaningless.

3. What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

I wanted to join the I&A Steering Committee because I believe that the relatively recent adoption of a more activist approach by SAA has been a net positive for the archives profession, but needs to keep moving forward. This section serves a crucial role in helping to keep SAA members apprised of issues that directly impact our institutions, communities, and professional position, and I believe that it can be a leader in shaping SAA’s overall approach to internal and external advocacy. Like others on the Committee, I believe that I have the necessary background and a unique perspective that will positively contribute to the mission of this group and I appreciate being able to collaborate with others who are passionate about advocacy.

4. What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

Outside of work, I spend as much time with my children as possible hanging out at Lake Michigan and looking for the best parks and restaurants in the Milwaukee metro region. I also like to write, play, and record music, so maybe if this archives thing doesn’t work out I’ll write the next “Who Let the Dogs Out” or “Mambo No. 5” and then retire early as a gazillionaire one-hit wonder. But for now, I’m busy with dissertation research, teaching, and volunteering on archives projects with a local historical society.

April 14, 2021November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archives profession, historical societies, inclusion, institutional sustainability, Interviews, job security, library school, outreach, preservation, racial diversity, SAA, volunteering Leave a comment

Steering Share: Meet Lauren McDaniel

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, Lauren McDaniel, Special Collections Archivist at the Getty Research Institute.

1) What was your first experience working with archives? 

Half by chance, I got a student job at UCLA Library Special Collections–20 years ago now! That experience dovetailed perfectly with my undergraduate studies in history and art history, leading me to realize I wanted to work with special collections materials professionally. Staff encouraged me to apply to library school and I began UCLA’s MLIS program planning to become a rare book cataloger. But my introductory coursework introduced me to archival studies and I realized that archival processing is what I was really interested in, particularly of arts-related and material culture collections. The many dual aspects of the job–cerebral/physical, detailed/big-picture, solitary/service-oriented, innovative/reparative–fit my skills, goals, and values really well. I feel very lucky to have found work I love. #ILoveBeingAnArchivist 

2) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

But although we love and value our own work as archivists, those whom we work for often do not. This has become painfully obvious in the past decade or so as contract positions have become the norm, and has had an especially devastating effect on our lives over the past year. It is more important than ever that we collectively advocate for ourselves. Fortunately, many of us are already hard at work resisting vocational awe, establishing guidelines for more ethical hiring practices, and taking care of each other during the pandemic through mutual aid campaigns! 

In my previous contract position, my colleagues and I used the collective power of our union to push back against the misuse of temporary appointments in UCLA Library Special Collections. Two years in, we are still fighting, and it has been powerful to see the positive effect of our organizing beyond our library: from receiving public support and professional recognition to raising more awareness of the widespread problem of precarious labor in the cultural heritage and education fields. 

3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

My union experience inspired me to step up my labor activism by running for a leadership position in the Issues & Advocacy Section. Since joining the Steering Committee in August, I have met a range of committed archivists from across the country (albeit virtually) and learned more about the issues they and their colleagues are facing. During the pandemic, workplace safety has been the biggest concern, of course, with furloughs and layoffs a close second. I have observed that this Section is a crucial network for sharing information, collaborating, and providing support as well as a platform for members’ interests. Over my next 2+ years serving on this committee, I hope to help us become an even more important resource and an even louder voice for everyone in the profession. 

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

Organizing my own stuff, for fun(!); endlessly searching for and looking at objects, art, and ephemera (mostly online these days, of course–sigh); listening to Agatha Christie audiobooks (favorite narrator: Hugh Fraser); and hanging out with (you guessed it) my cat! 

February 18, 2021November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archival processing, archives profession, art history, Interviews, job security, library school, mutual aid, temporary labor, unionization, vocational awe Leave a comment

Steering Share: Meet Sara DeCaro

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of committee member Sara DeCaro, the university archivist at Baker University Library. 

 

1) What was your first experience working with archives?

I was lucky enough receive the Mary Louise Meder Internship in the State Archives division of the Kansas Historical Society when I was working on my MLS. It was a great introduction to archives, and it was paid! I wrote finding aids for two collections of personal papers and did some work with Kansas Memory, the KSHS’ digital image website. I enjoyed every minute of it, too. It reaffirmed my decision to pursue a career in archives.

 

 

2) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

I initially became a part of I&A because I had never served on a committee in any of the professional organizations I belong to, and I&A seemed to match my interests. This is my second year on the steering committee, and I already feel like I’ve gained a lot. Having the opportunity to work on our temporary labor survey was meaningful to me personally, as someone who has held temporary positions in the past, and although analyzing all that data was a bit challenging, I learned a great deal. One of my Steering Shares from last year also led to participation in a panel discussion at the Annual Meeting in July, which was also a very worthwhile experience.

 

 

3) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

Low wages in the archives profession is a very important issue, in my opinion, and one that I’ve been able to explore as a result of my involvement in this committee. That was the focus of the panel discussion I mentioned before. It’s a widespread problem in the archives world, for a number of reasons. I knew that after reading the responses to our survey, but listening to the other panelists and hearing their stories made the scope of the problem very clear. I like being able to contribute to a solution, even if it is in a small way.

 

 

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

I’ve recently started volunteering with Kansas City Pet Project, my local animal shelter. I wasn’t ready for a new pet when my cat passed away, but I missed cats and wanted to be around them. Shelter environments can be stressful for cats, so I’m glad I can give them a little comfort.

January 6, 2020November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archives profession, internships, Interviews, memory institutions, personal papers, temporary labor, volunteering Leave a comment

Steering Share: Meet Courtney Dean

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of the past-chair of the I&A committee, Courtney Dean, the head of the Center for Primary Research and Training in UCLA Library Special Collections.

1) What was your first experience working with archives?

As an undergrad I wrote a paper on the history of May Day in Boston using mircrofilm copies of old newspapers, but that’s as close I got to anything remotely archival for a long time. When I was thinking about grad school I came across the Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP) and the Riot Grrrl collection at Fales and was disabused of the notion that archives are stuffy and elite. Then I found out “archivist” was an actual job and was completely sold. My grad school internships were at the Wende Museum of the Cold War, Pacifica Radio Archives, and LACMA. I worked with artifacts and artworks; ¼ inch audiotapes; and institutional records. While in grad school I also worked in the Center for Primary Research and Training in UCLA Library Special Collections, a program I now head. There I had the opportunity to work on collections from the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives as part of their partnership with UCLA Library.  

2) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

This is my third(!) and last year on the Steering Committee and I hope to contribute to both the continuity and sustainability of the section and its ongoing work. So much volunteer work is thankless and burnout-prone, but I’ve always appreciated how I&A’s charge is broad enough for folks to pursue issues of importance to them. The enthusiasm of my fellow steering committee members is infectious, and I look forward to pushing forward conversations around issues facing the profession. 

3) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

Fair and ethical archival labor has been something I’ve been passionate about for a long time- everything from paid internships to temp labor to salary transparency and barriers to entry in the profession. Aside from I&A, I participate in the Digital Library Federation’s (DLF) Labor Working group, co-chair the Society of California Archivists (SCA) Labor Issues Task Force, and am on the organizing and issues committees for the librarian unit of my union. Right now a lot of this work involves data collection, which can hopefully be leveraged to better advocate for change. Like others have mentioned, I’ve also started thinking more and more about the environmental impact of the profession- flying to conferences, digital storage, etc. 

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

Way too much of my free time has been devoted to archives adjacent activities, but I’m trying to get better with boundaries and work life balance. I play guitar in a punk band called Red Rot, just joined a rad book club, and am obsessed with my cat, Walrus. (My other feline bff Potato just passed away last week which was really hard.) I’m also currently watching Deadwood for the first time.

 

December 20, 2019November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archives profession, institutional sustainability, internships, Interviews, job security, LGBTQ+, libraries, record storage, transparency, unionization, volunteering Leave a comment

Steering Share: Meet Genna Duplisea

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of committee member Genna Duplisea, archivist and special collections librarian at Salve Regina University.

1) What was your first experience working with archives?

After working in the library stacks my first year of college, I transferred my work-study to the Special Collections and Archives department because when I often walked by its glass doors and beautiful sculptural gates, I thought it looked interesting. For the rest of my time at Bowdoin, I was an assistant there, learning how to handle and organize everything from architectural plans to brittle folded nineteenth-century correspondence to newspaper clippings to masses of trophies. The collection was robust and the department busy, so I got to see the variety of research primary sources could provide. My supervisors encouraged enthusiasm about the collection and the environment allowed me to take joy in my work. One year for my grandfather’s birthday I found for him the alumnus file for a doctor from our family lore – he had delivered one of my ancestors on a kitchen table!

2) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

Much of my reasoning for pursuing a career in archives is my desire to contribute positively to human rights and the environment. It can be difficult and overwhelming at work to stay grounded in the ever-changing landscape of concerns and ideas linking archives to social justice. Attending to the role of archives in combating prejudice and harm means advocating for our labor, too. Serving on the I&A Steering Committee will, I hope, help me do the things I entered this profession to do, by connecting me more closely to the work addressing social and environmental justice issues and placing me in a position to support or join in archival activism.

3) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

I see climate change as underpinning every problem and political issue because it affects every community. Archivists have a role in helping communities preserve and protect their heritage as the climate becomes more unpredictable, and we also have lot to do in addressing our profession’s carbon footprint. How do we perform memory work for changing and disappearing communities without further contributing to the source of that change? As part of Archivists Responding to Climate Change (ProjectARCC), I recently collaborated with other archivists on hosting Climate Teach-ins and hope to contribute to the growing body of writing on archives and climate change in the coming year.

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

Reading, writing, and basic fiber crafting are also among my hobbies, which almost goes without saying in this profession. It cracks me up to around the room of archivists and seeing a bunch of people knitting during a presentation, which I have been known to do. Additionally, I’m not very sporty, but I love going for walks. There is a land trust in my community that maintains beautiful walking trails. I’m trying to learn more about the plants and birds I see and develop a stronger knowledge of the natural world. My houseplants are also doing all right.

December 9, 2019November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archives profession, biases, climate change, environmental justice, Interviews, memory institutions, memory work, Project ARCC Leave a comment

Steering Share: Meet Steering Committee Member Holly Croft

Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of committee member Holly Croft, the digital archivist at Georgia College. 

 

1) What was your first experience working with archives?

Archiving is a second career for me, and I quit the first without a clear plan with what I wanted to do next. I started volunteering on an indexing project for a nonprofit where I would attach metadata to digital versions of their collection materials. It was extremely calming in a time where I felt that many things were up in the air, and I would spend hours working on the indexes.

Because it was a volunteer position, I didn’t catch on immediately that the indexing project was part of a larger career field, but I eventually researched it and learned the avenues through which one becomes an archivist. The following fall, I applied to graduate school, and I have never looked back!

2) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?

I am so delighted to be a part of the I&A Steering Committee, and I am looking forward to working with the rest of the committee to assist archivists who need support in a variety of ways. As Joanna mentioned in her Steering Share, this is a small community, so it only makes sense that we’re stronger together.

3) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?

Recently, this committee has taken a look at labor practices particularly surrounding temporary positions and the precarity they create for those who end up taking them. This is, unfortunately, an ongoing concern.

I also am increasingly uneasy with additional labor dumped on archivists, particularly under the guise of “other duties as assigned” and “doing less with more.” This is a topic that hits labor markets well beyond archives, but I’ll bet the majority of archivists have a story about these phrases biting them in some way at their jobs.

These are only two of a myriad of topics affecting archivists today, and I am looking forward to being able to assist where possible.

4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?

I have become the crazy cat lady people warn you about becoming in library school! Two months ago, I had two cats. I took in a stray that looked a little rotund at the beginning of October, and mid-October, I suddenly had six cats.

Just kidding – I could tell there were kittens coming when I took in the third. So, I’m spending a lot of time socializing these little ones and getting them ready for their forever homes.

Additionally, I love cooking and preserving food, gardening, and reading.

November 26, 2019November 24, 2023 by issuesandadvocacy Categories: Interviews, Steering ShareTags: archival labor, archives profession, indexing, Interviews, library school, precarity, temporary labor, volunteering Leave a comment