LiveJournal Archivists' Journal

Thank you so much for your replies to my last question, they were really helpful!
Now I have another question, going in the opposite direction:
Do you think a general library degree with a certificate in archival management (or something to that effect) would be viewed as well, worse, or better than a library degree with an archives specialization?
Thanks!

Hey all,
I'm looking into graduate school options, and wondering if anyone can point me toward a resource, or share their knowledge/opinion, on what are good schools for archival studies that focus on rare books and documents archives/preservation, rather than the archiving of current materials.
US primarily, but if the best option is in the UK or Canada I'd consider it.
Thanks.

New York Archives Conference Scholarships
Application deadline: April 24, 2009

The New York Archives Conference annual meeting will be held June 3-5, 2009, at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. Presentations on topics including archives security, remodeling, ethics, collection development, copyright, working with development officers, managing e-mail and Web records, Web 2.0 applications, strategic planning, AV digitization, and educational use of records, will consider current standards and their archival applications. The scholarship application form can be found at <http://www.nyarchivists.org/>http://www.nyarchivists.org/ and the program will soon be available in the same location.

( rest of announcement under cut )

Hi everyone,

I'm giving a presentation on archive appraisal, and was hoping you guys could give me a hand with something.

I'm going to tilt the discussion towards proving how subjective and difficult appraisal actually is, and to do so I wanted to talk about some mistakes/failures of appraisal in the past (ie-- "Oh this is useless, throw it away/don't take it" and then it turns out to be of vital significance).

Can anyone help me with some examples of (in)famous appraisal flubs? I've found the Heiner case (http://www.caldeson.com/RIMOS/summary.html) but I can't seem to locate any others.

Thank you from a grateful MLIS student!

I'm a British undergraduate with an application in progress for a place on an archiving course and I've just been asked to supply a personal statement.
I wonder if anyone in this group would be able to provide any advice onwhat aproach to take when writing one suitable for a university application; what you would especially mention and, probably more importantly, what not to include.

I looked all over the internet and couldn't find a webcomic about archives, so I decided to start one. It's called Derangement and Description. If you like it, please share it with your archives-loving friends!

~Dee Dee

Hey has anyone here done an Archive Studies course in the UK? Im thinking of doing the MSC in Glasgow or the MA at UCL. I currently live in London so would like to stay here but I've heard the UCL course is a bit old fashioned whereas the glasgow course has so much emphasis on new technology/digital archiving. Any advice? Also did anyone get funding?

The St Vincent de Paul Society is a major international charitable and voluntary organisation which has been in existence in South Australia since 1884. The principal role of the Society is to provide for or alleviate the various needs of poor disadvantaged people in the community.

The Society would like to recruit a volunteer Archivist to assist with the foundation and management of an archive. Attached is a position description that sets out the key responsibilities of the archivist.

The priorities for this position will be:

· To manage the appraisal and sentencing of a backlog of records.
· To lead a research project into the history of the Society in South Australia ahead of the 125th anniversary of the Society’s operation in South Australia in 2009, with a view to contributing to the curation of an exhibition.
· To review closed files submitted to the Archives by the Administration Team to determine the suitability of the retention/disposal action assigned to the files (appraisal), and oversee accessioning, preservation, recall services, and secure destruction where appropriate.
· To design, implement and manage a legal deposit system whereby copies of all Society publications are deposited with the State Library of South Australia and the National Library of Australia.

We would be pleased to receive expressions of interest from those with qualifications or experience in record-keeping or the administration of archives. This position is for immediate start, either as a part-time or full-time voluntary role. This position would suit a retired or semi-retired person or a person in part-time employment.

The position offers opportunities for research and publication, exhibition design, experience in staff and volunteer management, policy design and technical writing.

We would also be interested in hearing from archivists, records managers, clerks, and information management students who would be interested in assisting the archivist in a voluntary capacity.

A position description may be requested from the Officer Manager, St Vincent de Paul Society (SA) Inc , GPO Box 1804, Adelaide SA 5001 or email jpapps@svdpsa.org.au

Expressions of interest should also be addressed to the above.

I'm in the process of applying to Graduate Programs in Public History. I'm thinking about applying to Middle Tennessee State University (I'm from Nashville), Armstrong-Atlantic, Emory, Murray State, Appalachian State, and possibly SCAD. Emory is obviously my top tier of schools, MTSU is my bottom tier. Does anybody have any advice, insight into any of these programs, or knowledge of other good programs in the area? I'm really wanting to stay in or around Tenessee, the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, and Kentucky. Once again, any and all insight would be appreciated! Thanks!

I currently work for a university that is having major issues with our current off-site storage vendors.

Do any of you work for universities that use vendors for their off-site storage needs? If so, who do you use? Do you like them? Do you know what criteria were used when choosing them?

Has anyone attended San Jose State's library school program recently with a focus on archival studies? What was your impression of the course offerings, instructors, institutional support? Any sense of how the archives specialization within the MLIS is going to develop with the introduction of the archives masters program this fall?

Also, I've frequently heard in a more general library context that the institution where you get your MLIS matters less on the job market than your work experience while in library school -- is this also true of archives?

(Context: I'm planning on starting library school in fall 2009, aiming for a career in archives. San Jose State is the school that makes the most sense logistically, but I would like to get a sense of whether it would be worthwhile to consider other options.)

I have an interesting work background but, long story short, I stumbled into records management and veered away from archives.

But, I have a question that I need assistance with. I'm currently the records manager for university and I'm in the process of developing our retention schedule. One of my major issues is what happens to a series of records when the University Archives only wants part of that series.

Let's take photographs for example. Our university archivist is very picky about what types of photographs she will accept. If she is given a large group of them she will pick out what she wants and throw the rest away.

How does your organization handle something like that? Do you accept everything they give you and then sort out what you want and get rid of the rest? Do you expect the donor or transferring department to do the sorting on their end according to your collection policy? What do you do with the stuff you don't want? Do you get rid of it or leave it with the donor or department? Do any of you work in an environment where a retention schedule helps dictate what is sent to the archives?

I guess I'm just looking for various viewpoints on how to deal with the "leftovers", especially in a setting with a retention schedule.

Update on this post: http://community.livejournal.com/archivists/38866.html#cutid1.

The British Library has admitted an historic diary was damaged while in its care, but refused to confirm reports the book had been left in a car boot.

Owner Peter J Tyldesley handed over the manuscript in 1994, believing it would be safer in the Library than his home. The solicitor told The Times he "wanted to weep" when he discovered oily stains on the pages seven months ago. He claimed the book had been removed from the library. A Library spokeswoman said there had been an investigation.

"The diary was damaged. It was discovered earlier this year," she said. "We are working with the owner to restore the damage."

She confirmed there had been an internal investigation, but said the details would remain "confidential". A member of staff had since left the Library, the spokeswoman added. However, she refused to confirm allegations in the Times that the diary had been stored in the boot of a car.

Rebellion diary

The 18th century manuscript was written by Mr Tyldesley's ancestor, Thomas Tyldesley, a prominent Jacobite who used the diary to record his preparations for the 1715 rebellion. Among the entries, the diarist noted the celebrations he attended after learning of the death of Queen Anne - an event which was expected to trigger the uprising.

"Wee spent 2s (shillings) each," he wrote, "beeing invitted to a pige feast" .

In May this year, the British Library issued a statement describing the damage to the diary. The original binding had been removed and replaced, it said, although this action "was authorised neither by Mr Tyldesley nor the Library".

"The staining appears to have occurred when the diary was not in its archive box. In addition to the staining the diary has at some stage unfortunately been damaged by damp, mould and mildew."

"The diary was in good condition in 2002," the statement continued. "The damage occurred sometime thereafter."

Mr Tyldesley has criticised the Library for not making public its report into how the book came to be damaged.

"There certainly seems to have been a complete absence of effective management controls," he told The Times. "Obviously the wider concern must be whether this was a one-off incident."

Hi all,

I was wondering if there are any open source archive management systems. There are now quite a few for libraries, but I haven't come across any which allow hierarchical cataloguing. Does anyone know if there are any tools like this?

If there aren't, does anyone have any tips for making it easier to catalogue manually? Is it best just to do it in Word, or is there a cunning way of making the hiearchical arrangement easier to visualise?

Not a professional archivist myself - just making this query on behalf of a friend who's just been asked to catalogue the archive material accrued by the school she's librarian for.

Thanks!

Im a student at wayne state getting my degree in library science and I want to go into archiving. I'm having a hard time finding jobs or internships that are paid. I want to get some hands on experience but the way my schedule is I need to get paid for it. I can't afford to be working for free so does anyone have some suggestions on where to look in michigan. If any one has any suggestions I would love to hear them.
Thanks
Courtney

Hi all,

I'm currently revising the corporate authroity records for our catalogues. Most of these are for publishing houses, due to the nature of our collection. I'm having great difficulty in locating reliable sources for this information, particularly in the case of publishers who have been absorbed by bigger companies. Any tips of good reference sources?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

Im currently working on my MLIS with an emphasis in archives at San Jose State University. Im about half way through. (I plan to graduate Fall of '08) Im starting to get worried about getting a job when I graduate. I have never worked in a library or archive. My current job and most of my past jobs have been receptionist/admin type jobs. I need to work full time at about $12 or more an hour in order to survive, so I have not even bothered to look at part time jobs in a library or archive, and I dont have time to volunteer. (I work full time, do school work when Im not working or sleeping.) I plan on doing an internship of corse before I graduate, hopefully two if possible. Basically, my question is, how likely am I going to get a job after I graduate with this kind of work background? It seems like all of my classmates have so much experience in libraries and archives, frankly Im kinda scared! What should I do before I graduate to make myself more employable????

I have a question for experienced archivists...

In a job description I was perusing, it listed "occasional exposure to dust and mold" as part of the job description. My plan was to focus on archival studies when I start my MLIS in the fall, but I'm pretty allergic and it'd be better to know now if I can't handle the working conditions so I can shift my focus. How frequently do you encounter dust, mold, and other allergens in your daily routine? Has it been problematic? Have masks, etc., been effective when dealing with this problem?

Thanks for any input you can give me!

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