Subscribe to our newsletter by emailWhat It's Like to Be an Archivist
By Kelly Spring, Archivist for Special Collections [Kelly has recently left UCI for a new adventure as an archivist at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina]
"So, you're like Indiana Jones?"
Somewhere in the timeline of modern history, the duties of an archivist became confused with the role of the fictional archaeologist. I see how that could happen. Indiana Jones was a historian and professor partial to original artifacts and rare documents. Archivists, similarly, tend to be interested in history and instruction and work almost exclusively with primary sources. Also, I hate snakes.
But archivists differ from archaeologists, as well as file clerks, librarians, conservators and curators. Archivists, generally speaking, tend to specialize in a particular area of collections management with regard to unique material of enduring value. There are accessioning archivists, processing archivists, digital archivists and university archivists, to name a few. As for me, my title at UCI is Archivist for Special Collections. As such, I assist in evaluating potential collections, coordinate the accessioning and processing of manuscript material and serve as the metadata lead and metadata liaison for the department. With a summary like that, it's no wonder the profession seems mysterious! So let's break this down starting with appraisal.
Appraisal is perhaps the most difficult part of the acquisition process. The decisions concerning which collections to accept and, further, what specific material within the collection to retain are made with great care and ethical consideration. An archivist must always strive to retain the contextual relationships that informed the creation and/or original function of an archival collection so that others may be able to ask questions of the material through their own research. For example, if an archivist, like Indiana Jones, was sent on a search for the Ark of the Covenant, the archivist would also want to locate notes or preliminary sketches by the cabinet maker, correspondence between God and Moses regarding their communication strategy through use of the two cherubim, and diaries kept by the Israelites during their journey to Canaan. Samples of desert sand, however, would probably not be kept.
Once a collection has been evaluated and the decision is made to accept it, an archivist, just like Indy, sometimes needs to dress in a Bush Shirt and khakis to crusade through garages, basements and offices in order to retrieve the material. Thankfully, after a collection is onsite the work of an archivist is usually less primitive. The next step is to accession. Accessioning consists of formally recording information about a collection including the details of how the collection was acquired. It also involves providing suitable storage for the material and preparing it, at the most rudimentary level, for use by researchers. Processing, which happens later in the lifecycle of a collection, further prepares it for research use.
But what about all that metadata lead liaison work? That's the magic that makes archival collections discoverable through resources such as library catalogs or online exhibits. In my current role, after a collection has been accessioned and/or processed, I take the data about the collection and send it, in various format standards, to the cataloging team as well as to a platform called the Online Archive of California (OAC). The catalogers ensure that a record for the archival collection is included in the library's holdings, and the OAC provides an interactive online mechanism for researchers to locate detailed information regarding the material. Yes, sometimes I do have to whip the data into shape before it can be sent out. Thankfully, no braided leather instrument is required; only my sable fedora.
For more information please contact Special Collections & Archives at spcoll@uci.edu.