Archives – Page 9 – SJSU SAASC

Interview with an Archivist: Featuring Alix Norton

by SAASC Team

Author: Sereen Suleiman

On February 9, 2022, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Alix Norton, archivist at the Center of Archival Research and Training (CART) located in University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). As she was explaining her educational and professional background, I realized we had much in common, most particularly how we stumbled onto library and archival studies through career changes. Initially, she majored in psychology at the University of Washington with a dream of working in a neuroscience lab. Over time, though, she realized that a lab environment was not her cup of tea. She then ventured into other areas and even tried her hand at working in a dining hall, but that did not excite her either. One day, she discovered a listing for a special collections position at her university’s library, decided to take a chance, and go for it. There, Alix performed tasks such as weeding and photo reproduction with the campus photo lab. Later on, she returned to Orange County, California and applied for a part-time library assistant position at UC Irvine Special Collections & Archives. After receiving advice from her mentor, Michelle Light, the Head of Special Collections, Alix pursued a Master in Library and Information Science (MLIS) at the University of Michigan’s School of Information.

Tasks at CART

After graduating in 2015, she was hired into a one-year Project Archivist position at UCSC in order to help maintain and grow the CART program. Eventually, she obtained her current job as the archivist of the program in 2016 and has been in that position ever since. As the archivist, Alix is responsible for training two graduate students on archival theory, processing a collection, and creating a collection guide for their fellowships every quarter. Typically, the students are literature, history, politics, music, art, and ethnic studies majors. Furthermore, Alix collaborates with the supervisory archivist in order to determine which records need to be digitized and archived for long-term storage. With Alix and the supervisory archivist being the only two employees at the repository, managing and preserving the records can get overwhelming at times. Since CART is a “small stop shop,” as she said, it is imperative for the archives not to be backlogged by records. “We are trying to get a handle on all of the digital and audiovisual materials – instead of just inventorying the items and keeping them in a box and calling that ‘processed’, we’re trying to get the files or the media off the containers themselves and get those a bit more stable,” she explained.

About CART

CART is considered to be a traditional institutional repository that primarily collects items describing the history of UCSC as well as that of the city of Santa Cruz. Astonishingly, the Grateful Dead Archive is housed at CART! Alix then went into detail about how the donors go through the traditional custodial process of releasing their records to CART, a concept that I was seamlessly able to tie back to my Unit 2 readings for appraisal, recalling that donors must sign a form in which they agree to give the records’ rights (Lawrimore, 2022).

Adaptation Through Hardship

Now, as with every interview, people are often asked what they love about their career in addition to the challenges they face. Obviously, we dove into the easy part first. She stated, “I love that I get to do something different every day – I never know what to expect when I open a box or a file folder. I love that I’m always learning. I love the people I work with. I love getting to know students and their experiences and changing my outlook and professional work based on what I’m learning.” The challenges, though complex, are the catalysts that prompted the archivists at CART to adapt their methods. This was especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2020 lockdown period of the pandemic, Alix mentioned how they were unable to be on-site to physically process collections. As a result, CART took a more student-centered approach by letting students form proposals for digital collections provided online. Moreover, she sometimes came to the repository during the lockdown, which gave her the opportunity to “be [the students’] ‘eyes’ in the archives if they wanted to look at specific collection materials based on what they saw…in the guide.” For more information about these student digital projects, check out the CART website to see projects completed in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Another prominent challenge that Alix faces, and one that she emphasized throughout the interview, is making sure the university student body, along with the Santa Cruz community, is properly represented. UCSC is a campus with a diverse group of students of ethnicities and backgrounds. However, it is generally people in power that decide which stories to tell…and which ones to exclude. As Joan M. Schwartz and Terry Cook (2002) say, “Archives are not passive storehouses of old stuff, but active sites where power is negotiated, contested, and confirmed” (p. 1). We even had a side conversation about how archives are NOT neutral and that archivists must make efforts to represent not just one voice but every voice that tells the complete story of a person, place, event, or time period. Fortunately, the Special Collections & Archives Department recently hired a community archivist to continuously solve this issue. With CART officially back open in Winter 2022, this partnership is expected to bring more progress.

The Future of Archives

Finally, Alix shared her opinion on the future of the archival profession. Since representation is becoming an ever more prevalent concept in archival practice, she believes there will be an increase of community archives. Furthermore, another growing trend she mentioned is the digitalization of archives. Many archives have a digital asset management (DAM) program in place to manage, publish, repurpose, ingest, and archive records and metadata. Often times, a print record has a digital copy made for preservation. Therefore, she anticipates a rising need for digital archivists and expects current archivist students in MLIS programs to take classes on digital preservation and management.

In Conclusion

To summarize, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Alix Norton, and it was rewarding to speak to an archivist with years of educational and professional experience. I thank my INFO 256 professor for creating this assignment.

References

Lawrimore, E. (2022). Unit 2-F: Accessioning archival collections. Canvas. https://sjsu.instructure.com/courses/1477250/pages/unit-2-f-accessioning-archival-collections?module_item_id=12803172

Schwartz, J.M., & Cook, T. (2002). Archives, records, and power: The making of modern theory. Archival Science, 2, 1-19.

SJSU SAASC Spring 2022 Meet and Greet

by SAASC Team

Author: Sereen Suleiman

Welcome back iSchool students! And to the new incoming students, congratulations on starting your journey at SJSU! Every semester, we–the Society of American Archivists Student Chapter–host our very own Meet and Greet with students to introduce our program to faces familiar and new. Over the break, we have planned a packed, fun-filled spring semester full of exciting guest speaker events and even a transcription competition, and we are looking forward to showcasing everything with the iSchool community. Here are some of the most important recaps from our February 8 event:

Transcription Competition

Are you interested in archives and would like to improve your archival skills? How about transcription? This is now your chance to develop hands-on transcription experience by participating in our Transcription Competition.
There will be a kick-off Zoom meeting on March 1, 2022 at 6:30 PST. Zoom registration was recently sent out.
Students will be placed in teams to transcribe records from the National Archives Records Administration (NARA).
Taking part is highly recommended. Not only will you learn transcription, you can network with your teammates and fellow students!
To participate, you MUST be a SAASC member (which can be performed on Canvas). Follow the instructions below
- Log into Canvas > select courses > iSchool Advising and Administration > select people > join SAASC > Voila! You are a member!
Note: you do NOT need to be a member of SAA, our parent organization

Upcoming Event

Join us February 15, 2022 at 6:30 PST as we host guest speaker, Craig Simpson, Director of Special Collections & Archives at SJSU’s Dr. Martin Luther King Library. His webinar will include a glimpse into the Civil Rights and Campus Protest Collection, and an “Ask a Director of Special Collections & Archives” Q & A. You must register through Zoom prior to attending the event.

Elections

The time is here once again for the SAASC Election to nominate candidates to the executive committee board for the 2022-2023 school year! Open positions include chair, vice chair, secretary, webmaster, social media coordinator, blog editor, and membership director.

Please keep in mind the following when applying for one or more positions:

Must be a currently enrolled student at SJSU iSchool and plan to enroll in the 2022-2023 academic year
Must be able to commit to at least 1-3 hours per week (depending on the position)
Must be able to participate in chapter activities (e.g., virtual events, site tours, monthly meetings, etc.)
Must be a member of our parent organization, the Society of American Archivists (SAA)*

Nominations are due by April 9, 2022. Check out the SAASC Executive Board Election page for more information.

Share a Blog!

We are always happy to have students who can contribute a blog for SAASC! It can be about anything related to archives or archival news, and we would love to help you spread the word.

As always, you can follow us through our newspaper, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Canvas, and our email alerts to stay posted with any news from SAASC! With that, we hope you had a great start to the Spring 2022 semester!

How to Define Authenticity in a House Museum

by SAASC Team

Author: Sereen Suleiman

Over the winter break, I read an article titled “Defining ‘Authenticity’ in Renovating a Historic House Museum” from the September/October issue of SAA’s Archival Outlook. It discussed how archivist Bridget Lawlor was determining how to best renovate the Drucker House in Claremont, California into a museum. The house was formerly owned by management expert Peter Drucker. People were fascinated by Drucker for his humbleness, his wisdom, and most importantly, the sheer simplicity in which he lived his life.

In May 2015, the Drucker Family sold their house to the Drucker Graduate Institute at Claremont Graduate University, with the institute having the hopes of converting the house into a museum. Overseeing the project was Lawlor, who was the archivist for the Drucker Institute. The main challenge she faced was figuring out which items to keep for display. To answer this question, Lawlor resorted to authenticity.

During the process of completing the Drucker House Museum, Lawlor contemplated how authenticity can best be represented. On the one hand, authenticity for house museums can be depicted through the items and artifacts housed within. On the other hand, the ambiance that portrays what a person was like, especially a charismatic person like Drucker, also provides an authentic feel.

To develop the authenticity of the museum, Lawlor collaborated with different groups of people, mainly stakeholders and designers (Note: Collaboration and teamwork are essential aspects to archival and information science professionals. Establishing healthy relationships with stakeholders is crucial to strategic planning.). For example, Lawlor needed to obtain funds from her organization, Drucker Institute, to properly renovate the museum.

By the end of it all, Lawlor came to a profound conclusion, one that I believe will have everlasting ramifications for preserving authenticity within archives in the future:

“Drucker House is not meant to recreate a particular moment in time, but to be a teaching tool to aid visitors in the understanding of Drucker’s work.”

Archives are not just simply collections of artifacts. They are representations of the stories of people, culture, and places. Archivists are meant to be preservers and educators for their respective archives and must adapt their specific archives in a way that will best tell the stories of those people, cultures, and places.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Archives

by SAASC Team

Author: Sereen Suleiman

With time flying by so quickly, we come to our final event for the fall 2021 semester with guest speaker Cyndi Shein and her experience at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) archives. However, UNLV was not her first job. In fact, she took several archive jobs step-by-step to obtain her current position. Let’s take a look at her journey!

***

Originally, Cyndi wanted to be a cataloger, and she aimed for cataloging jobs. What she needed to take into consideration, though, was that she is a mother. As a result, she had to switch gears and she decided to apply for the Baseball Hall of Fame Internship. Although she had to take out loans to do the internship and the pay was marginal ($5,000 for 10 weeks), it was “worth every penny” for her, as the experience turned out to be quite exciting! As part of the internship program, Cyndi had the opportunity to attend professional baseball games, deliver public presentations in baseball museum galleries, and handle their manuscripts and photo archives.

Next step on her journey was the University of California, Irvine (UCI) archives. There, she was an archival collections assistant, which is an entry level position. With Michelle Light as her supervisor, she processed archival collections and received instruction on primary sources. The aspect she enjoyed the most at UCI’s library was the variety of collections and visual materials.

The third institution Cyndi joined was the J. Paul Getty Museum (please refer to our previous blog on the J. Paul Getty Trust for more information). This time, however, she obtained a professional job, which was an assistant archivist position. Initially, she was reluctant to leave her special collections position at UCI, but an opportunity at the Getty was (and still is) too good to pass up. As an assistant archivist, she accessed records and even learned how to drive forklifts, as some of the items were too heavy to lift. This brought Cyndi to emphasize to the presentation attendees that archives may require frequent manual labor unless you choose the media and digital archives route.

Finally, after accumulating much experience, Cyndi landed her current position as the Head of Special Collections & Archives Technical Services at UNLV. Even though she does not interact with the collections as much, she gets to improve their archival program, work with preservation staff and cataloging staff, and advocate for funding. Interestingly, she was able to have an opportunity to put her skills to the test when UNLV was selected to host a Folger Shakespeare First Folio book. To meet the conditions necessary for the book, Cyndi made sure humidity controls were in place, created visitation schedules for the public, and collaborated with other groups of people (historians, English faculty, librarians).

Being that Cyndi started her career path at the age of 41, I found this quote from her to be inspirational and a fitting end to this blog:

Also, for those concerned about ageism. I would encourage you to embrace your maturity as a benefit to the organization that hires you. Your life experience will (hopefully) help you steer clear of office politics or drama. I’ve never found my silver hair to be a barrier to advancement. Even though I am a grandmother, I try not to dress like one at work. 🙂 I dress businesslike – mostly solid colors and subtle patterns (avoiding frills and florals). The most important thing is that you exude positive energy and respect your supervisor (even if they are half your age).

Additionally, here are some final tips from Cyndi to kick start your careers in the archival world:

Be intentional in charting your path—envision your future.
Know yourself and your strengths.
Research job opportunities— archivesgig.com
Identify the education, skills, and experience you need to land the type of job you want — how can you prepare yourself to be competitive for that job?
Manage your expectations — internships & project work.
Be open to relocation if possible.
Stay engaged professionally (e.g., SAASC).
Most likely will have to take steps between the degree and my dream job.
Internships and entry level jobs are excellent.

With all that said, from all of us in SAASC, we wish you all a wonderful, safe winter break and a happy holiday season!

Please keep a look out for future events in the spring 2022 semester.

Event Recap: J. Paul Getty Trust Institutional Archives and…

by SAASC Team

Author: Sereen Suleiman

On November 3, 2021, SAASC hosted J. Paul Getty Trust Archivist and Records Analyst, Jennifer Thompson. The trust contains the cultural works of arts, heritage collections, and records from its programs, which include the Museum, the Conservation Institute, the Education Institute, the Information Institute, the Leadership Institute, the Research Institute, and the Getty Foundation.

Thompson started off the presentation by introducing the founder of the Getty, Mr. J. Paul Getty, an oil tycoon who spent a great deal of his fortunes collecting vast works of art since the 1930s. In 1954, he opened a museum in Malibu, California, which would later become the Getty Villa. Twenty-two years later, in 1976, Mr. Getty passed away, and his 700 million dollar fortune was donated to his museum and trustees. Over time, the museum began accumulating art pieces to the point that it had no space available. As a result, another building was constructed alongside the 405 freeway by Brentwood, California (in Los Angeles County) and is currently the J. Paul Getty Trust, with the present-day Getty Villa solely a museum for antiquities.

According to Thompson, the institutional archives at the J. Paul Getty Trust collect and preserve the records of the organization. She did emphasize, however, that the archives and special collections are two DIFFERENT departments, even though both report to the research library. While artifacts housed within the archives are not open to the public, items for special collections are available for outside researchers and scholars.

When collecting items, the archivists focus on the questions of who, what, when, where, and what the object is. In fact, part of Thompson’s job as an archivist is to undertake records appraisal for review, classification, disposition, destruction, and/or transfer. As soon as she discovers records in the Record Center, she categorizes them and the owners are notified when the records are ready to be dispositioned. She also works with the Getty staff at all levels to interpret complex records policies and procedures.

Towards the end of the session, she recalled several stand-out courses she took while she pursued a Master in Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree. The courses she recommended the most are cataloging and web design. Moreover, she took courses that expanded her knowledge, such as an electronic records course.

Keep a lookout for our last event of the Fall 2021 semester with Cyndi Shein from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries on December 7, 2021.

From all of us at SAASC, have a happy Thanksgiving!

Category: <span>Archives</span>

Interview with an Archivist: Featuring Alix Norton

SJSU SAASC Spring 2022 Meet and Greet

How to Define Authenticity in a House Museum

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Archives

Event Recap: J. Paul Getty Trust Institutional Archives and…

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