{"id":2852,"date":"2022-02-23T20:42:22","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T20:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/saasc\/?p=2852"},"modified":"2022-05-08T18:03:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-08T18:03:23","slug":"interview-with-an-archivist-featuring-alix-norton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ischoolgroups.sjsu.edu\/saasc\/2022\/02\/23\/interview-with-an-archivist-featuring-alix-norton\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with an Archivist: Featuring Alix Norton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author: Sereen Suleiman<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 9, 2022, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Alix Norton<\/strong>, archivist at the Center of Archival Research and Training (CART) <\/strong>located in University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC)<\/strong>. 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\u2019s 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\u2019s School of Information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tasks at CART<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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<\/strong> 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<\/strong> 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<\/strong>, managing and preserving the records can get overwhelming at times. Since CART is a \u201csmall stop shop,\u201d as she said, it is imperative for the archives not to be backlogged by records. \u201cWe 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 \u2018processed\u2019, we\u2019re trying to get the files or the media off the containers themselves and get those a bit more stable,\u201d she explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

About CART<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CART is considered to be a traditional institutional repository<\/strong> 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!<\/strong> 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\u2019 rights (Lawrimore, 2022).<\/span><\/p>\n

Adaptation Through Hardship<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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, \u201cI 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\u2019m 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\u2019m learning.\u201d The challenges<\/strong>, 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 \u201cbe [the students\u2019] \u2018eyes\u2019 in the archives if they wanted to look at specific collection materials based on what they saw\u2026in the guide.\u201d For more information about these student digital projects, check out the CART website<\/a><\/span> to see projects completed in the 2020-2021 academic year. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Another 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\u2026and which ones to exclude. As Joan M. Schwartz and Terry Cook (2002) say, \u201cArchives are not passive storehouses of old stuff, but active sites where power is negotiated, contested, and confirmed\u201d (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<\/strong> to continuously solve this issue. With CART officially back open in Winter 2022, this partnership is expected to bring more progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Future of Archives<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Lawrimore, E. (2022). Unit 2-F: Accessioning archival collections<\/em>. Canvas. https:\/\/sjsu.instructure.com\/courses\/1477250\/pages\/unit-2-f-accessioning-archival-collections?module_item_id=12803172<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Schwartz, J.M., & Cook, T. (2002). Archives, records, and power: The making of modern theory. Archival Science<\/em>, 2<\/em>, 1-19.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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