Newman in black and white
At the risk of sounding cliché, day one was everything I could have hoped for and more. I am energetic tonight because I had the privilege of spending an afternoon meeting a handful of first-rate people; most of them as you may expect, *information specialists. After buzzing through the halls of Newman from 2-5 p.m. the only term that comes to mind is, ‘whirlwind.’ My mentor, and the architect of this internship is Lesley Moyo, Director for Research and Instructional Services. Lesley is intelligent, friendly and welcoming. How fortunate I am then to have her as my teacher and guide on this trip.
Let’s get down to the really exciting stuff though; one word archives. The main purpose of this apprenticeship is to help me find my niche, I am wondering if that is in special collections. In case you’re unfamiliar with what exactly special collections are, they are those places in your library where rare pieces of history are kept. At James Madison University for instance, special collections reside on the second floor of Carrier Library enclosed behind glass windows in a temperature-controlled environment.
Common items found in special collections include hand written documents, like diaries; visual documents, like photographs; and historical texts. At Newman library a beautiful collection of items from April 16this maintained and stored. I saw some of those items this afternoon and while it struck a chord as it always does, I recognized something else today; these pieces are integral parts of history that would not be in the pristine condition they are in now without the willing hands of archivists.
There is one collection in particular I will spend my time working on. In a very literal sense, I cannot wait to get my hands on it. The International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA), keeps record of the contributions and achievements of female architects from all over the world. As with any new undertaking however, fist things first; the basics. Next Wednesday I start learning archivist jargon, key terminology and proper handling procedures for archive documents.
Those are the condensed highlights of day one. Tomorrow I take a tour of the gigantic building that is Newman Library, more discoveries are sure to be made.
Best,
your apprentice of the stacks
*I will be using the term ‘information specialist’ more than ‘librarian’ in this blog because of the stereotypes accompanying the latter. Personal preference also plays a role in this decision, reading on the name debate here.
book drop just outside the main doors
Apprentice of the Stacks 