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Re: Another Archive recruiters/Job hunting



I had to deal with the location issue when I decided to pursue a
library/archives education.  Having grown-up and spent most of my life in
Berkeley and the San Francisco Bay Area, I always assumed I'd go to UC
Berkeley for library school.  However, that program shut down just when I
was finally ready to go.  I made up a short list of other places in the
country I thought I could stand to spend a few years and ended up at Simmons
College in Boston, which was an excellent choice for me since I wanted to
get a history degree as well as a MLS.

Upon graduation I started a Nation-wide job search, applying to any job that
was interesting, basically without regard to location.  While I ultimately
hoped to make it home, I was resigned to putting in time elsewhere until I
had enough experience or something good arose in Northern California.

As it turned out, through connections I'd made during a Summer
internship/job search during a break from Simmons, I ended up with a series
of short-term (3-6 month) assignments in San Francisco, while I also
interviewed at several sites around the country.  The one job out of state
that I was offered I turned down because other issues, not because of
location -- even though that was what the institution insisted on believing.

As it turned out.  I have managed to remain in California, primarily moving
from 1 year grant position to 1 year grant position and spending last year
in Los Angeles (if you are familiar with Californian prejudices -- this
might be considered worse than being anywhere else in the country), before
getting an offer (another 1 year grant -- but with hopes of continuation)
back in San Francisco.  I will admit my current 10 year goal is not to move
more than twice -- but that's because I'm getting old and wanting to be a
little more rooted.  If this job doesn't continue I would try to find
something local, but would probably move again if I couldn't.

Julia Bazar
Special Projects Librarian (Archivist)
GLBT Historical Society of Northern Ca.
973 Market Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA  94103
415-777-5455

julia@glbthistory.org
http://glbthistory.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU]On
Behalf Of Amy Cooper
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2001 8:19 AM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: Another Archive recruiters/Job hunting


Hello, list -- I think that this is a key question.  I *almost* posted
something about this when the question first came out, because it seems so
basic to me.  I went to school in Michigan, where I'd lived for 18
years.  When it came time for me to seek my first archives job, I was
offered one position in Michigan that wasn't really related to archives.  I
didn't take it, but found no other archives positions in the state.  I'd
been sending out resumes for a while, and I knew I would have to move from
my long time home in order to practice in my profession.  I wound up with a
great job in South Dakota.  Fortunately, it was fairly easy for me to
relocate -- there were not children and spouses in the mix, just a deep
attachment to Ann Arbor.....  But I can certainly see that being wedded to
location would have prevented me from practicing in my field.  I'd have
found a position, I'm sure, in some other field of librarianship.  But not
in the profession that was -- and remains -- my first choice....

Amy Cooper
Special Collections Librarian
University of Iowa

At 10:54 AM 12/20/2001 -0500, Alan Harris Stein, online wrote:
>More to the point of this discussion and these questions: who is willing to
>move to work as an archivist? For example, would Katy work in the Pacific
>Northwest  to do archives work? How many of you are that committed to the
>profession to move/relocate? I would like to hear your thoughts on that,
>since I'm also working on an article.
>
>Al Stein, C.A./M.L.S.
>Northwest Oral History Assoc.
>
> > Howdy all!
> >
> > Just some more two cents--
> > I have an MLIS (with 15 hours in Archives)and a BS in Historic
Preservation
> > (emp museums and archives).  I am working as a reference librarian as I
> could
> > find no archival positions in the St. Louis area (still looking!)
> >
> > I wonder what the archival climate is of these areas where
> nonarchivists are
> > filling archival positions?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Katy
> >
> > Katy Smith
> > Reference Librarian
> > Headquarters
> > St. Louis County Library
> > ksmith@slcl.lib.mo.us
> >
>
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Amy Cooper
Special Collections Librarian
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA  52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-6433
e-mail: amy-l-cooper@uiowa.edu

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

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      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
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To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>