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Re: New Member



Molly et al.,

As you will no doubt discover from the responses that you get, there is no
single right way to prepare for a career in archives.  Personally, I think
the multi-disciplinary background of its collective members is a strength,
but there is a movement within the profession to have a more standardized
education.  While I agree that we can identify a core of knowledge all
archivists need to succeed, I don't think we need to unduly limit the ways
we acquire that knowledge.  Just my two cents.

To answer your question more directly, I don't think it really matters what
bachelor's degree you have (probably any liberal arts degree is good, though
history is certainly popular as a major among those who become archivists),
but there seems to be two main post-graduate educational paths leading to
archives:

1) Via the history side (i.e. a masters in history with a specialization in
archives)
2) Via the library/information studies side (i.e. a Masters in
information/library studies with a specialization in archives).

In my opinion, though they have somewhat different emphases, either can be a
good preparation for the field.

There are also people who come from the public history or museum studies
background.

As others have mentioned, equally or perhaps more important than the formal
education may be internships or other work experience that you can get.

For anyone interested in my personal background, see my resume online at
http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~laradf/resume.html

In a nutshell I have an A.B. in religion from Vassar College and an M.I.L.S.
from the University of Michigan, where I specialized in archival
administration and special librarianship.  I also had various internships &
part time jobs in libraries and archives while a student.

Hope this helps.

Best of luck to you,

Lara Friedman~Shedlov

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lara Friedman-Shedlov
lara.friedman-shedlov@mnhs.org
Minnesota Historical Society




-----Original Message-----
From: Molly Odwyer [mailto:maidean@MAIL.MC.MARICOPA.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 4:10 PM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: New Member


Hello,

I am new to the list and thought I'd see if I could get some feedback
from all of you. I am not a professional but I am in school and wanted
to go into archiving. What I am wanting to get from this list is an
idea of the various majors that all of you have, perhaps the graduate
schools attended and maybe how you first got into archiving and museums
and the such.

<snip>

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