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Re: New Member



I should be doing something useful but I'll respond instead!  I came
into the field by a happy accident.  I was working my way through
school back in the early '80s in the oilfields in eastern Utah, and
narrowly missed being killed or disabled in an accident, and said
"that's enough of that!"  So that fall I found a full-time staff job in the
library here, so I could go to school and get reductions on tuition.  I
started the government documents section, but quickly gravitated
to the historical documents, especially the volumes from the Great
Surveys of the west; Hayden, Powell, Wheeler and King.  Then
about a year and a half later, I heard there was an opening for a
manuscripts processor in Special Collections.  It also happened
that the long-time director, the founder, of SPC had just retired and
his replacement was looking for new blood, so to speak.  The day I
heard that I made an appointment with the new director and when I
saw him, said, in effect, "You need me for this job!"  I stopped
short of pounding on his desk although I was tempted.  In short, he
hired me, and I worked for about ten years doing paper collections
and minor administration.  About the time I was getting totally
burned on that, the head of the AV section left and that job came
open, so I took it and have never looked back.  When I started it
was the proverbial red-headed stepchild (no offense to anyone!) but
now it's one of the main fund-raiser and public outreach sources in
the whole department.

A few comments on faculty status and the MLS.  First, full
disclosure: I don't have an MLS nor faculty status.  I have an MS in
history (which I always call my Mac degree: that and $.99 will get
you a Big Mac).  I also got the CA when that came open, and have
to get after the re-cert. petition before June!  I applied for--and was
accepted to--a local MLS program but then several factors made
me drop out, the biggest of which was thinking "I"ve been in school
in one form or another since Eisenhower was president, and I'm
tired of it."  The librarians here are all faculty and I cannot deny
there's snobbery associated with it; but then it's no worse than
among the rest of the faculty.  I've had faculty members on campus
question my credentials and competence for processing archival
collections, solely because they were hot-shot faculty PhDs and I
was some library puke.  But at the same time, I've never felt that I
wanted either to have an MLS, which I view as a union card, or to
be faculty with all that Retention, Promotion, Tenure committee,
publish-or-perish BS.  I liken my position as professional staff (I'm
actually listed officially as a Manager) of the University to a
Warrant Officer in the military, which has all the advantages of
being an officer with none of the chicken-snot.

As George Y. Bradley said, "I must not question the Major; but
still, as usual I have my opinions."








Date sent:              Wed, 1 May 2002 20:23:24 EDT
Send reply to:          Gunnberg@AOL.COM
From:                   Gunnar Berg <Gunnberg@AOL.COM>
Subject:                New Member
To:

> Hello Molly, et al.
>
> First of all I am of the school that does not see the need for an MLS to
> be an Archivist. Although related, they are two separate fields with
> different approaches to the task at hand.
>
> When I see "MLS required" in a job announcement I figure that the
> archivist's position reports to a Librarian and they are more comfortable
> with "one of their own". I would prefer a Masters in History, hopefully
> specializing in the area of the hiring institution's holdings.
>
> While there are basic standard practices in Archival arrangement and
> description, I think that a lot of what I do involves plain common sense;
> setting up a collection for ease of access for the researcher. What I see
> as logical perhaps stems from my background as an electrical engineer and
> computer programmer and I'm perplexed as to why an English major or other
> creative type can't lay something out in an organized way.
>
> In my career change, I got a graduate certificate in Museum Studies with a
> minor in Archival Studies. This came out of my love for art and history.
> My interest was picqued by the archival part and I did my internships at
> historical societies. After I got my certificate, I continued "working"
> (pro bono) at historical societies and historic house museums, to beef up
> my resume. The archival approach to a collection, with the definition of
> series, etc. based upon the materials at hand, rather than strictly being
> locked in by some SAA standard, allowed me to get a wide variety of
> experience in arranging and describing.
>
> Another route I would recommend would be to get into local professional
> organizations. In the New York area, the Archivists Roundtable and the
> multi-state Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference (MARAC) are
> excellent groups, both for the educational seminars and workshops offered
> and the networking (read job opportunities) that  goes on. I have found
> both groups to be filled with very friendly, supportive people; everyone
> helping everyone else with no exclusive cliques. I can't speak for the SAA
> since I'm not a member.
>
> Well, so much for my opinion based upon my experiences. Good luck in your
> future path and welcome to our profession !
>
> Gunnar M. Berg
>


Roy Webb, C.A.
Multimedia Archivist
Special Collections
J. Willard Marriott Library
295 South 1500 East
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah   84112
(801) 585-3073  //  fax (801) 585-3976
rwebb@library.utah.edu

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