A Student's Perspective: Behind the Stacks in Manuscripts and Archives

I started in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) as a volunteer during the fall semester of my freshman year at UNCG (2010). I had emailed someone (I can’t remember who now) in the library and asked if there was any need for volunteers in the library. I thought I’d be checking out books or reshelving things. The person replied and told me that there was no need for help in the main part of the library and suggested that I email Kathelene Smith in Archives. I did, and a week later I started as a volunteer. I mentioned this to my older brother, Dr. Joe Sanders, who is a faculty member at Kansas State University. He was surprised to hear this; he had just given a lecture on some research that he had done at SCUA. This was a nice surprise and made me even more interested in the work that goes on here.

Throughout my first year at SCUA, I worked on many different projects. The most extensive was some cataloguing with the State Normal Magazine that I did for Hermann Trojanowski, one of the archivists here. Hermann was a great sport and taught me a LOT about many aspects of archives. I also worked on organizing some photographs, supervised by Kathelene and Hermann. As it turns out, I knew less than I thought I did because after proudly presenting the results of my photograph organizing, Hermann gently pointed out that I had done the notes on the back of the photographs upside

down! Regardless of my stumbling during the first year, Keith Gorman and Kathelene pulled me aside and told me that if I wanted to return the next year, they would allow me to do so as a paid departmental student employee!

During the fall 2012 semester, I had to do a class project. It was a biography of a student who had gone to UNCG when it was still the State Normal and Industrial School, and we were required to use the archives to do it. It was great fun to experience SCUA from a researcher’s point of view, and I definitely had a head start because of my experiences and knowledge of what the archives contain. But I was surprised at how many more resources exist – it never ends!

Over the course of the last two years, I've learned about an amazing world of processing, administration, and project planning that I had no idea even existed. I absolutely love what I do; there are so many great things about working at SCUA. I've worked on some projects with nearly every staff member here and gotten to know them fairly well. I can honestly say that I have never worked with a group of people who are this kind and understanding and hilarious to be with. Every day there is something new to explore within the projects that I’m doing, and every day I learn more about UNCG – an entire history that I never would have guessed was there.

Rachel Sanders

President

UNCG Historical Society

Chairperson

Student Libraries' Advisory Council

Peer Career Ambassador

UNCG Career Services Center

Kappa Delta Pi - Education Honor Society

A Student's Perspective : Behind the Stacks in Archives and Manuscripts

When I first started my graduate career at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), I decided to look for a job with the University Libraries. Directed to the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives department, I learned that they only had a volunteer position available, for which I promptly interviewed.

In the fall of 2011, I began working as a volunteer in the University Archives for a relatively modest ten hours each week. My first exposure to history at UNCG’s Archives came through the personal recollections of prominent local Rotarians through working with the Preserving the Past: The Rotary Club of Greensboro Oral History Project. I proofread transcripts, drafted abstracts, and organized the digital interviews. I was captivated by their first-hand recollections of the history of Greensboro, the Civil Rights Movement, World War II, and the changing economics of the United States. My first few months working with the Project showed me the importance of preserving these valuable memories, which would otherwise be lost.

I enjoyed my experience in the department and found the entire concept of an archive fascinating. While I had experience with using archival resources, I had never really given the academic archive serious consideration. Nestled away in libraries across the country, archivists and librarians were preserving the past – of both institutions and individuals – for future generations.

After a semester as a volunteer, I was offered a student assistant position in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives. With this new position, I began to tackle more varied and difficult projects. I began processing the records of the International Double Reed Society and the University’s historical photographs and postcards collections. Each new challenge and experience made me more assured that I wanted to pursue a career in archives.

Although I had entertained thoughts of obtaining a Ph.D. in English, my time in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives showed me that I was better suited to a career as an archivist. I would still be able to teach, assist students and researchers, and maintain a connection to literature within this one wonderful field. Encouraged by my supervisors, I applied to several schools’ Library Science graduate programs, settling on UNC-Chapel Hill’s SILS program which I will begin in the fall of 2013.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment or experience that altered my life and career plans. Whatever it was, I am remarkably pleased that my family encouraged me to volunteer at the library and that I found such an enjoyable career path.

After personally experiencing the numerous emotional, touching, comical, and just plain outrageous things you can stumble across in University Archives, I would encourage everyone to make a trip to an archive!

Patrick Dollar