LISTSERV - ARCHIVES Archives - LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU

I found saying "I'm an archivist," then following up with "I preserve paper, film and photographs and make them accessible to the public," usually works pretty well. I am always surprised to find people who know exactly what I do. Usually I find out they're either researchers, history majors, museum and library staff or, interestingly enough, sci-fi junkies such as myself who refer to obscure archivist references in science fiction novels.

Talking about professions and degrees, as you all may well know, I have a Museum Studies masters degree, specializing in Archives Management. I found that the museum studies courses really helped me understand the preservation side of the archives and the additional duties I perform working in a museum setting...but, no matter what degree people ask for (MLS/MLIS/History...), it is really the archives-specific courses, and the additional education received through internships, seminars, conference and on-the-job training, that gave me the know-how to be good archivist. It is too bad that we do not have a full Archives masters program in the U.S.. Nonetheless, I am thankful for the many opportunities I have been given for additional training, as they are truly worthwhile.

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