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.
***The comments above are exclusive to the writer, and do not
reflect the opinions of the organization she works for. She wrote the above
message off the clock. ***
Jackie Shalberg
Archivist / Assistant
Historian
National Model Aviation
Museum
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