Case Studies
The Way In
Below, a number of archivists talk about how they came to the profession, highlighting the different routes that can be taken.
The Formal Route
I graduated from Liverpool University in History and Russian Studies in 1991 and had no idea what to do next apart from "something to do with history but not teaching." My course tutor suggested archives so I decided to find out more. I found that the job wasn't necessarily about wearing cardigans in dusty basements, although experience in a repository before being accepted onto one of the postgraduate courses was essential.
I got a temporary assistant post at Southampton City Archives: a small office with only four staff, so I was introduced very quickly to all aspects of archive work including developing a knowledge of sources and answering enquiries from the public, cataloguing and indexing. After my contract expired I obtained a similar post at Surrey Record Office, a much larger office. My main responsibility there was searchroom duty, although I did also obtain valuable experience on the conservation side, spending one week in four cleaning and packaging documents, as well as gaining an overview of the work of the office.
I was accepted on the 1993-1994 Liverpool course and felt it was helpful to have had so much practical experience as this provided a good balance of theory and practice. The Latin requirement has now been dropped, but it was then a part of the course together with palaeography. Teaching was quite intensive and we also had the opportunity to undertake work at Cheshire Record Office and to visit London repositories. The course was biased towards work in local authority offices, where the majority of jobs are, although training was given in records management and business archives. After qualification my first job was as Assistant Archivist at Doncaster Archives, although I have since moved to become Public Services Archivist at Nottinghamshire Archives.
Distance Learning
Archives was not a profession I knew existed when I graduated MA (Hons) in Geography, and naturally progressed to a post-graduate qualification in Cartographic Design and Production. However my first professional job, Cadastral Officer for a local authority, introduced me to many archive administration tasks whilst consolidating my interest in landscape history.
Several years later, with a number of mapping and Geographical Information System jobs under my belt, I started to feel the need for further training for career progression. The map-based historical record keeping nature of my employment led me to apply to all the university Archive Administration post-graduate courses, but I had no success at that time.
Fortunately I was able to fall back on the offer of a good job in the Mapping Division of a Government Research Agency. Half of my job was geographical research and digital map preparation, while the other half was looking after an historical geographic information collection. After two years' employment my employers agreed to fund me to undertake the Society of Archivist's Diploma in Archive Administration and the organisation's Archivist agreed to mentor me. I commenced the diploma in 1999.
Three years later I have completed the dissertation and 28 assignments from the core modules: Archive Administration, Records Management and Finding-Aids, and my two chosen modules: Palaeography and Scottish Archives. I still have 13 assignments to complete before I sit the exams in January 2004 - not an easy option!
I am now employed in my second Project Archivist post in a busy University Archive. My original remit was to see through the IT implementation of a Research Support Libraries Project. Now I am weeding, arranging, cataloguing and overseeing the storage of a town-planning collection which includes approximately 50,000 plans.
Please note that the Society of Archivist's Diploma in Archive Administration mentioned in this case study is no longer running. Individuals who wish to study by distance learning should refer back to the leaflet 'Careers in Archives' for details of current courses.
Experience
I was appointed Museum Curator and Archivist at Norwich Union in April 1999. Not bad for a kid who left school at sixteen with four GCEs (there were no GCSEs in those days) and a ten yards swimming certificate. I entered the archive field in 1978 having languished in a motor insurance department for four years.
The first formal training in archives I received was at Aston University in 1980. Len McDonald was one of the lecturers and I felt very privileged to be there. Maybe it was because I was the first woman to work in the archive area at Norwich Union, but I was able to mix with other business archivists and attend courses and conferences with the support of my managers. This was very important, as I did not have a ready-made support network of friends from one of the formal postgraduate archive courses.
At the beginning of my archive career I was fortunate to be working with Jimmy Lamb. He is an expert in conservation and looked after the Norwich Union Board minutes and other statutory books. I suppose I learned a lot of what is now regarded as common sense from him. He told me what happens to paper fibres when they are stressed through fluctuations in temperature and humidity. He explained the importance of reducing ultra violet light to key documents that may be needed for display purposes. He set me off on the right road to being able to manage the group's archive policy effectively.
Back in 1999 the importance of proper accreditation became significant within Norwich Union and I explored the possibilities of various distance learning courses. Eventually I settled upon a Society of Archivist's Single Module Certificate in Business Archives. I received some support from Norwich Union and good advice from my mentor. I gained the certificate in May 2001. I am now working towards Registration via the experience clause.
I would not begin to pretend it has been easy. Convincing people that although I do not hold a degree I am willing to attempt postgraduate studies has been difficult. However, by maintaining contact with other business archivists and by keeping up to date through articles published by, among others, the Business Archives Council, I have managed to ensure that the Norwich Union records have been kept secure. Indeed, before we had a professional archivist working at Norwich Union I had already created almost all the systems that Anna Stone, our (professionally qualified) archivist appointed in 2000, considered necessary for a business archive.
Single module certificates are awarded for completing one of the optional modules of the now defunct Society of Archivist's Diploma course. They are still open to all members of the Society for specialised training and personal professional development in general.
The Society's Registration Scheme encourages the continuing professional development of archivists after qualification. The experience clause mentioned in this case study will only be available until June 2003.
Last modified 22/08/2009
