Walker Brown

I don’t really think that my goals changed that much over the course of the program, when I entered the program, it was because I wanted to do something that had a result and was involved with history and that is still what I want. Most of what changed was my knowledge of library sciences in one of my earliest blog posts I talked about how I was actually able to explain something to my sister and now I look back at that post and realize that I wasn’t exactly right in it. The question was about what kinds of cataloging systems are used other than the Dewey Decimal System and my response was that the Library of Congress system is the only other one used widely, which isn’t really the case archives and specialty libraries have their own unique cataloging systems and plenty of smaller libraries make their own systems based off of others.

The thing that really surprises me now that I am almost done with the program is that I now actually know things about archives. When I first entered the program, I really had no idea what was exactly involved with archival work, just a vague idea that you put old things into storage and took them out occasionally. Pretty much right from the start I started to realize just how ignorant of the field I actually was, most of my assignments were either like the IOP or the Metadata Records project focused mostly on cataloging. On top of that I also ran right into the idea that archival work isn’t about preservation but rather about access in some of my first few classes.

            Another thing that I didn’t expect going into the program was just how much computer-oriented stuff is involved in library science. I was honestly worried when I started to realize that since I hadn’t had any background in anything computer related. As such It was very useful to take the Website Development class early on since it gave me a good foundation in HTML and CSS before moving on to other more computer intense classes. Once I got to making the XML records in the Metadata Records project, I was not only familiar with how to put in the data but was honestly surprised when I was given a fillable sheet instead of having to make it completely from scratch like the Website.

            As of writing this impact essay I haven’t yet finished my practicum, but I can talk about what I have experienced during the two months at it so far. The first big thing is just that it is nice to get some practical experience with what I have been taught so far, while most of my classes have had some kind of project where we have to make or engage with a practical part of the profession it still isn’t the same as actually getting my hands into it. This has also confirmed one of the main driving forces to working to get into the archival field, that being doing something with tangible results, it’s really great to see more and more negatives get matched up or entries get created because of me. I actually feel like I am doing something and it is something really interesting, one of the things that I have gotten to do so far is researching one of the employees of the Texas Electric Railway Co., it was just so engrossing to sift through items and collections to tease out facts of his life to fill out his entry.

            It’s also nice that the practicum is pretty quiet and not frantic, especially since I’m going from my job at a college bookstore in august to my practicum. It might just be that my previous two jobs, bookseller at a college bookstore and a kennel technician at a doggie daycare, but it’s a welcome change of pace to not be running around trying to do seven things at once. Just being able to focus on one thing at a time at work is really nice and give me a great sense of satisfaction when I finish since I got through it all at once and no one distracted me. It’s this nice Zen feeling that I have never really ever gotten from work and it’s just great to finally feel some kind of satisfaction from my work.

            My work at my practicum has also been enjoyable since it connects with my desire to get into historical archives. Since it is at the Interurban Railway Museum, I’ve been learning all sorts of things that I had never know about the North Texas Interurban Railway including that it even existed in the first place. Just looking at the negatives and pictures that I’m matching them to is fascinating, seeing this completely different Dallas way before the Metroplex really began to form is exactly the kind of thing that I wanted to get out of archival work.

            Really the main thing that I feel has been confirmed through the program is that I enjoy work with an outcome and where I get to interact with what I am working with in some way. I’ve felt a sense of satisfaction from my work at my practicum that I haven’t ever felt before because it’s my work, it’s something that if I wasn’t there it wouldn’t have gotten done and it’s not just something that I’m turning in for a grade. When I first started, I had a lot of anxiety over whether I would actually enjoy library science, I had gotten burned on my love of science in undergrad when I realized it was just the act of learning about things and the long processes of science that I enjoyed and I didn’t want to waste thousands of dollars to learn that again. That’s not happened though, sure I’ve been stressed due to assignments and confused by new concepts but instead of feeling lost and unable to do anything useful I have something that I want to do as work.