On a chilly May day earlier this year, I graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Information ready to enter the exciting world of libraries and archives and prepared to wrangle information in digital formats for preservation and access.
As I searched for a full-time position, I continued working as a digital processing assistant at a U-M archive. Over the summer, I developed valuable skills with digital curation tools and policy development. I spent a lot of time skimming blog posts and skipping around listserv emails with special attention to all things digital curation related. This was very useful to my work, but without course syllabi and assigned readings I often felt a lack of connection to larger conversations about the role of archives and archivists in society.
I decided I needed to step-up my professional reading game. Less skimming. More structure. And coffee. Thus, I decided to create a “coffee hour” schedule of reading on a weekly basis. During this hour, I would commit to reading one article, report or blog post–in it’s entirety. Followed up by a quick recap or thoughtful response as appropriate in a journal.
I happily put this plan on hold when I discovered I would be joining the MIT Institute Archive and Special Collections team as the Fellow for Digital Archives this fall. Now that I’m somewhat settled in to life in New England and my new professional role, I want to take up the deliberate reading charge once more.
This blog will be host to my coffee hour reading responses as well as occasional posts about my experience as a new professional and a MIT Libraries Fellow.
Enjoy!
Today’s Coffee: Peet’s brew from Bosworth’s Cafe
Archive Hour 