am i a professional now?

When exactly are you considered a full-fledged professional in this crazy,mixed-up world? Is it upon the obtainment of a high-level degree? or the moment you purchase your first big boy suit? or the first car payment you make all on your own? NOPE. It’s when you actually get to interact with other professionals in your field on neutral ground: aka “the conference.”

Conferences are frightening & magestical places where you feel either totally at home or totally lost & freaked out of your mind. Conferences are the heart & soul of academia: the proper & appropriate time when you can rip the heads off of partake in spirited debate regarding the issues & topics of your shared field with your loser co-workers diverse colleagues.

Conferences provide you with an opportunity for travel (hopefully to somewhere far away/warm/not annoying). Sometimes you even get to go to a different country for fuckin’ free on scholarship from your parent institution. Isn’t it just so gratifying that the institution to which you pay all of your money in return for a piece of paper with a gold sticker on it sends you to represent them through all of your hard work? Isn’t it just so?

But really. Conferences are a rite of passage for graduate students & otherwise into the tried & true kingdom of the academe. And isn’t that what we all work toward in our graduate & post-graduate education?

…this post was just a really long, drawn-out way of me boasting that I’m presenting at a conference. I’M PRESENTING IN THE MEMORY & REPRESENTATION SECTION OF THE PCA/ACA NATIONAL CONFERENCE IN SAN DIEGO, BITCHEZ.

That is all.

my weeks with susan*.

This week & last, I participated in two courses through the California Rare Book School, & I feel ever so inclined to share my story! And so, we begin…

Week One: Special Collections Librarianship

What. A. Whirlwind. I learned more in this class than I have in a year of information science coursework (well, in terms of practical application of theories, etc.)! Instructors Carrie & Laura absolutely outdid themselves in this course, a true production of art in the information discipline.

This course, filled with the most diverse group of librarian & information professionals that I have ever seen, was more than enlightening. Special Collections librarians, rare book cataloguers, book processors, subject experts, university archivists, public librarians, & emerging information scientists filled the air with nothing but talk of rare books. And it was amazing. We shared our experiences & aspirations, our misgivings in the field, & our hopes for a highly funded brighter future.

We took field trips to The Huntington, UCLA Special Collections, History & Special Collections at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library (a particular favourite of mine), & the shop of a private bookseller, in which we learned how to instruct with special collections materials, how Advancement & Registrar departments work within large-scale institutions, & how to acquisition rare & semi-rare materials: all incredibly useful information when one is attempting to become a special collections librarian!

 

Week Two: Introduction to Archives from Historians & Librarians

Less of a whirlwind, but still a distinctly helpful & practical resource. Instructor Dan is a true wealth of knowledge about archival, museum, curatorial, & conservational work! The quadrifecta (is that a word?) of the information field!

This course, while the name dictates that its clientele is not made up of archivists, for some reason I was under the impression that I would be gaining some major insights into the practical world of archives from actual practitioners. #duh #sowrong Rather, it was composed of area studies librarians, rare booksellers, PhD candidates, MLIS students, and subject experts — all operating well within the scope of the library. But nonetheless, it reaffirmed my own level of knowledge of archival theory & practise, & I was able to contribute meaningfully to conversation #afirst

We also took field trips to three of the exact same aforementioned sites, because, like, what else is there do to in LA? Apparently nothing, but okay. We acquired less concrete, practical skills in this course, but that’s because archival work is inherently subjective; it is dependent upon the collection itself, the mission of the institution, & the philosophy of the archivist.

 

*Susan is the director of CalRBS, & has amazing glasses. Just FYI.