AN INTERVIEW WITH:

What sparked your interest in archiving, and how has this passion evolved throughout your career, considering your extensive experiences across university libraries, a religious order, and now at Microsoft?

To go all the way back, I grew up abroad, moving every few years, and realized that everyone shared stories and managed their history differently; and that I wanted to be a part of the storytelling process. I’ve always known I was going to go into a history related field, but how I thought I would participate changed over time: from research and writing, to teaching at the High School level, working on archaeological sites, collecting oral histories and tradition through ethnographies, until I landed in Collections Management.

When I began looking at graduate schools, I decided to apply to a Museum Studies Program rather than getting an IMLS. I chose the Museum route because they seemed to have a greeted focus on community engagement, education programming and exhibitions through storytelling. To be honest, these were all areas that are people centered, and  areas I felt I could experience the most personal growth, skills I’m still developing today.

Although I jumped around a lot, my first “official” job in an archive while I was completing my graduate studies with the Sisters of the Holy Family, a religious order that has an amazingly rich history in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was while I was with them that I got the opportunity to attend the Western Archives Institute through the Society of California Archivists, which was a wonderful experience for me as it helped me identify the differences, and similarities, between museum collections work and archival collections work. From there I jumped around between both full-time and part-time work, while also taking on contract work on the side.

Since I’ve typically worked in smaller institutions, I’ve enjoyed showing the dirty side of Archival work; the storage and preservation problems (let’s be honest the only perfect situation is found in the pages of a book), the ways that we have to sometimes use creative thinking to solve the problem in front of us (what options are there when you have no budget but just had a collection of textiles dropped off), and the ways in which my education and real world experiences align and, often times, collide.

What does a typical day as an archivist at Microsoft look like for you? What sort of work will you be doing on a daily basis?

Most of my day as the Archivist at Microsoft is built around research, outreach, relationship building, and program development. We have a small Archives team that works to process, inventory, rehouse and digitize content, but my focus is the peripheral program management.

We have people within Microsoft and the public who contact us to help with various research questions and since we don’t allow researchers in the facility I help to manage and complete research requests.

As I am new to the position, much of my day is working on outreach and relationship building which leads into collections development. We work to create new pipelines for archival materials within Microsoft. As you can imagine Microsoft is a huge company that spans the world, so one of the projects is finding easy ways for people to donate and/or transfer materials to the Archives easily and painlessly. 

The other part of what I do is research ways that we can grow our program.  Given that Microsoft is a tech company, I am looking into new and emerging technologies, how they can be used in our archive and looking outward to see how others are using similar tech in the field in general. Prior to my work here at Microsoft, I have been in very small organizations, typically being the sole archivist or collections manager, so that plays a large role in framing my research and how the team wants to move forward within the Archive.

Having worked at the California State University Maritime Academy, Sisters of the Holy Family, and Microsoft, how do you navigate the different archival challenges presented by academic institutions, religious orders, and large tech corporations? Do they share any similarities?

Every institution is different and comes with their own set of archival challenges. It can range from physical issues, collections issues, personnel issues, budget issues, just to name a few top issues, or a mix. Because I’ve jumped around a but, there really are too many stories than there is time for. 

However, in my experience thus far, whether it be in an organization, company, private collection, religious establishment, non-profit, or for-profit, the greatest challenge has been around awareness and ensuring the Archive is and remains a priority. I say this acknowledging that I have only worked in institutions where the Archive is a department, not the entirety of an organization, and as such there are some people that don’t know about or understand the purpose and value of an Archive. They may just see it as a bunch of boxes full of paper taking up space, as seen in the last scene of the first Indiana Jones film - a place where items which are no longer needed are sent to for long-term storage. There also seems to be a misconception that an Archive is just paper, it’s not, there is so much more than can be found in an Archive that people just don’t realize.

Navigating this is hard and the way to move forward depends on the institution. 

In your consulting business for Museum and Archives Collection Management Services, what does a usual project look like? Do you have more outreach from Museums, Archives, or Private Collectors? 

When consulting, my work was with Private Collectors and with Museums. Working with Private Collectors can sometimes be difficult, as their needs for an Archivist or Collections Manager can run a very large gamut and their goals and projects may suddenly change, and the locations where items are stored vary, versus in a museum you are typically working within a project scope so you know exactly what you’re getting into.

When consulting, my projects were built around creating inventories, digitizing, and rehousing. On occasion, I also worked pro bono with smaller volunteer run institutions, as I know firsthand how hard it can be to find people that understand collections management. In my time in the field, I have come to find the Archivists, Collections Managers, Registrar, etc. are a unique group of people although our skills might not necessarily be understood, when it's needed people are very appreciative of our unique abilities. 

Your resume highlights involvement in professional committees like the Society of American Archivists and the Academy of Certified Archivists. Have these affiliations positively influenced your career and professional development?

This is a really interesting question! I will say being involved with the larger groups, like SAA hasn’t necessarily influenced my career. As a professed introvert, I find it hard to place myself in meaningful ways in larger professional groups, to orient myself in the sea of people.

For most of my career I have been the sole archivist and/or collections manager, my affiliations with smaller organizations was how I have kept a pulse on the field, to understand what going on, new and fading trends, as well as a way to meet other that I could talk about Archive and Archival practices. I went to school in the Bay Area and between the Emerging Museum Professionals group, Cultural Connections and the Society of California Archivists I built a community of people that I could go to when I was stumped about a problem I was facing. To take the job with Microsoft I moved to Washington state and, although I still have my California community, I am now trying to rebuild that community of colleagues within the upper northwest. These affiliations are great to be a member to start to find those connections, however as I have found after my relocation to Seattle, if the opportunities arise to participate in the board or group of professional organizations, I highly recommend it!

As for the Academy of Certified Archivist, although in a way it is an affiliation, it’s a different beast entirely as it is not something you elect into but rather is another course of study. As I was looking for other work opportunities, I kept seeing the requirement of IMLS or Masters in similar field as well as a Certification through the Academy of Certified Archivists. I got my Certification in the summer of 2022 and without it, I would not have even qualified for my current position at Microsoft. Even though it was a lot of work, having the certification alongside my Masters has opened a lot more opportunities for me.

Are there specific cataloging standards, databases, or metadata tools that you find most beneficial in your archiving work? Is there a large variety between archiving in different sectors?

Jumping between industries there is a definite difference in the priority and purpose of the archive. That said, my experience has shown that in terms of the work itself there isn’t that much variety. Most institutions use a handful of databases, and the standards seem to be the same across the board. The biggest difference is the way the information collected within those databases is used, which in-turn, has an impact on how the work, data entry, is completed --  is it to increase accessibility, to be more digital, improve general access, research, outreach, understanding, etc.

Looking ahead, what are your future aspirations in the field of archiving, and are there specific projects or areas of research you hope to explore in the future?

Oh, there is so much I want to know and learn more about! The beauty of this field is that there is always an opportunity for growth. There are so many opportunities for professional development and although I am in Archives, there is always more to learn, more stories to be told.

Right now, I’m on a path to learn more about oral history and public history and new (and old) ways of storytelling and passing along knowledge. While a research interest, is finding and learning the ways that new and emerging technologies can be used in the Archive and GLAM field.

What advice would you give to individuals considering a career in archival science, particularly those aspiring to work with large corporations or within religious archives?

If someone was considering a career in Archival science, I would say that that work can be fascinating!

It sometimes requires getting your hands a little dirty but being in an Archive you have the honor to be the keeper of knowledge and of stories and have the important responsibility to ensure that they are kept and if needed, to be the voice of truth. Although there are aspects of Archives that have formalities and rules, an Archive can be a grass roots project and that is a beautiful thing. 

With all that said, I want to be honest about some of the roadblocks I’ve faced in this field.

1. Sometimes work is hard to find, so you may have to hustle. When I first started, I was single so I was able to make due with a lot of unpaid internships during the day, grad classes at night and restaurant shifts in the time in between. Sometimes you may have to find opportunities outside the field before you find what works for you, but try not to get discouraged. 

2. The pay isn’t always great which can be difficult as for many that I’ve met in this field, it’s something that they are passionate about and tend to put their whole heart into. I’ll say, alongside the hustle note above, I spent most of the last 6 years working 7 days a week between full-time, part-time and contract employment just to get by while living in the Bay Area with my husband and 2 kids.

3. And finally, know your worth and give yourself grace. I went through my grad program with an amazing group of people, but not 7 years out only a fraction are still in the field. It can be hard when you’re first starting out to say no, or take a step back, especially when you are excited about the work you do, but burn out is a real thing and you need to know your limits and have enough self-awareness to know when something doesn’t feel right.

If someone were to ask you to describe what an archivist is and explain the importance of their work, how would you respond, drawing from your diverse experiences in various archival settings?

As the Archivist for Microsoft, I double as the tour guide, and most of the people coming in don’t even realize that Microsoft has an Archive. Usually when people ask what we do, depending on the audience, its one of two answers:

1. Have you watched The Home Edit on Netflix? We’re like that, but rather than organizing someone’s garage, we focus on organizing and collecting things around a specific historical topic; or,

2. We’re professional hoarders, we just know how and what to collect and we are very good at organizing.

But when it comes to explaining the importance and value of an archive I’d refer to the question about advice above.

Building and creating Archives is not like building and creating an Art collection for example. To build a great art collection you need access, connections, and money. An Archive can be grassroots, it can be a project started by going through someone’s garage or attic, by visiting a community center or park and recording the stories of the people around you. Archives is a way to build, maintain and share within a community - the fact that it can be started by anyone gives it power.