This is a rather long post, FYI. In observance of National Library Week this coming week, and looking forward to Preservation Week. I became the archivist I wanted to be through an indirect route that only makes sense in hindsight. When I was 10 I loved castles. I’d dream about exploring old ruins, finding the … Continue reading How I Became an Archivist

Adjusting to North Carolina has been an experience. Coming in to such a large library was a big draw for me. My last university and all its Academic Affairs-managed programs were less than stable or committed to the preservation of manuscript materials. Atkins Library, seemed at the time of my interview, to be well funded, … Continue reading A New Model for Archives

I was at the Austin annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists, and presented a professional poster on sourcing and utilizing your own hardware in doing digital archiving.  You can read the description here, and view the full-size poster below.

A certain breed of archivists, myself included, feel a pull between two core principles. The first, access to the raw material of out public memory. And the second, a desire for all the past's records to be filed away in boxes stacked neatly on shelves, never to be touched again. Or, at least, not in … Continue reading Disintermediating the Past

Update time - I've accepted a position as Digital Archivist at the Atkins Library at UNC Charlotte, and will be starting there the first of September. This is an exciting position in a growing and forward-looking library, and I'm very excited to be a part of that growth and to apply my skills to their … Continue reading I’m moving to North Carolina!

As a digital archivist, i kind of live in the past all the time, professionally. That's not to say I'm an overly nostalgic person, at least towards the state of technology over the last fifteen to twenty-five years. Do I prefer a world with audio CDs, AIM, SoundJam, and PowerBooks to the world of iPhones, cloud … Continue reading Digital Archivists are Pessimistic Futurists

My article "The Wild West No More" about the American Heritage Center's born-digital backlog project, has now been published by the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies. Read it here.

As the Digital Archivist and Manager of Digital Programs at the UW American Heritage Center, my typical day contains a little of everything.

This is the first post of my new professional WordPress site. I am a digital archivist currently working as a faculty member at the University of Wyoming. My areas of interest include: diversifying collections and the archival profession; creating sustainable funding models for archives and the humanities; and thinking about the intersections of technology, history, … Continue reading Hello, world. I have a blog now.