nirak.net - Musings of an LIS Student

And no, I don’t mean scrapbooking.

A quick search on “Personal Archiving” in Google does not turn up much - mostly database products, information on organizing your emails, and the like. But I think a comprehensive plan for personal archiving is more important than ever.

In the act of photographing my sketchbooks, I’ve been thinking about why I’m doing it a lot. It takes a lot of time, and I end up with something that maybe 1 or two people will look at (ok, maybe 4 or 5). I’m adding to this tremendous amount of information already out there. This article: connect.educause.edu/folksonomy/personal_archiving
talks about information overload as a result of millions of people doing the same exact thing: publishing as much as they can about themselves on the internet.

I finally realized that I’m doing it mostly for myself. I want to be able to access this stuff digitally, and I want a record out there in case… well I don’t know. In case everything disappears. Sometimes I feel like this is in preparation for getting rid of everything, too- I can let go easier if I know I have a record to look at, even if I don’t have the actual object. It’s easier to throw it away when I have something to jog my memory.

For me, archiving is driven by a fundamental distrust of my memory- I don’t trust myself enough to accurately store information, but I trust myself to retrieve it.

So lately I have been making an effort to make a personal archive - the goal is to eventually have something I can burn on a DVD and keep off site, with publicly viewable things online. (obviously I don’t wan to publish my journals and the like online). This sounds easy enough, but it ignores the fact that I keep accumulating stuff. So I also need a system of archiving - the how, when and where. I’ll probably try to do a periodic update - say, twice a year. Ideally, I could have a place set up all the time so I could just snap a picture of an important document and then throw the original away, but I don’t have the room to do that, nor do I have an extra camera I could dedicate to doing that.

The first step in creating a digital archive is figuring out the software and filing system to use.

karin :: Jul.28.2006 :: Work :: No Comments »

Has kinda a nice ring to it, huh?

The reason it sounds good, and what I envision, is a job that helps get information to people in the quickest, easiest way. Information is the great equalizer. The thing I love is that in Libraries, anyone can access information- it doesn’t matter how rich you are, or how outgoing. You just have to ask. And the more information all of us have, the better we can fight for what’s ours. A library can really be a place for social change, the same way the Internet can- give people the information, let them figure out what to do with it.

That said, I don’t really want to work on the front end of things. I wouldn’t mind doing so for a few hours a week, which is what they seem to do here- just rotate out people so no one has to work the desk too often. What I really want to do is work in a department like the one I work in now- one that starts digital projects, indexes, new ways to search previously unavailable information.

It would be nice if I could find a niche in which I could specialize in art historical matters- that would be ideal. But I’m interested in a lot of things, it doesn’t have to be about art.

I used to want to be a graphic designer, but I’ve realized that I don’t want to come up with designs for other people all day. I want to keep my creativity mostly for myself. The other thing I realized is that I’m more creative when my brain is engaged - when I’m actively learning something I enjoy.

Anyway, I met with a woman from UNO who coordinates the program offered there, which is through the University of Missouri. It really sounds ideal - I could start this winter, not enrolled as a Missouri student, but taking a couple of classes at UNO that would transfer to Missouri. I can’t actually enroll until I take the GRE, which is this October. But the UNO classes would be free, thanks to the university scholarship, and The woman said that once I get into the program, there is a lot of scholarship money available, so it probably won’t cost that much. Plus, I can take classes at my own pace- I can take 2 classes at a time, or just one, whatever. If I take 2 at a time, it’ll take a little over 2 years to graduate, which isn’t so bad. I can keep my full time job.

For years it seemed like no matter what I did, I just couldn’t get a handle on what I should be doing. I’ve been lost. I can’t really say what changed - I really only applied for my current Library Assistant Job on a whim, and I was shocked when I got it. But I like it, and I think I’m good at it. If I believed in God, I would say I’m being led, but I don’t, and so I just feel incredibly lucky.

I guess sometimes you just need to try something new, and see if it’s a good fit.

karin :: Jul.01.2006 :: Uncategorized :: No Comments »