Alive and Thriving!

Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of a branch in Hillside, Queens!

One year and four months into my "new" position (can I still say I am new?) seems like a good time for an update!

I have now transitioned into being a Corporate Archivist. There are many things that are the same, but some different things too. There are truly amazing collections and materials available in corporate archives collections. Just going through the history of the organization makes me feel so proud to work for an organization like this. The global archives are very forward-thinking and take action on so many projects, not just with paper records but with digital archives and projects as well.

Another great thing has been the people! There are so many different backgrounds and experience shown through my coworkers. We also truly work on a global scale. Despite being in different time zones throughout the world, we make the time for video conferencing, chatting and of course email. From the beginning I felt very connected to my coworkers, despite being so far away from so many of them. Of course, it would be great to visit these locales, but VC is the next best thing!

I now have multiple years of experience in the museum/historical society world, as well as university archives land. At least in the USA, we did not focus much at all on corporate or business archives in any of my library school classes. I also cannot recall too many offerings at conferences I have been able to attend. However, last year I attended the ICA conference in Atlanta, and coming up will attend the entire day devoted to business archives at the MARAC meeting in Newark, NJ. After that, I will be presenting with my manager at a financial and banking history conference in St. Louis, MO. My coworkers and I have also been making connections at other nearby corporate archives, including the New York Stock Exchange, the Associated Press Archives, and Citibank. I'm excited to continue conversations with these and many other archivists in the New York Metro Area.

So, while I cannot get into too many details, I am having a great time in my "new" role and excited to continue learning about the corporate archives world.

[Opinions are all my own]

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