Nonexistent accession records, the consequences of a “weed nothing” mindset, and a lack of collections policy are not the kinds of things library school really prepares you for. But for many solo archivists and archival workers placed in brand new or undermanaged archives, it is your responsibility to bring order to potentially decades of chaos, ready or not. This presentation aims to be an informative support group; to provide both emotional catharsis and practical recommendations from the case studies of two early-career solo archivists doing the underdiscussed work of inheriting an archival collection with little to no institutional memory or few policies to guide the process.
The presenters of this session both come from small archives, tasked with (re)building the infrastructure of their departments while also handling the reference inquiries and processing activities that keep their archives moving into the future. Presenters will share their experiences and offer their solutions to common problems faced by solo archivists and archival workers in similar situations, including building workflows and collection policies, recovering institutional histories, and taking on work that is beyond your current expertise. Contributions to this session will also be made by the registrar who was assigned to the archives previously, prior to the hiring of the archivist.
Speakers Jenna Kish, Ohio Genealogical Society (Session Chair) Autumn Muir, University of Michigan-Dearborn Hannah Zmuda, University of Michigan-Dearborn
