Professional Journal Comparison

Information & Culture

 Information & Culture: A Journal of History is comprised of peer-reviewed articles dealing with the history of information. This journal is a useful source for those in the library, archival, museum, conservation and/or information science profession. Its ultimate goal is to provide the “social and cultural context of information and information technology, viewed from a historical perspective” (About, n.d.). Papers tend to focus on “the histories of information institutions, academic domains, profession, work, and societies” with the intent to encourage new connections between a wide variety of topics (About, n.d.).

Personal Note: Information & Culture is a resource that I intend to explore more thoroughly in the future because it covers my three main professional interests in the library, archival and museum fields.

The American Archivist

The American Archivist is a peer-reviewed publication that documents theoretical and practical developments in the archival profession. Naturally, the intended audience for this journal is those within the archival profession but I think other LIS professionals could find its articles useful, as well. The journal tackles topics such as “the relationship between archivists and the creators and users of archives” and the “cultural, social, legal, and technological developments that affect the nature of recorded information and the need to create and maintain it” (The American Archivist, n.d.).

Personal Note: I have a feeling this journal will become a huge part of my archival studies throughout my graduate career. I am particularly interested in learning about the “the relationship between archivists and the creators and users of archives” (The American Archivist, n.d.).

Similarities

·      Both journals are peer reviewed.

This fact in particular raises the integrity of each of these publications “because a peer-reviewed journal will not publish articles that fail to meet the standards established for a given discipline” (Evaluating Information Sources, n.d.). Thus, the articles published in the American Archivist and Information & Culture are of high quality.

·      Both journals emphasize the social and cultural influences affecting information creation.

Of course, it is important to understand the practice of information management and preservation but it is just as important to understand why it’s relevant. Recognizing the social and cultural contexts of information and its creation allow professionals to better analyze and interpret the information, as well as, decide what should be preserved and what should not.

Differences

·      Range of Topics covered

American Archivist focuses solely on archival subject matter, while Information & Culture handles anything dealing with the library, archival, museum, conservation and the information profession. I like the specificity offered by American Archivist. If I needed information on archival practice, theory or profession, I would probably use this journal as a resource. At the same time, Information & Culture allows the reader to view archival topics and their connection to other topics, as well as, view them in a broader context. 

·      Cost and Access

Naturally, both journals have a subscription fee. If you are a member of the Society of American Archivists, a subscription to American Archivist is included. Information & Culture offers discounted rates to members of certain organizations. Also, both journals are available on JStor but even this access is limited and based on an individual’s access to JStor. With access in mind, the main difference between the two journals is that American Archivist allows the public to have free online access to every issue of its journal except the six most recently published.

References

The American Archivist. (n.d.). Society of American Archivists. Retrieved from

            http://www2.archivists.org/american-archivist

About. (n.d.). Informationd & Culture. Retrieved from

            http://www.infoculturejournal.org/about

Evaluating Information Sources. (2013). Lloyd Sealy Library. Retrieved from

            http://guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/content.php?pid=209679&sid=1746812

Job Analysis Part 1

After browsing various library and information science sites for job announcements, I found several positions that intrigued me. Although I am not yet qualified for these positions, I intend to use these job announcements as a guide to the skills that I must obtain throughout my graduate education, as well as, throughout the beginning stages of my career. In this post, I will briefly describe one of the more intriguing positions that I found during my search and dissect it in terms of how it would influence my future career path.

Audio Visual Project Archivist

·      This is a full-time position funded to last for two years. The chosen candidate will help to take 2,800 linear feet of archives and make them fully accessible for researchers. The collection includes manuscripts, notebooks, reports, publications, photographs, moving images, and sound recordings but the selected candidate will focus on the audiovisual material.

·      Qualifications include:

o   Master’s degree in LIS or history and/or two years of experience processing complex collections

o   Knowledge of current metadata and descriptive standards: DACS, EAD, Dublin Core

o   Knowledge of preservation standards

o   Familiarity with web publishing platforms

Analysis

            One major aspect of this position is that it is temporary. Rather than a long-term archivist position, this one has a pre-determined end date. With this in mind, the chosen candidate must be goal and schedule oriented because they only have a certain length of time to complete the project. I assume the candidate will report to the head archivist at the institution, although the announcement does not explicitly say. Another aspect of this job would be working with a team to complete this project. The candidate must work with the other project archivist who will be focusing on the manuscripts within the collection and manage a team of professionals and interns. Depending on the facilities and available resources, the work environment could be rather small, especially with a number of professionals working on the same project. If this is the case, it will take a lot of choreographing and scheduling to make the most of the space.

            A position such as this one would be the ideal “in-between job” because it is temporary. At the same time, I would gain experience with every aspect of processing a collection from start to finish so by its end, I could easily qualify for more permanent archivist positions. Also, working with audio-visual material would give me an edge in future positions because this kind of material can be trickier to manage and preserve than documents or manuscripts.

Reference
Audio Visual Project Archivist for Hagley's David Sarnoff Collection. (2014, March 21).
        Retrieved from http://careers.archivists.org/jobs/#/detail/6091053/2,false

Job Analysis Part 2

In my previous post, I took a look at a job posting for an “Audio Visual Project Archivist” and discussed how this job or a similar one would influence my career path. For this post, I am going to take the job analysis one step further to create a plan of how I will obtain the skills and education to hold a position of similar stature.

Qualifications Needed for the Position

- Master’s Degree in library and information science or in history and/or two years of relevant professional experience processing complex collections

- Knowledge of current metadata and descriptive standards: DACS, EAD, Dublin Core

- Knowledge of preservation standards and archives/record management theory and practice

- Familiarity with web publishing platforms

- Experience processing collections containing audiovisual material

- Ability to manage a project team

Steps to Possessing the Necessary Qualifications

        Although I do not currently possess any of these qualifications at the moment, I am making progress towards them. If everything goes as planned, I will have a Master’s Degree in LIS and a Graduate Certificate in Archival Administration by the Fall of 2015. In order to receive a Certificate in Archival Administration, the majority of my classes at Wayne State will cover archival topics. Beginning in May, I will be taking the “Intro to Library and Archival Conservation” course, which along with the Archival Administration course that I will be taking in the Fall, should give me a handle on preservation standards and archival theory. During the Winter semester of 2015, I intend to take the “Administration of Visual Collections” course, which will better qualify me to work with audiovisual material. As well, I am currently a curatorial intern at Meadow Brook Hall and a collections volunteer at Troy Historic Village. Both positions are providing me with experience working with collections and technology such PastPerfect. Even with all this on my future resume, I do believe I will need more experience to gain a position such as the one I have been discussing. Hopefully, I can gain the needed experience over time with more volunteer and internship opportunities.

Reference
Audio Visual Project Archivist for Hagley's David Sarnoff Collection. (2014, March 21).
        Retrieved from http://careers.archivists.org/jobs/#/detail/6091053/2,false

Mid-Semester Analysis

            Going over the discussion boards for LIS 6010 and my previous journal posts, I am glad to detect progress in my writing and my overall understanding of the LIS profession. Despite a few grammar and spelling mistakes, I am proud of my course work up to this point. Admittedly, my posts and comments at the beginning of the semester were less informed than those more recently but that is to be expected.

Having no formal library experience, this course has been a literal introduction to the information profession for me. In addition, I am noticing new interests developing as a consequence of learning more about the profession. Two reoccurring themes that I have found within my writing have to do with placing the right information in the right hands and outreach. While looking back through discussion boards, I came across a particular comment that provides a good summary of my fascination with how people use and value information. The comment was apart of the Defining Information discussion. I wrote:

“A user's education, experiences, and interests have influence on the way they see or describe a given piece of information. They also affect whether or not a person classifies something as information at all. At the same time, I don't think information ceases to be information because a particular user does not benefit from it. For that particular user, it is not information but for another user, it will have value and purpose. I think this whole discussion feeds into the idea of putting the right information into the right hands.”