Philosophy as Archivist

My belief is that libraries and archives have many similarities as well as differences. What differentiates the two fields are the frameworks professionals use to approach their jobs are what distinguish these fields. Archivists may tend to be preservation focused rather than access focused as collections tend to be old, fragile, historically valuable, and unique. Librarians may tend to focus on user access, engagement with patrons, and educational programming to support curriculum in the case of academic libraries. The approach to my role at Dominican pairs the user access and engagement elements of librarianship with the attention to detail, importance of digital access, and unique ways of organizing that the title of University Archivist encapsulates.  

In practice, my role has claimed a deep responsibility towards preserving information, such as historical narratives and counternarratives of marginalized communities, while educating on how these structures of information are shaped. One important facet of these structures is how archives shape collective memory. Serving as librarian has prompted me to apply these foci towards various circles of learning through instruction, outreach, and adjusting sources of information to reflect the diversity of Dominican University of California. Working for a college, this manifests itself through imparting the principles of information literacy to students.

 Explaining the cycle of information creation laid out by the ACRL framework for information literacy is an integral part of ethical consumption and contribution of information.  Students understand the cycle of scholarship most directly when looking at Dominican Scholar for research. I have developed exercises where students writing their capstone thesis read previous student, staff, and faculty scholarship located on Dominican Scholar and write reflections on how those works inspire their work. The exercise’s primary learning outcome is to grasp that each cohort of student theses published to Dominican Scholar become research used by future students. Students often realize the importance of citing a source when asked to reflect on their own created content being used by somebody else. 

Both my archivist and librarian roles aim to demonstrate this cycle of scholarship concept to students which becomes a central framework I use as an educational tool.

Developing instructional exercises around archival research has a similar tendency when understanding the difference in values of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. Historical materials become the research of historians that are later utilized as research by students in their coursework. 

Finding areas to break traditional cycles of information laden in colonial, white, and patriarchally dominant narratives is central to what I relay to students in courses while also acting as a catalyst for community engagement work. Relationship building and community archiving have been exemplified in my liaison role between the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin and community partner actions with Marin City’s organization Performing Stars of Marin. Each of these endeavors has the intent of shifting the dominant narratives surrounding Marin County’s past and present as an affluent and predominantly white region. As the Coast Miwok are the original stewards of the land Dominican University is situated upon since time immemorial, it is our university’s responsibility to play a part in historical truth telling with direct Coast Miwok representation. This is the driving purpose behind the Indigenous Partnership Circle, a working-group of Dominican faculty and staff alongside members of the Indigenous community. 

Marin City is a predominantly black neighborhood that has been constantly encroached upon by commercial development and historical erasure since the end of World War II. Aiding Marin City in archiving their history positions our university, the only four year university in Marin County, in these spaces as ally and social justice advocate. This work has featured the help of Dominican student interns and the support of campus’ Center for Community Engagement. I have made this work a part of my archivist and librarian core values in the belief that others in the Dominican community will continue to join. These cohesive efforts and synergies are what true social justice actions are reliant upon. For any college campus to make true social change towards diversity, equity, and inclusion, this collective work must take place.

My dedication to community, inspiration from frameworks in both archive and library roles, and educating students on cycles of information creation are the backbone of all my efforts at Dominican. Moving forward, projects I work on may look different from each other but these staple ideologies will remain constant.