Library & Archives

In my undergraduate experience, I have developed a keen interest and appreciation for media access, preservation, and education. These passions are fueled by a desire to uncover "gems" of mystery, intrigue, nostalgia, and historical value. From the beginning, I have been interested not only in the hunt for these sorts of treasures, but also in the organization and assemblage of something bigger. With the my growing experience with libraries and collection processing, I have become a proponent for the increase in digital and analog library resource use in the university setting, as well as the application of archival materials in K-12 and university classrooms.

My first library and archives experience began through a student intern position with Brown Media Archives at the University of Georgia's Special Collections Library.  I spent the beginning of my internship working on the WSB Newsfilm Descriptions project, where I wrote metadata descriptions for archival newsreels from the 1970s in Atlanta. This work allowed me to utilize and expand my abilities in writing for a public audience. Though my primary takeaway from this role has been my enhanced primary source literacy skills, this project also fostered a deeper knowledge and interest regarding Atlanta politics and history. 

My position later advanced to working almost entirely with the Peabody Awards Collections, where I rehoused materials, revised metadata, and assisted my supervisor in curating educational materials for workshops and UGA classes.

Through this position, I was able to pursue an undergraduate research project, where I created a LibGuide assisting the navigation and access of the Peabody Awards Collections. This porject was also made possible through a research grant awarded to me by UGA's Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunitites (CURO). It was an absolute blessing being able to work on a research project in the Humanities, especially centered on library and archival studies.

In this position, I was assigned with writing metadata descriptions and biographical information for a series of analog interviews. These interviews were projects from Dr. John Burrison's Folklore classes in the early 1970s, where students at Georgia State University found interview subjects to share jokes, stories, songs, superstitions, natural remedies, oral histories, and other aspects of southern culture. Working with these interviews enhanced my skills in genealogical research, as I was able to uncover significant biographical information for most of the interviewees. 

Through this position at the Atlanta History Center, I processed my first manuscript collection, the Asa G. and Carolyn D. Yancey papers, as well as my first visual collection, the Asa G. and Carolyn D. Yancey photographs. This was all made possible through my suvervisor, who supported me in going above and beyond my original internship assignment.