The interim between the spring and summer semester was filled with travel, rest, and looking forward. My first weekend was spent in Rochester, New York, attending Spring MARAC. MARAC is a valuable opportunity to meet other professionals in the archives field and hear about the current projects and emerging trends and tools. Though this was my second round at MARAC, I attended Fall MARAC in Philadelphia, PA, I continue to learn and forge new relationships at each conference. To the right are my conference name tags, as a New Member at Fall MARAC and a Speaker at Spring MARAC. Spring MARAC featured an invigorating plenary address by Kathleen Roe, and several quality sessions, including a panel session of which I was a panelist! Below is a tweet from the session by Marie Elia (@marieelizabeth) a Pitt alumna. To see more about the session on “Describing Difference: Transparency, Methodology, and Diversity in Organizing Information,” search #s20 #marac on twitter.
"It is unethical not to have a diverse workforce of archivists." Challenge limits of subjectivity by having lots of viewpoints. #marac #s20
— Marie Elia (@marieelizabeth) April 26, 2014
After MARAC I spent some time in Richmond, VA with family and friends, and contemplated what I want to learn from my last semester, and how to prepare myself for the job that I want. I enrolled in the following courses, Records & Information Management, Digital Humanities, Metadata, and Legal Issues in Information Handling: Copyright and Fair Use in the Digital Age. I continued to job hunt, and tweak my current resume and work on a cover letter for a prospective job. Additionally, I considered the skills and tools I want to become familiar with.
Though it has been a short break, roughly 2 weeks, I am definitely ready to take on my third and final semester here, at the iSchool!