Adventures at the Black Film Center/Archive

This week I did not learn many new things, besides the things viewing the videos has taught me, but I did work to finish cataloging the piece of the collection that I was working on. I did finish so it was very nice to be able to say that I accomplished something. In the course of the internship I think I was able to catalog over 60 items. I have to count them up, it’s a bit of a blur.

I enjoyed my experience at this internship and I feel that I have walked away with a marketable skill. Although I did not really get to see much of how the archives worked outside of cataloging it was nice to have more time to hone a specific skill. In the future I do hope to be able to use this skill, although I realize that it is not something that I would like most of the time at my future job to consist of. I would like it to be a smaller function of my entire job. It is important to be able to know what you want to do, knowing what to look for in job applications, and to know what you do not want to do. So, I will appreciate every experience that I can get while still in school.

I will admit that I am sad to be leaving the archives, although it took a significant amount of my productive hours, it was nice to have something to do that can be helpful to somene. I have chosen not to work in different archives or libraries on campus during my graduate education thus far, mostly because I am a Graduate Assistant with the other half of my Dual Degree program. But I think that I should look for some more experiences in the library for this final semester of school. Just one of the lessons that I have learned. You have to be flexible.

I am ready for any cataloging challenge (jk, probably not), now to update my resume…..

Thanks for reading and coming along with me on this internship experience.

Timmia King

My last day the archives. It was an interesting day, I did not really acquire any new skills just got some additional time to hone the old skills. I had a goal to finish cataloging the materials that I was sent and my mission was to accomplish that goal. I had about three more items to catalog completely, then a few more to write some summaries on. I tried to put into practice what my supervisor suggested and saved some time to look through the records once again. I did not have much time but I was able give each of the summaries a read over and everything else a glance over. I will strive to develop my proofreading skills in my future occupations. Overall, I was very happy with how the day ended. I was able to accomplish my goal and proofread the records. It was a great last day at the archives.

The week was good, I feel that I really got into a good groove. I was able to move through on record after the other. I established how I like to go about cataloging new items. Like any good student, I am still learning the little things about format and some common subject or genre heading to use when it comes to cataloging. I also went through the second supervisors meeting, it was encouraging and nice to hear that I am doing a good job for the most part. I just need to work on proofreading these records and writing the summaries as clearly as possible. That is a bit hard for me to do. My best bet is just to pretend that everything I put out that is in a cover letter that will get me that dream job.

I am a little sad that this experience is almost at an end. I enjoyed my time at the archives/center, I just wish that I was able to see more people coming into the archives and using the materials that they have. In my near 18 hours a week I barely saw anybody else in the archives. I also wish I would have come into the archives and got to experience how they do outreach to the different communities.

Question of the week: What are some ways in which you try to improve your proofreading?

Thursday was a fun day. I put in another full day at the archives. I did much of the same, so there is not really much to report. I cataloged some new items, mostly focusing on trying to get through the videos as quickly and efficiently as possible so that I will finish that segment of the collection. I do wonder how long on average it is suppose to take to get through one record, I know it take me longer because I try to watch/listen to the majority of the item so that I can choose the most accurate terms to catalog it. I think I will try not watching/listening to the whole item next week so that I can find that perfect balance. There is a lot more work to be done, I wish I had more time to do it. Besides doing that, I also spent some time learning about dark Avalon and how to push items from it. Although I do not have access to it and was not actually able to see it, the instruction sheet that I read was very clear.

That’s all folks, until next time.

I learned a bit more during this session at the archives, specifically how to catalog the audiocassette tapes. It is interesting that their is more structure in cataloging these these types of items as opposed to the films or other types of items. The structure of the content itself is a bit interesting and looks overly complicated even if it is to enforce standardization. It would be interesting to one day sit on one of those committees that decides on these standards. I wonder if there has even been studies done on the people who make up these standards. I finished the last bit of items in batch number 2. I feel pretty proud of myself for accomplishing something, onto batch 3. I decided to continue with the competition films so many I will actually finish them. Time to kick it into third gear and work hard.

Peace;)

This week was great I learned a lot . I feel like I really got the chance to practice some of the skills that I developed in the previous weeks. During the week I got more comfortable with cataloging short films, I discovered a good groove. I also got to move onto new materials and try my hands at cataloging some more audio tapes. I am finding them a bit more difficult to catalog. In retrospect, I believe that I should have interwove them throughout this batch of items. On Monday I also got to experience something that I know I will experience many many times during my career, a system update. This did not change many things, and I was able to adapt the changes relatively easily. I hope that I will be a able to continue to adapt. It is nice to see that there is some type of communication between departments or offices, so that there is some type of warning before a major update is preformed. I was told to expect the changes on Friday. I am a bit sad that this internship is coming to an end, but I am happy I got the chance to experience it.

Thoughts for the week: How do we promote personal archives?

I enjoyed Tuesday. Things seem to be going bit smoother with the cataloging maybe I’m getting a little better with experience. Hopefully, it will continue to get easier. I think my favorite part is actually watching the student videos while I am cataloging. They are very interesting, some of them are more memorable than others. Along with the competition applications I can see the passion that these young filmmakers had for producing film. I see the importance of this type of organization and I really wonder why another one hasn’t started by some big company like BET. Although some of them did not make it big and some maybe didn’t continue pursuing these types of roles, I just keep thinking how they must feel when they take a walk down memory lane. I wonder when and how access is granted and if it is usually granted to the filmmakers of the film. I also kind of wonder what the process of obtaining this collection looked like. It is all very fascinating how this works. I see similarities I my other classes when we talk about how researchers negotiate when they obtaining information through one-on-one contact. But to get back to the point, I just wonder how it feels to have a role in producing those feelings. Whether the material is found in an academic space or in somebodies basement, the feeling the something your own is being valued by another individual must feel incredible.

This week was a great week. I got through all of the lessons and the fields that I must fill in to successfully catalog an item by the standards of the Black Film Center/Archives. I thought I was basically done during week 3 but I had one more step, segmenting the video. I really did not comprehend just how much thought and time goes into posting an item online and making sure that it is searchable and usable. This final step of segmenting the video really cemented-that idea. I believe I also came away with the realization that during all of this you really have to put yourself in the shoes of somebody that might be searching for something. They should always be present in your mind when you are cataloging an item.

Later on in the week I got to choose more items to catalog. I can now have a go at cataloging a complete item before having it reviewed. I felt prepared to work in this new jungle, but it is nice to have someone who I could call for help if need be. I enjoyed watching the competition videos so I thought it would be fun to continue to catalog those, and also that it would be cool to complete something (if I am able to catalog all of the competition videos). I also choose some cassette tapes so that I could get more experience cataloging those. I have a lot questions for the archivist next week about those cassette tapes. I attempted to do one during my final hour in the archives, but I am not going to lie it was a great way to end the work day. It was fun to listen to the soundtrack while cataloging the item. “We are dream girls, we’ll make you happy.” Well this girl soon to be dreaming is signing off, until next week!

Questions of the Week: When should you reach out to someone that has an item in the collection?