About a year ago, I set my sights on a return to California, mostly for personal reasons. After much searching (within and without me), I interviewed for an archivist position at a large research library in Southern California. I have been told that a surprisingly large number of archivists applied for the position; in fact, I was kept in the pool as a first round of candidates were brought in for interviews. I persisted, and found myself interviewing for the exciting position of archivist at the University of California, Irvine.
My presentation for the interview was an answer to the question, “What key challenges will archivists in academic research libraries face in the next 5 years?” See my response below, which I feel illustrates the core of my professional identity as an archivist:
- Becoming more user-centered
- Managing digital expectations
- Revisiting description
- Revisiting discovery
- Everyone is an archivist
- Represent and document
Congrats – it sounds like a great opportunity! I hope you are enjoying your new job and new home by now.