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Librarian for hire

Well, well, it’s been some time since I last updated, and there has been some career advancement on my part. After the career fair in April 2011, I procured a contract cataloging position at EBSCO Publishing from June through December. I liked working there, and I think it’s a good company, but I’m glad the job was a contract position because I don’t think I would like doing that sort of work long-term. I’m a social person, and there was far too little social interaction for me. Thank god for podcasts on my iPhone so I could hear human voices during the day.

I live in Hartford, CT and EBSCO is in Ipswich, MA so daily commuting was not possible. Since my mother and sister live in Rockport, MA, my dog and I lived with them during the week, and then went home to Connecticut on weekends. The drives got to be a bit of drag, and I missed living in my own home, although I am very grateful to my family for allowing me and my dog to stay with them in their small condo for six months. It was fun too. For the most part, we got along well. And I enjoyed my sister’s cats.

This is Tommy.

And this is Daisy.

The project at EBSCO ended December 30th, and since then I’ve been unemployed. The bad thing about this job’s contract status is that I am not eligible for unemployment benefits. I’ve been applying for library jobs and even some non-library jobs, but nothing has panned out yet.

I have jury duty tomorrow, and I’m hoping I get chosen so I’ll have at least a temporary sort-of job. Don’t jurors get some form of compensation? I hope so.

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By Rachel – May 15, 2012

Trip to Boston

I went to the main campus of Simmons for a career fair in April. I stayed in Rockport with my family and took the train to Boston from there.

Then I rode the green line once I was in the city. I love riding subways and trains, but I don’t get any chance to do that here in Hartford so I was totally psyched to be there.

Then I had to walk a short distance to campus. See the green cupola? That’s Simmons College.

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By Rachel – May 5, 2011

Hillyer Art Library at Smith College

On Saturday my class took a trip to Smith College to meet with the librarian at the Hillyer Art Library. I was certainly in for a surprise. My memory from when I took Art History classes back in the 80s was that there was a slide library which was really just a room filled with shelves of slides. At Smith College, there is an actual library devoted to the study of art with access to numerous print and electronic resources. The art library is located inside the Smith College Museum of Art, and I found it to be quite impressive looking. It felt great to have an appointment there.

Inside there was this guy, not to mention a cafe. (I love the way cafes are such an integral part of academic life these days.)

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By Rachel – December 8, 2010

The Card Catalog

School has begun again. This semester I am taking LIS 413, Literature of the Humanities.

Libraries do not use card catalogs anymore; they use online catalogs. However that change doesn’t mean the shelves need to go to waste. I was pleased to see this set-up in the Mt. Holyoke Library recently. Just to be sure, I opened a couple of the drawers (they were empty).

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By Rachel – September 28, 2010

Robert Frost Statue

Amherst College

Amherst College

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By Rachel – January 28, 2010

Wistariahurst Lion in the Sun

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By Rachel – December 13, 2008

Thoughts on my Internship

Today is the last class day of the semester, and my last day as an intern at Wistariahurst.  My assignment for the semester was to check the finding aid for the Skinner Family Collection by going through the collection and making sure the boxes contain what the finding aid says they do.  I have not had enough time to complete the project, but as far as I’ve gone the finding aid is accurate.

The collection is organized by the creator of the documents and then further divided by the receiver and date. That is the letters from Sarah to Katharine from 1895 – 1898 might comprise the contents of one folder in the Sarah Elizabeth Skinner collection.  If there are other documents that cannot be grouped from creator to receiver, the finding aid will label them as [Creator's Name] Miscellaneous Correspondence and then the dates.  If no date is available, the the folder will show “n.d.”

Although I have enjoyed my internship, the project I was given has its limitations.  For one, it’s impossible to finish the project in 60 hours. There are over 200 boxes (each containing numerous folders), and 60 hours is not nearly long enough to go through everything.  Secondly, the project hasn’t given me a chance to really use the archival skills I’ve learned about in class because the collection is already formed and documented and my work is just looking at the dates and names on the paper within it.

However, I am very glad to have had the opportunity of this internship. For the past two years I’ve been attending Simmons at Mt. Holyoke, and every time I’ve drive up there, I go past  Wistariahurst. I used to wonder what it was all about, and I thought it was beautiful so you can imagine my delight when I saw that there was an Archives class internship there.

Here are two photographs from an autumn afternoon Wistariahurst’s dinosaur tracks.

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By Rachel – December 13, 2008

Christmastime at Wistariahurst

Here is the Christmas tree at Wistariahurst, next to a portrait of Sarah Allen Skinner, the matriarch of the family.

 

Here is the “music room” set for a holiday party last Saturday night. The room also hosts numerous weddings throughout the year.

 

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By Rachel – December 13, 2008

Ruth Isabel “Belle” Skinner

Belle Skinner was arguably the most well-known of the Skinners, as she notably sponsored the town of Hattonchatel, France by helping the town rebuild and restore itself after World War I.  She spent part of each year living in the town and was known to the townspeople as “godmother.”  She was also something of an anomaly for a woman of her background and vintage as she never married.

There are boxes upon boxes of her papers in the Skinner archives.  In addition to the numerous letter and cards she wrote, Belle also sold her words and had stories published in both The Atlantic Monthly and the North American Review.

Here is a photograph of one of the trademark lions of Wistariahurst taken in the fall, in the mid-afternoon sunshine.

 

 

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By Rachel – December 13, 2008

Katharine Skinner Kilborne

Katharine Skinner Kilborne, (often called “Kittie”) the youngest of the Skinner children, was also a prolific writer. There are numerous letters between her and her mother with whom she was very close.  In addition to letters, her journals, school workbooks, and report cards are also among the items preserved in the archives.

She seemed to be the pet not only of her mother, but of also of her siblings.  Every one of her brother’s letters to her says after the salutation, in quotation marks: the best girl in the world.  Harder to figure out is the way her sister Belle addressed her in some letters: Harold.  I thought I was misreading it, but even in the typed letters, Belle clearly addresses her sister Kittie as “Harold.”

The photographs of the post are details of the fireplace in the Skinner Family Archives room.

 

 

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By Rachel – December 13, 2008