New Graduate Trainee at Archive Services

By jenturner1 on September 20, 2012 • ( 0 )

Hi all!

I’m Jen, and I’m a Graduate Trainee at the Glasgow University Archive Services.

I’ve been a student in Classics at the University of Glasgow for 5 years, and have just finished my Masters degree and will graduate in a few months’ time. I’ve always had an interest in ancient history and archaeology (I fancied myself as a ‘Scottish Indiana Jones’ type!), and as I’ve become more involved in what Glasgow University has to offer to students I’ve realised that working as an archivist is a very natural progression for anyone interested in history. Working with artefacts and historical collections has always been a passion for me, and already I know that this one-year traineeship will give me the insight and experience I need to move forward with a career in archives. (But maybe I’ll hold onto my Indiana Jones hat just in case!)

So far I’ve been working as a Document Delivery Assistant and assisting with new accessions in the Records Centre. Most of this role is about producing material for readers and those who get in touch via email and telephone enquiries: it’s great being able to get a glimpse of all types of research being carried out in and outside of the University. It’s also demonstrated to me how vast the collections are at Archives!

At the moment I’ve just started working in the searchroom, getting to meet the people who visit and order materials- which is great since I finally get to put faces to names! It’s great to see such a variety of people visiting the Archives- from New Zealand and Germany to Japan and the U.S.A (and that’s just last week!!), so many people use our collections for all kinds of research.

I’m really looking forward to my time here at Archive Services, and watch this space as I’ll be blogging about all the interesting collections I’m getting to grips with, and all the interesting people that visit us!