Monthly Archives: June 2022

Meet the 2022 Special Collections Summer Fellow for Firestone Library

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Name: Kate Mitchell

Education Background: I recently graduated from Rutgers University with my Master’s in Information Science with a concentration in archives and preservation. I also did my undergraduate degree at Rutgers, where I studied history and American studies. 

Previous Experience: After graduating college, I interned at the Zimmerli Art Museum, where I cataloged and processed the newly acquisitioned Jersey City Museum collection. This experience is what ultimately inspired me to go to library school and enter this field. Then, while in graduate school, I was a Library of Congress Junior Fellow, where I had the chance to create two online exhibitions for the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB). In addition to learning a lot about public broadcasting and about the PBS NewsHour, working on these projects reified my interest in curation and public services. 

Most recently, during my last two semesters as a graduate student, I worked at the Institute of Jazz Studies at the Rutgers-Newark Library, where I created descriptive metadata and authority records for audio files, completed online reference requests, digitized materials for research access and for long-term preservation, and performed a number of other tasks necessary to the day-to-day functioning of an archive.

Why I like Archives/Professional Interests: While I was initially drawn to the field because of my love of history and of the bizarre objects that inevitably end up in special collections, my continued interest in archives stems from its power as an institution to influence our understanding of the past, present, and future. I hope that by entering this field I can help effect positive social change by pushing for a more inclusive perspective of history. 

Other interests: I love knitting and experimenting with other fiber arts techniques. I learned how to knit when I was in elementary school and picked it up again in college, where I made a lot of lumpy hats. Then, because of COVID-19 and the 2020 lockdown, I had a lot more time to practice and finally graduated to knitting sweaters.

Looking forward to working on the following project(s) while at Princeton: I’m most excited to start working on the redescription projects with the Inclusive Description Working Group! I’m also looking forward to working with patrons and getting more experience providing in-person reference services.

Special Collections PACSCL DEI Internship

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This Spring, Special Collections participated as a host institution in a PACSCL (Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries)-sponsored semester-long, pilot DEI internship program to provide an undergraduate student from an underrepresented community/ies exposure to and experience working in a special collections library. The following was authored by Princeton student August Roberts ’25 about her experience.

August Roberts ’25

When I was interviewing for the PACSCL internship for the Princeton University Library, I was asked, “What part of special collections are you most interested in learning more about?” As I scoured my brain for an answer, I quickly realized that I knew very little about the specific work that goes into special collections. All I knew is that I had a passion for preserving knowledge in all its forms matched only by a passion for making that knowledge accessible to as many people as possible.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I have grown increasingly passionate about information accessibility and preservation. Queer stories have frequently been censored or destroyed, just have the stories of many other marginalized communities. While working with the various departments within Princeton’s Special Collections, I have had the opportunity to listen to oral histories in the Princeton LGBTQIA Oral History Project, work with texts important to queer history, and learn more about how cataloging can influence the ease at which LGBTQ people and people from other marginalized groups are able to access materials relating to their personal communities.

In addition to connecting with my identity-based community through this internship, I have also been able to directly connect with the community at Princeton. Before this internship, I knew very little about any of the libraries on campus. However, as I explored the different collections, I began to understand the depth of what I could access and study as a Princeton student. Additionally, I learned more about how archives and libraries function in general to assist researchers and the public, knowledge I will continually use throughout my academic career and afterwards.

I am very grateful for all of the wonderful people who I worked with over the course of this internship. Before I began, I was nervous that I didn’t know enough to do what might be expected of me. However, this feeling quickly subsided as I met more of the people who work in Princeton’s Special Collections. Each one patiently taught me about their specific field of work and discussed some of the complex issues surrounding Special Collections, introducing me to the importance of libraries and the challenges which the people working in them are tasked with unraveling. I look forward to continuing my exploration of special collections and libraries throughout my lifetime, both on campus and beyond!