What You Can Do With a History Major

Today I am sitting on a lunch panel to discuss "What you can do with a History degree." I believe I am the only person from the "information" professions on the panel. Other panelists include three history professors. I thus suspect it will be weighted to college teaching and going to grad school in History.

What will I talk about? Well, I have a master's degree in History, and a masters degree in Information, specializing in Archives and Records Management. Like many people, I became interested in archives primarily because of an interest in history and working with primary documents. But as I learned more about the field, I discovered a true passion for other aspects of the job as well--managing large projects, developing better ways to inform people of materials in collections, using technology in innovative ways, outreach, and of course electronic records management which deals with institutional records rather than those old 19th century manuscripts that first caught my attention.

In my current position, I get to engage myself in all aspects of the above. I am working on increasing our online presence through finding aids/making information searchable/search engine optimization, managing student workers to help with processing and digitization projects, working with all kinds of patrons, convening a committee on electronic records management, and hopefully as I settle in at Earlham working closely with faculty particularly in the history and English departments to bring more students down to the archives. And sometimes I get to work with the old documents as well. It's a great job. A mentor once told me that if you are 80% satisfied with your job, you are in excellent shape. I can say that like with all jobs there are moments of frustration, but I feel like I'm probably pretty close to that 80% threshold for happiness.

How did I get this job? I started working in Emory University's archives while pursuing a Ph.D in history. I loved it. When I started doing research for my dissertation, and found myself focusing more on how the archives I visited could improve finding aids, online presences, and the reference experience. My dissertation became a distant memory as I took on greater responsibility at Emory and received grant funding for some projects. I eventually left Emory, and took a position working as a researcher at a non-profit. Why? I needed to work for a while and NOT be in school.

To work as an archivist, or librarian, and often as a museum professional, you likely will need to go back to graduate school. You can get a degree in Information, a degree in Public History, or a library science degree from a more traditional program. I recommend working for a few years before heading back to school; I found that students coming right from school were sometimes--not always--less prepared for a professional program that emphasized group work, developing leadership skills, and did NOT hold your hand--you are expected to be mature enough to handle graduate level work. I went to a liberal arts college and you will find the experience very different in a professional school as compared to your experience at Earlham.

While school is important, finding good mentors and internship experiences is just as important. Take advantage of as many opportunities as you can. I have been very fortunate in this case but I also jumped at any opportunity that looked interesting.

A word about tech skills: They are important. You can not avoid technology in the archives, museums, or certainly a library. You do NOT need to be an expert, but you need to be able to talk with information technology professionals, know the basics of web design and frankly user centered design, be willing to learn about technical issues, and understand how Web 2.0/3.0 and beyond will impact your work.

That's about it, though there is so much more...