Every year, our student workers graduate and I am reminded of just how much work they do for the department. Students are often the ones who are entering folder lists into finding aids, labeling boxes, pulling anything requested by researchers, reshelving boxes, creating inventories of material, data cleanup and entry and so much more. If you’ve ever used any of our resources, you’ve benefited from the work these awesome employees do.
This year, all 3 of the processing student workers graduated. I asked them all what they enjoyed most about working here, and what they plan to do next. Read on to see what they had to say!
Lauren Brousseau
Lauren joined SCUA in January of 2019. In her 2+ years here, she helped process many collections, worked on a very long term project to inventory the university photo collection, helped with data cleanup for a migration, and taught us all a lot about trains – one of her passions!
Lauren’s favorite thing about working in SCUA was the access to some really old and neat items. She thought it was amazing being able to see a book from 1475, as it is not everyday you get to view a book that old. Lauren graduated in May, and her post-graduation plans were inspired by her job here in SCUA. She is planning to take a gap year, and then hopefully attend the University of Iowa, where she will get a Masters in Library Science with a focus on archives and preservation. She has always enjoyed working in libraries, but had never really considered it as a career choice until working for Parks Library.
Delaney Kennedy
Delaney also joined SCUA in January 2019. She has worked on several inventory projects, including the university photo collection and MS-0005, the Hugh Shepard papers. We only had a typed list of folder titles printed out, so Delaney’s work ensured this collection of 160 boxes was much easier to search. She also cataloged artifacts, which is a very detailed process using a notoriously difficult software.
Delaney’s favorite part of working in SCUA was the hands on work and actually being able to work with the materials in the department, such as cataloging the photographs and seeing photographs from the late 1800s. Also seeing the rare books such as St. Thomas Aquinas’s book from 1475. What she is most proud of is learning how to use PastPerfect software which is what other museums, archives, and institutions use to catalog their artifacts. Learning how to use the software made her feel like she was gaining experience that will help her be successful in her career and understand some of the tools archivists use.
After graduation, Delaney has been searching for work in the Chicago area.
McKenzie Reimer
McKenzie joined SCUA in August 2020, and transferred from the Media department when they closed due to COVID. She helped complete many inventories and process collections, and did so wonderfully given the strange situation that brought her to SCUA.
According to McKenzie, she’s loved every part about working for SCUA, but if she had to choose one thing to be her favorite part, it would probably be the fact that she got to be surrounded by history all of the time! She really enjoyed getting to see the different collections and the historical significance it has for ISU. Not all of it was always the most interesting, but she could respect the importance it held for the college. Plus, SCUA just has some really cool historical items that were fun just to look at! [Its true folks, we really do!]
This fall, McKenzie will be attending Simmons University for graduate school. She will be earning a dual master’s degree for library science and history.
SCUA wouldn’t be able to provide access to nearly as many resources without the help of our student workers, and we send a heartfelt thank you to all past student workers. If you are interested in joining the department this fall, please fill out an application for the Library.
Cardinal Tales 