Education and route in:
Left school with A-Levels in English, History and Maths and went to Stirling University where I got a BA in English Studies. I worked in temp jobs for about a year before applying for and getting a Graduate Traineeship at Reading University Library. Then I did an MSc in Library and Information Studies at Strathclyde University.
Felicity’s viewpoint:
I love my job and think that this was definitely the right career choice for me. I really enjoy helping people, making information available and love the investigative side of my job.
NINTENDO DS TO ANGUS, THONGS AND PERFECT SNOGGING, ILLUSTRATING THAT ARCHIVES HAVE A PLACE IN TODAY’S TEEN WORLD
I am in charge of our records management, which involves, storing the records, making sure they can be found again through our online database, and retrieving them when they are needed. As we are a publishing company, some of our most important records are our editorial files, which often include correspondence between our editors and authors. It is really important that these are kept safely for the future and that people can look at and use them now.
We have letters from Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, Winston Churchill and Enid Blyton in our archive, and in the future the writing lives of Louise Rennison, Garth Nix, Cecelia Ahern and Conn Iggulden, to name just a few, will be recorded here. I also look after our back catalogue of books, making sure they are accessible to our editors, who use the archive to look at publishing trends, to get inspiration and to look for lost treasures.
My role brings me into contact with nearly everyone in the company, from art and editorial directors to finance staff and the digital team. I recently worked alongside all these people to help produce a game for the Nintendo DS, containing 100 Classics from our archive.
Skills that you need for this type of work are definitely organisation and good interpersonal skills. You need to be able to communicate well with just about anyone.
What’s next?
I’d like to do a part time Masters in Archives, as although my library qualification has been really helpful to me, my job links archive and library work very closely.
Best bit about my job:
I’d have to say the variety and the exciting projects that I get to work on.
Any downsides?
There can be quite a lot of dust accumulated over time!