Education and route in:

BA History and Information and Library Studies, MA Archives and Records Management 

Natalie’s viewpoints: 

I was initially worried that being an Archivist would involve working on my own in a dusty basement, but it’s not like that at all! I work in a large friendly team and many of us can often be found in the pub after work. 

At the start I trained to be a Librarian, and found myself drawn to more historical elements of the career, such as working with rare books. Eventually, I took this to its logical conclusion and switched to become an Archivist, qualifying in 2004. 

Having initially become an Archivist because of my interest in history, I have now found myself going in the opposite direction, working with digital materials. This field is a very exciting one to be in right now. As it is such a new discipline, there is a lot of collaboration between institutions and individuals from around the world, and a lot of opportunity for career development. For instance, I have spoken about my experiences at several conferences, and have worked with scientists, IT professionals and artists. 

I combine working with digital material with more traditional tasks like cataloguing paper archives and answering enquiries. This means that there is always plenty to do, and no day is ever the same. One of the best aspects of my job is that it is never dull, and there is always something new and unexpected around the corner. 

What’s next?

I’m currently working towards the Society of Archivists Registration Scheme. Would like to get more IT experience, such as learning XML.

Best bit about my job:

The variety! One day I might be looking through medieval manuscripts, and the next corresponding with scientists about how to archive their emails.

Any downsides?

It’s often very difficult to explain to people what we do: “What do you mean you work to preserve digital material? I just save stuff on my computer!” is a fairly common response. 

Natalie’s tip:

• Visit archives and libraries, speak to people already working in the sector, and get as much (and varied) experience as you can.