An Archivist's Tale

Karen Trivette and Geof Huth, hosts of An Archivist's Tale, tell their own tales of their archivist lives at this moment and their plans for future writing and podcasting.

Sheila Almond, the Records Management Officer for the Orange-Ulster BOCES, tells us how microfilming led her into records management, how records storage areas do not always hold the most pleasant of creatures, and how she and her staff have helped transform the management of archives and records in many local governments in southeastern New York State.

Steve Goodfellow of Access Systems tells us the harrowing story he told his wife during their honeymoon, how he went from selling recordkeeping systems to designing them, and how Abraham Lincoln shows up in the most unexpected places.

Bill Saffady, an independent consultant and researcher, tells the story of his movements from history to libraries to archives to records management, his peripatetic life teaching records management to a generation, and something about what drives him to work and teach and write. Caution: Laughter.

Valerie Komor, the Director of Corporate Archives at the Associated Press, tells the stories of how she became an archivist, of archival stories in her family and her work from around the world, and of the similarities between archivists and journalists.

Lauren Brown, the MARAC (Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference) Historian and longtime MARAC Archivist, recounts how he knows he was born an archivist, his travels from the west to the east coasts of the US, his work with the AFL-CIO and Spiro Agnew at the University of Maryland, and many deep stories about the history of MARAC.

Robert Parnica, Senior Reference Archivist at the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives, tells us why archivists need to be active in society, why archivists are always needed even in online environments, how curated collections of digital surrogates can be their own natural archives, and how he helps researchers use his archives' rich collection of records relating to communism and human...

Örs Lehel Tari, Archivist at the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives, discusses how a cartoon led him to archives, how he trained as an archivist at work, how he studied archives remotely through the University of Dundee, and what it's like being a processing archivist with a multi-lingual backlog.

Nina Gostenčnik, Deputy Director of the Regional Archives of Maribor, Slovenia, explains her work at her archives (which acquires government, personal, and organizational records), the problem of reunifying records in the nations that formerly made up Yugoslavia, and how the seven archives of Slovenia operate.

Hrvoje Stančić, Chair of Archival and Documentation Sciences at the University of Zagreb, discusses his work on the international multi-year InterPARES project investigating the means to achieve trustworthiness, his teaching schedule, his dictionary of archival terms in Croatian, and how we often only authenticate the fakeness of a record.

Bogdan Florin Popovici, Head of the Brsov County Archives, discusses his almost accidental start in the school of archival science (which was part of the police academy), how the National Archives of Romania functions, working for a great archivist, and the “truth” of archives.

Gabriella Ivacs, Head of the Archives and Records Management Section of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, discusses her work for the agency, the Roma of Europe, the EU's GDPR, and how archives compensate for lost cultural heritage.

Andy Potter, Electronic Records Policy Analyst for the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, tells us about his passion for audio, and his work managing records, working with government agencies, and (soon) helping set records policies for the federal government.

John Slate, City Archivist for the City of Dallas, spins a tale of being caught in the web of archives before his thirteenth birthday, and how he returns to the source of that capture in his first professional job. He ends up in Dallas, providing essential information for the city, its citizens, and users from anywhere else—all while protecting the assets of the city using the city's archival asse...

Joseph Coen, Archivist at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, talks about his beginnings as an archivist working in local government, his professional work in that community, and how he came to work for the diocese, where he has served many researchers and worked to document the diversity of Catholicism in his diverse diocese.

Polina Ilieva, Head of Archives and Special Collections at the University of California San Francisco, tells us how she moved to the U.S. and became an archivist. She also explains how she documents her university as well as the history of medicine and the histories of patients, while also maintaining the Industry Documents Library, consisting of documents created by industries that influence publ...

Kate Goad, the Assistant Librarian at the four-year-old Letterform Archives, discusses her work in a private special collections focusing on books, posters, and other printed material, but also holding archival materials, all documenting the richness of typographical design.

Margery Sly, Director of Special Collections at Temple University, talks to us about her broad and diverse career as an archivist, some of her wide-ranging work for the Society of American Archivists, and the huge collection of archives, manuscripts, and rare books Special Collections manages, even as they prepare for a huge move.

George Blood, President of George Blood LP, reveals how a beginning in music turned him into someone intent on preserving audio-visual records for the future. George discusses his company's small beginnings, its recent move into a large new space outside Philadelphia, the 152 audio-visual formats they can convert, their constant search for old av equipment—and the five Emmy awards he has received...

The married couple, Marisa Bourgoin (Head of Reference Services at the Archives of American Art) and John LeGloahec (Archives Specialist in the Electronic Records Division of the National Archives) discuss their very different career paths, how they met and grew their relationship, and how John managed through the 2019 shutdown of the federal government. You can also learn how Nelson Rockefeller d...

Cheryl Stadel-Bevans, a Records Management Specialist for the U.S. federal government, explains how someone with a bachelor's and master's in mathematics becomes an archivist and records management and loves the work. She also recounts her experiences as a furloughed worker in the record-breaking longest federal shutdown of all times on the day (unknown to her at the time) of the last work day of...

Chris Muller, founder and former CEO of Muller Media Conversions, tells us how he moved from writing code for Grumman to rescuing data from distressed, damaged, and obsolete media. His story covers the globe and some of the major stories of the recent past (Watergate, Whitewater, and WorldCom). The episode includes an account of his experience in downtown New York City during 9/11.

Jessica Newell, Archivist at the Edgar Cayce Foundation, recounts her movement from history into archives, and tells us what it is like to manage the archives of the famous American spiritualist Edgar Cayce. This episode is filled with parapsychology, metaphysical readings, and the interesting story of an American family preserving its history.

Bob Sink, former archivist of the New York Public Library, begins his story during the civil rights era, when he was a member of Students for a Democratic Society, and he explains how his desire to ensure justice brought him into archives. He discusses the joys of creating and maintaining an institutional archives and of his research into the librarians of NYPL. Alexa makes a brief appearance in t...

On their fiftieth episode, Karen Trivette and Geof Huth, hosts of An Archivist's Tale, discuss what they have helped create with the podcast over the preceding year and their plans for the podcast for this year, including travel to San Francisco, Slovenia, Hungary, and Austria. Karen discusses her big project for her institutional archives and her talk coming up in Slovenia. Geof explains why he h...