Currently, I am spending all of my time cataloging the house photos for the Roanoke Valley project. However, there are many other aspects of the Virginia Room that I could potentially get involved in. This research facility offers a wide variety of materials to utilize as well as technology that can assist research efforts and access to archives and I would really like to learn more about that process. The Virginia Room has extended stacks of reference materials, archived books, maps, and microform that can all be accessed by community members at any time. One particular material the room has are the variety of maps and architectural prints. I have yet to learn about the archiving of maps and it is a process that I am very eager to understand and experience. I have the most experience with cataloging in my time at Fintel Library and it is something that I could potentially turn into a full-time career.
Cataloging different kinds of items for community use can be a challenging task due to the different rules set in place by the Library of Congress, but I actually enjoy having to problem-solve how to catalog specific things. For example, we received a series of musical scores that were too thin to place in the general collection. Music scores get disorganized very quickly due to the fact that they are often less than a half an inch think. I was able to create a cataloging system for the scores using white envelope labels and school folders in order to organize them properly and make sure they were accessible to the students in the music department. I am hoping in the next month or so to also utilize my talents in this regard at the Virginia Room with cataloging projects and general archive work. Hopefully I can get involved in more projects soon!