I moved from smitten to in love with Archives during my internship at the Mint Museum of Art. I entered my internship thinking I wanted to be an Art Librarian. I worked in the Library and Archives to experience both worlds. After, a day in the archives I was hooked. There has never been a moment in my life when I was not aware of the Mint Museum.  It was the backdrop for much of my life.  Art Exhibitions, classes, my sanctuary in a hectic world.  I found life stories in the archives that inspired me.  People I could look up too. I found a great mentor and a friend.  I am lucky to be at the Mint Museum for my first internship and my second in the spring, during The Great Lady 80th Birthday, this is the Year of the Women. I was the Mint’s founder Mary Myers Dwelle, strengthened my interested not only in art but Women’s History. #YearofTheWoman 

 

I’m Ron, a second year MLIS student at the University of South Carolina. My current emphasis is Digital Image Management.  I am co-enrolled in the Certificate of Graduate Study in Women and Gender Studies program. 

 In my MLIS program, my focus is on archives, specifically Art Museum and Women Art. I would love to work at Smith College, Oberlin or Charleston, the home of British Artist Vanessa Bell.  In the arena of Women and Gender Studies, my focus is on Wealth and Privilege in Antebellum South Carolina.  I am placing a Third Wave Feminist Spin on my studies. My focus is the Grimke sisters of Charleston who left the south to become Abolitionist.  The walked away from a world of wealth and power to fight for their convictions. 

At the heart of everything I do, I am an artist. I work primarily in photography, pastel, and mixed media. I am a purveyor of high-quality portraits of nature, landscape, and people that capture the evocative beauty and gracefulness of the south. My works center on documenting the ever-changing world we live.  I work as a freelance photographer, for local and national museums.  I am a great lover of Opera, Ballet and visiting art museums.  

The Met has a very good policy on digital use.  Most of the art is in the public domain and free to use for academic non-publishing purposes.  Scroll to the bottom of the page. Click on the tab, About the Met. Then select Polices and Documents. On this page click image resources.  Next, click the tab Open Access for Scholarly Content (OASC) via The Met's Website.  Within this section is a hyperlink that reads the collection, by clicking on this will show works of art that are in the public domain. 
Evening ensemble

Joyce worked for two years as the librarian at the Art Institute of Charlotte and has begun her 12th year as the Librarian at the Mint Museum of Art. When she arrived at the Mint there had never been a full-time librarian, the catalogue system was party card catalogue and partly kept in a binder.  Within two years she and a group of volunteers had written and received a grant to modernize the catalogue system.  MARCO the Mint’s catalogue is searchable online.  Joyce also wrote and received a grant from the National Archives to begin the Archives at the Mint Museum. (where you can often find me).  In addition to these challenges, she wrote and received a grant for an appraiser to report on the Mint Collection of rare books that date from the 14th to the 19 century.  The Friends of the Library host a book sale annual to purchase climate controlled storage for these treasures. These are significant challenges and success she has seen happen at the Mint.  As the technological curve moves upwards, she is always trying to stay abreast of new technologies.  She has a Wiki Page for the exhibitions at the Mint. (Highlighted the one I created) During my internship I learned some of her challenges at the Mint have been modernizing the library and keeping up with trends in digital reference.  She tells everyone that one major think she learned on the job, as a single librarian is “IT CAN WAIT” if it is not a pressing issue, she will move it to the back burner. For us interns, we usually get “it can wait” pile.  Dealing with curators and their ego was another thing she learned to handle at the Mint. To stay

Currently, Joyce is a member and was Advisory Board member January 2006 – March 2012 of ARLIS/NA.  The future of the field to Joyce is wide open. She believes it will be as imaginative as future LIS professionals want to make it. Digital, in her opinion, will continue to be the medium of choice.

Working in an art museum library is a challenging job if you are the only LIS professional.  What classes could we take in school that might help us if we are in this position?  Do you think classes dealing with management would be good choices? How about an introductory business or accounting class?

Jobs are harder to get in a museum library. What can we do as students to help us more marketable to employers?