Shane works closely with the University’s digital archives and museum collections, but it often goes beyond that. As his colleagues jokingly say, most of their daily work falls more under the description of “other duties as necessary” than any other part of their job descriptions. He says, “In my work environment, we are seldom siloed into one area of archival work. On any given day, I may work with a visiting class or a rare book conservator, supervise a practicum student, accession new donations, and update metadata for digital objects. This is one of the biggest challenges of working in a smaller special collections library. You have to be a Jack or Jill of everything. It does keep the job always fresh!
“That said, perhaps the most memorable project that I have worked on is the re-discovery of the ‘Dorothy dress’ on Catholic University’s campus. One day, an original dress worn by Judy Garland on the set of the 1939 Wizard of Oz was placed in my office for accessioning. My colleagues and I worked behind-the-scenes for a month to verify its authenticity and, after we went public with the news of its find, we received a flood of media attention. It was exciting but challenging to be under such public scrutiny, knowing that the work we had performed to preserve and verify the dress would be dissected by the press and a passionate fandom. I still smile at both the complimentary and sometimes curious feedback we received. “
Shane stumbled into the archival career path by accident. Both before coming to Catholic University and during his graduate studies, he sought out opportunities to put into practice his historical interests in the field. “I volunteered at institutions as varied as living history museums and the American Red Cross, offering archival reference services and historical walking tours. I thought it was just a way to pass the time, while still practicing my historical skills. But the more I got to know the collections I worked with, the patrons I spoke to, and the inner workings of these institutions, the more I felt at home in the field. Until one day, someone suggested I apply for a curator job at a small museum in Nebraska, and my reaction was not ‘heck, no’ but ‘that actually sounds quite lovely.’ I then realized this was the path for me. I had found a career where I could research, present, and preserve the past while sharing it with a diverse community.”
As long as he can remember, Shane has had a fascination with history and spaces devoted to communal knowledge. “Growing up in a rural setting, I always found local libraries and museums to be the sites where I could retreat to and connect with the broader world. And even now, libraries and museums continue to be the places I always turn to when I need a sense of connection or stability. I’ve spent a lot of time making life decisions standing before my favorite exhibits at Smithsonian museums!
“For me, it boils down to the connection with people across time. Handling an older book or archival document, I have a tangible connection with a community of people who lived before my time. I also am part of a chain of folks who have interacted with this item, both past and future, and I am tasked with making sure it continues to build connections with future generations.”
About Shane’s time in the Department of History at Catholic as a graduate student in medieval history, he says it “helped me think like a historian This goes a long way in both curating and providing access to the collections I help oversee. It lets me think about how researchers will approach the materials, and thus how I may best make them accessible and discoverable. I am also better able to engage with our collections and think long-term about how and what to potentially collect.
He credits the mentorship of Drs. Katherine Janson and Jennifer Davis for helping him fine-tune his skills at communicating historical topics. Regular presentations on a variety of topics sharpened both his skills of presentation and his confidence in speaking on historical topics. This has helped him in providing presentations to visiting scholars and classes in the archives. “But also I will always feel inspired by the values that I witnessed embodied by Drs. Jennifer Paxton and Kenneth Pennington. From talks at public events to sharing publications widely online, both of them modeled public access to history that I seek to emulate. Dr. Pennington also afforded me my first opportunity to handle a medieval manuscript – providing appropriate guidance but otherwise trusting me to learn from it in my own manner – and that experience still informs how I approach patron access to special collections materials.
“But this is not just about that sense of awe, but about the beautiful mundanity of human existence. My favorite objects typically reflect everyday elements of life: cartoonish doodles in rare books; complaints about taxes in archived letters; and vintage photos of dogs in silly poses. I love sharing these connections with patrons, and letting them find their own unique connection with the beautifully complex human community that can be contained in a rare book or archival object.”
For Shance, digital records and digitization have opened all manner of opportunities for the library’s patrons and for connecting with folks. “During the first year of COVID, digital records and outreach were our lifeblood for keeping our patrons connected with the sources they needed. It has also allowed a wider breadth of folks to access our collections, without having to spend time and money to travel across the country or world. While some of my colleagues may believe this means patrons are less interested in the physical record, I have not found that to be the case. If anything, students are more excited than ever to work with the physical archival files or rare books. But they can more easily continue their work both onsite and online.
“That said, digitization has also made it difficult to collect materials. People often treat digital records as less historically relevant than analog records, and as a result, it can be harder for us to get folks to archive them or invest in the necessary resources to preserve them.”
To any current student interested in following a similar professional path to his, Shane says “Try to get involved, in whatever way you can. Find opportunities to work within any local historical society, museum, archive, or library. You not only can learn so much on the job and form connections, but it lets you have a taste of the day-to-day work. You may find that you like some elements of the job, but not others. That is okay, and it is good to learn where your passions may lie. Some folks may imagine that we just read books all day, but there is so much more to our work. It is good to get one’s hands in the work first before deciding if it is the path for you.”