Case studies: Archivist: Kate Jarman

Kate has a BA Philosophy from the University of Sheffield and an MA Archive and Records Management from the University of Liverpool. She works as the borough archivist for a local council.

After my undergraduate degree I worked for the fundraising department in a charity for a couple of years. While there I spent time working with the historical archives of the hospital for which we fundraised and became interested in archives as a career. I sought unpaid work experience, following which I undertook a six-month records assistant role with a large company, followed by a year-long archive trainee placement at a county record office before starting my MA Archive and Records Management at the University of Liverpool . The MA course was very vocational and the knowledge I gained is in invaluable in my job, as is my pre-course work experience.

I started applying for jobs in the second semester of the Masters and, after a couple of unsuccessful interviews, I got my current job shortly after the end of the taught part of the course and started it during the summer while I completed my dissertation.

My role involves the management of the archives service of a London borough. This includes assisting the public in the archives search room, accessioning new donations and cataloguing, as well as line management of the archives team, budget management and strategic planning.

As my line manager has been seconded to another role within the council, I have been seconded to her role for a year, so am currently acting as interim museum and archives manager. This involves more strategic planning and management than the archivist role, particularly planning and project management for the upcoming redevelopment of the building in which the museum and archives are based.

Although many archives jobs involve management responsibilities at a relatively early stage, I would like to spend more time working with the archive collections and less on managerial work in a subsequent role(s), at least while I am still in the early stages of my career. I also hope to undertake future study, possibly a PhD or another Masters, either alongside a part-time role or during a career break. I am currently a committee member for the Archives and Records Association (ARA) , and I hope to take more of a role in representing the profession in the future.

I most enjoy working with the archive collections, particularly cataloguing and other work that helps make the collections more accessible to the public. I also enjoy doing research, e.g. for articles, when I get the chance.

Wider council projects, such as the roll-out of new systems or a building redevelopment, can impact on the archive (and museum) services, and it can be challenging to ensure the continued delivery of a high level of service to users. However, the archive and records sector is a small one, and the professional community is close-knit and helpful during challenging times.

My advice to others interested in this career is to get as much pre-course work experience as possible (voluntary work can be as useful as paid work), ideally in varied repositories, e.g., local authority archives, private archives, records management. This will help ensure that the decision to spend time and money on the postgraduate qualification is the right one and build your professional contacts for the future.