Conservation Archivist
South Carolina Department of Archives and History
As the conservation archivist for the South Carolina Dept. of Archives and History, my main responsibility is to maintain the conditions of our holdings which prolongs the documents and thus the information it contains. Treatments can range from creating housing, to repairing tears, to binding books. My education has helped me prepare for this position in many ways, but primarily by helping me learn to think critically. As a conservator, this is most prominent before I perform a treatment on a document. I have to thoroughly analyze it and understand its physical makeup before any type of treatment is performed so as not to ruin it, along with the information it contains. As well, when I am processing documents for potential permanent retention, my critical thinking skills help me to make the judgment of which records are historically significant and should be kept, and those that can be discarded. There is a great deal of public trust put into the museum/archival world, so we must be extra diligent, thus thinking critically is a key component of the profession.
