Starting an archives practicum

Today I started the first 50 hours of my 150-hour practicum in the McCain Library and Archives. The plan is to complete the first 50 hours by/before the end of the spring semester so that I can attend a conference in London and then stay to be the TA for British Studies LIS class. After finishing up British Studies I'll return to Hattiesburg and finish the last 100 hours of my practicum.

This first section I'll be doing is with the Historical Manuscripts and Photographs collection, my first task is working with the Waller negatives. The Waller negatives correspond with the photographs in the Robert Waller Photographs collection. Robert Waller was a professional photographer in Hattiesburg from the 1940s to the 1970s, his photographs showcase Hattiesburg through that time period, as well as life in southern Mississippi.

Working with the negatives primarily means going through the boxes that have just been returned from a preservation facility off campus and making sure that the inventory list (both the information on that inventory and the items themselves) matches the inventory list and the negatives returned to McCain. There are several boxes worth of negatives to go through and more are still out at the facility and could come in during the course of my practicum.

Photo credit: City Hall; circa 1947-1956, Robert Waller Photographs Digital Collections, McCain Library & Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.