Katrina Windon, accessioning and processing archivist for Mullins Library, was born in South Carolina and raised in Montgomery, Alabama. She first became interested in library science during elementary school, when she volunteered at her school library.
“Mostly, my impression of librarianship was that it involved shelving books, checking out books, re-shelving books, and changing out the bulletin boards to reflect every possible holiday,” said Windon. “The bulletin board decorating was probably the selling point for fourth-grade me.”
By the time she graduated from high school, her understanding of library science had expanded, and she was fairly certain she wanted to be a librarian, helping others with their research.
The summer after her sophomore year at the University of Alabama, she applied to volunteer at the local public library. However, their volunteer program was full. Instead, she obtained a volunteer position with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.
“My experience there, working in the Government Records department, removing staples, labeling folders, and doing data entry, somehow managed to sell me on working in archives,” she said. “The work of an unskilled volunteer may have been repetitive, but the materials I was working with were a fascinating combination of the formulaic and the utterly unique, and combined they told a story I hadn’t realized I wanted to hear.”
Windon said she had never realized the breadth of what archives contained prior to that experience, and she was aware that many of her classmates were unaware of what treasures could be found in archives. She attended the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin for her post-graduate studies, specializing in archives. During her time there, she also studied information organization, research and reference strategies, and user outreach – almost all of which are applicable to her current position, she said.
She now works as the accessioning and processing archivist for Mullins Library, handling new collections as the come in to the Special Collections department, working with donors and Library staff to ensure all paperwork is in order, and creating accessioning records that provide Special Collections staff with a baseline of information about the collections. She then assesses each collection to determine the level of processing it requires and places the collection in the queue for processing.
“Special Collections has several processing archivists on staff, as well as student workers,” Windon said. “I won’t personally process all or even most of them – my focus is on processing smaller collections as they come in.”
“Processing,” in archival terms, involves the arrangement and description of materials and results in a document known as a finding aid, which tells researchers what they can expect to find in the collection.
At any given time, Windon is also working on location management, supply orders and research projects. Her favorite part of her job?
“I really enjoy talking with donors about the materials they’re donating and hearing their stories – getting a personal context for the records,” she said.
When asked what she believes to be University Libraries’ best-kept secret, she mentioned the Special Collections department, itself.
“It offers an amazing wealth of resources on everything from the Civil War to international education programs,” she said. “I’d really encourage everyone to look through our finding aids and digital collections online, and then plan a visit in-person to explore more!”
In her spare time, Windon enjoys traveling and cooking. She hopes to soon explore recipes from Special Collections’ extensive collection of Arkansas cookbooks.
This feature is part of a new, monthly University Libraries Spotlight series.