This past week I have been feverishly working on inputing the collection into ArchivesSpace. Last week I got a quick crash course on how to use ArchivesSpace. When I left work on Thursday for the weekend, I felt totally confident in my abilities to master the program. However, there was one hurdle that would disrupt my level of confidence…a three day weekend!
During my internship, I am only able to work Monday through Thursday. So after learning a handful of vital information on Thursday and then going on a hiatus for three days, I retuned on Monday with a lot less confidence.
On Monday afternoon, I played around with ArchivesSpace trying to shake out any remnants from Thursday’s crash course. It did not take me long to remember, and by Tuesday morning I was inputting data like a pro. I did run into a snag on Wednesday when I realized I mixed up box 7 and 8. Earlier in the week I managed to accidentally number all the folders in box 8 as box 7. Therefore, when I was inputting box 7 into ArchivesSpace I was really inputting box 8 under the wrong box number. I caught my mistake when I opened box 8 and realized it was box 7. I then had to go back, erase, and renumber all the folders in both boxes, and renumber the ones in ArchivesSpace. My other struggle with ArchivesSpace, or maybe the culprit was computer, was the lag time between clicking a folder title and loading the folder’s information. It was not a big issue, but it did slow me down in renumbering my folders.
Despite these struggles, I have been able to build up my confidence in working with ArchivesSpace. I hope to continue working with the program in order build up my skills as an archivist.