blog entry by my student Katie Higley

 The past year has been a whirlwind for me. While it has been busy, it has also been full of many educational opportunities that I am infinitely grateful for. In January 2020, I was introduced to the Clarke Historical Library’s Historic Film Project. During that time, in a pre-pandemic world, I was trained by another student, Katie Zwick, in the building. Katie was the lead on the project, and I was being trained to take over where she left off once she graduated later that year. I was enjoying my training and looking forward to my future work on the project when the COVID lockdown happened. From March-August 2020, we were not allowed on campus. I had loved working with the film project and was sad that I would not be able to work with it again for a while (at this point, we did not know if we would be allowed back in August). From my short time working on the project, I realized that I wanted to become an audiovisual archivist. I realized that preserving film encompassed my passions for history, film, and museums.

In June, with the semester over, I had nothing on my schedule until school began again in August. I received an email from Marian indicating that she would have an internship encoding the inventory of the Clarke’s largest film collection, Channel 9&10 News, into one continuous EAD finding aid. I had worked with Katie from January to March with Channel 9&10, so I was very interested in this internship opportunity. Just coming off my freshman year, I was also hesitant about it. I had a lot of questions and doubt about rather or not I was ready for an internship. I am grateful that Marian and Dr. Jay Martin, the director of the Museum Studies Program, believed that I had the potential to complete the internship. Their encouragement and help allowed me to enjoy my internship and has influenced what I am doing currently. During my internship, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of Channel 9&10 and the field of moving image preservation. Even though the internship was virtual, I found value in the experience as it strengthened my desire to become an audiovisual archivist. At the end of my internship, Marian encouraged me to write a blog post for her. I did, and that blog post was later published in the November edition of the Michigan Archival Association’s Open Entry newsletter. I would never have imagined that I would have a publication as an undergrad. I am thankful to Marian for encouraging me to pursue that opportunity.

 In December, I found out that I was accepted into the McNair Scholars program. I knew that I would be focusing my project on archival footage, but I was not sure what exactly I would be doing. I met with Marian and alumnus Tressa Graves via Teams to brainstorm ideas and talk about upcoming conferences. Marian and Tressa encouraged me to submit proposals to AMIA (The Association of Moving Image Archivists) and MAC (The Midwest Archives Conference). I was selected to present at both conferences in April and May. At AMIA in April, I spoke about my experience as an undergrad at a rural university working with film. At MAC in May, I spoke about my experience with taking Marian’s HST 583: Archival Administration class during COVID. I am currently beginning my summer research experience as a McNair Scholar.

 Over the last few months, with the help of Marian, Dr. Brittany Fremion, and Dr. Kevin Corbett, I have developed a survey to determine how Michigan museums are currently utilizing their film collections. Through the survey, we want to determine which museums in Michigan have film, determine the types of and formats of film collections that exist, and document how film collections are being used. The goal of the survey is to encourage museums to preserve and utilize their film collections for educational purposes. I feel incredibly lucky to be doing research I care about with incredible mentors. I cannot wait to see the results of the survey and where film collections in Michigan are five years from now.

 More information about the survey:

The Michigan Museum Film Collections Survey is a short, 20 question survey developed by Katie Higley, a McNair Scholar at Central Michigan University, in consultation with faculty mentors Dr. Brittany Fremion (History) and Dr. Kevin Corbett (Broadcast and Cinematic Arts), as well as Clarke Historical Library Archivist, Marian Matyn. Our goal is to (a) identify which museums in Michigan have film collections, (b) determine the types and formats of film collections that exist, and (c) document how those film collections are being used. The information we collect will be used to assess the opportunities and challenges of preserving and engaging film collections.  

Responses will be collected through Wednesday, June 30, 2021. The survey can be completed digitally at the following link or printed, completed, and returned to Katie via email and/or as a hard copy. If using the PDF version, please return responses to Katie Higley at Higle1kl@cmich.edu or mail them to Brittany Fremion, Central Michigan University, Department of History, 238 Powers Hall, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859.   

Survey Link: https://cmich.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dh9GVAE24MlaKOO