Kayla D. Ledbetter
Special Collections Archivist
Ann Arbor, MI · (734) 555 0114 · name@example.com · linkedin.com/in/kayladledbetter
Key Qualifications
EXPERIENCE
Nine years processing manuscript and university records collections in academic special collections
INDUSTRIES
Research university libraries, labor history repositories, regional manuscript collecting
SPECIALTIES
Arrangement and description, finding aids, appraisal, donor relations, primary source instruction
SYSTEMS
ArchivesSpace, encoded archival description, Aeon, Alma, Preservica
CREDENTIALS
Certified Archivist through the Academy of Certified Archivists; member of the Society of American Archivists
EDUCATION
Master of Science in Information with an archives and records management concentration
Executive Summary
Special collections archivist with nine years arranging and describing manuscript collections in a research library. Processes at volume, writes finding aids to Describing Archives a Content Standard, and encodes them so researchers can find the material. Known for clearing backlogs that sat untouched for a decade.
Signature Achievements
- Processed four hundred and twenty linear feet of union records in eighteen months and opened every box with folder level description.
- Rebuilt the finding aid template to Describing Archives a Content Standard so legacy descriptions finally carried the same required elements.
- Encoded two hundred older finding aids and loaded them to the statewide discovery portal, where none of those collections had been visible before.
- Brought in a photographer archive of eleven thousand negatives, negotiating the deed of gift and the reproduction rights language with the family.
- Taught primary source sessions for twenty six undergraduate classes in one academic year, up from nine when she arrived.
Professional Experience
Special Collections Archivist
Huron Valley University Library, Ann Arbor, MI 2019 to present
Sole processing archivist for a manuscripts unit holding about nine thousand linear feet, reporting to the head of special collections.
- Appraises, arranges and describes incoming manuscript and university records accessions in ArchivesSpace.
- Publishes finding aids in encoded archival description and reviews the output for consistency across the repository.
- Staffs the reading room two days a week and answers roughly six hundred reference questions a year.
- Works with donors on deeds of gift, access restrictions and privacy screening before material opens.
Project Archivist
Great Lakes Labor History Center, Detroit, MI 2017 to 2019
Grant funded position processing the records of three regional trade unions donated across two decades.
- Surveyed and appraised the three collections, then wrote the processing plan the grant required.
- Described the material at series and folder level and produced the first public finding aids for all three.
- Reboxed and rehoused fragile ledgers and photographic prints to archival standards.
- Reported quarterly on progress against the grant deliverables and closed the project on schedule.
Licensure and Certification
Certified Archivist, Academy of Certified Archivists, 2019
Digital Archives Specialist certificate, Society of American Archivists, 2022
Member, Society of American Archivists
Education
Master of Science in Information, University of Michigan, 2017
Bachelor of Arts in History, Oberlin College, 2014
Core Skills
Arrangement and description · Describing Archives a Content Standard · Encoded archival description · ArchivesSpace · Appraisal and accessioning · Donor relations · Reading room reference · Primary source instruction · Preservation rehousing