Hello,

My name is Mark Prindiville, a graduate student in Wayne State University's Library and Information Science program. I was one of the lucky few chosen to go on the Alternate Spring Break program under SLIS, specifically to the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis, Maryland. Admittedly I was nervous about this opportunity, as I had no previous exposure to government archives and I did not know what to fully expect traveling solo. However, it is safe to say that my travels and my work experience were well worth it.

Upon my arrival at the government building, I was introduced to all of the staff working within the Appraisal and Description department and was given the grand tour of the facilities. Before I knew it, I went from exploring the different facets of a government agency to digging elbow deep in a box of dusty wills. My first assignment was organizing the Register of Wills from Baltimore County, roughly during the time period of 1876-1883. Upon completion, a secondary task was assigned to a local volunteer to complete the process of arranging these particular records, so I was given another assignment. While the volunteer was working on the box of wills, I was assigned to help review content from a selection of microfilm. According to my supervisor, Kathryn Baringer, Director of Appraisal and Description, there were some errors surrounding the information pertaining to microfilm uploaded onto their online repository. For example, the uploaded information could say that the first part of one slide had 75 images/parts to it, but the slide itself might actually have more, or even less. So I was assigned to review the film strips and to mark down corrections where they were needed.

I was also assigned work within the conservation lab, where I was introduced to the concept of 'vacuuming' documents. I was assigned one box, filled with documents that had been irradiated of any mold and other contaminants, and my main duty was to unfold everything so that I could vacuum as much of the material as possible. The end goal was to clean off as many documents as I could so that they may move on to the next team, who were to scan the documents for digital access.

My final assignment was an indexing project dealing with Marriage Records across the different counties in Maryland. The dates were narrow, however, ranging only from July to August 1950. By the end of the week, I would guess that this project, along with the conservation lab, was where I had spent the most time. I would estimate that I completed about 3-4 cubic feet worth of marriage record material.

At the end of the week, the Appraisal & Description team invited me to join in on their department meeting. Here I was able to better understand the daily work done by the different members of the department and I was able to piece together how different and diverse the types of assignments each member works so hard on.

My time at the Maryland State Archives was short, yet very fulfilling. I was able to take a glance at behind-the-scenes work of a government archive. I was able to take part in ongoing preservation projects, as well as being able to work alongside staff and volunteers who have the experience and archival knowledge for which to make these project goals seem possible. And I was able to gather insight on different archival practices and techniques, which I may put to good use during my studies and beyond. My colleagues here might say that I was working, while my friends might say I was enjoying a nice getaway, all the while my family might say that I was on cloud nine. I say, why not all of the above...

- Mark