With the start of a new school year, we frequently hear: “So, I have a question for Special Collections & Archives, who should I contact first?”

The first, best place to start is archives@wfu.edu, your go-to for anything e-mail and for referring reference questions, faculty requesting instruction for classes, or donations. Messages sent to this email go to Finley, Megan, Rebecca, and Tanya, so we can make sure something is handled even if one of us is out of the office. We reopened to walk-in traffic on August 16, but we do encourage researchers and visitors to schedule an appointment. As more of our collections reside off-site, it can take time for us to ensure we are completely prepared for visits.

Each Team member still has an area in which they focus their attention, although we all multitask. Stephanie Bennett (Collections Archivist) processes collections (including born-digital), supervises students working with collections, and oversees the creation of collection finding aids, which are then made available online. Ashelee Gerald Hill (Processing Archivist) is responsible for our collections accessions (keeping track of all the material incoming to SCA) and is continuing to inventory a large transfer from Athletics. Craig Fansler (Preservation Librarian) continues to create boxes for rare books and completes minor repairs on both SCA and General Collection materials. Rebecca Petersen May (Public Services Archivist) coordinates our introductory instruction efforts (including Lib100), answers reference questions, and coordinates the reference/chat desk. Megan Mulder (Special Collections Librarian) does in-depth instruction and works closely with faculty to integrate our rare books into their curriculum and creates original catalog records. Beth Tedford (Cataloging Assistant) continues to review catalog records after the Alma migration and also creates copy catalog records for SCA materials. Finley Turner (Archives Assistant) is helping research many of our reference questions, compiles research resources, and oversees the History Timeline. Melde Rutledge (Digital Collections Librarian) oversees reproduction requests from our patrons and coordinates the many SCA digitization projects. In addition to managing the department, Tanya Zanish-Belcher (Director) interacts with on-campus and external donors about collection donations or transfers and develops outreach events and projects with campus and external partners.

Finally, we could not do everything we do without our student assistants who continue to scan materials, assist with reference, or do research projects.

Please refer visitors with questions to the SCA website or archives@wfu.edu. We will also keep you posted on our upcoming fall 2021 events (including both online and in-person options) and hope to see you soon!