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 reference questions, 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 22, but we do encourage researchers and visitors to schedule an appointment. As more of our collections reside off-site or elsewhere in ZSR, it can take time for us to ensure we are completely prepared for visits.

Each SCA Team member has responsibilities where they focus their attention and here is a general description for what each Team member does. Stephanie Bennett (Collections Archivist) processes collections, 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 collection accessions (keeping track of all the material incoming to SCA) and is finalizing an inventory for 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, schedules the reference/chat desk, and coordinates many of our outreach programs. 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 and creates copy catalog records for SCA materials. Finley Turner (Archives Assistant) is processing Dr. Wilson’s Provost Records, helps research many of our reference questions, compiles research resources, and oversees the History Timeline. Melde Rutledge (Digital Services Librarian) oversees reproduction requests from our patrons and coordinates the many SCA digitization projects. Alayna Veasey (Collections Assistant), who started with us in January, is moving, shifting, and reshelving our collections and coordinates collection movement back and forth to the ZSR Off-site Facility (where she also assists the Public Services Team). In addition to managing the department, Tanya Zanish-Belcher (Director) appraises collections, interacts with on-campus and external donors about collection donations or transfers, and develops outreach events and projects with campus and external partners.

For the 2022-2023 academic year, we have two donor-funded student associates working with us. Senior Parker Beverly is collecting oral histories and creating metadata for them while senior Tsing Liu is working with the Houck Medford Collection. More information will be forthcoming on these projects in future blog posts. Finally, we could not do everything we do without our student assistants who continue to scan materials, assist with reference, or do collection processing and research projects.

Anyone with questions can go to the SCA website or send requests to archives@wfu.edu. We will also keep you posted on our upcoming fall 2022 events/exhibits/programs and hope to see you soon!