Interview - John Schleicher - Archives/Special Collections

The interview I had with John, the archivist for the UNMC libraries was a fascinating one. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't take as many notes as I did with some of the other sections, primarily because I was too busy geeking out over the collections.

We talked quite a bit about the professional history and development of his own career, something that I'm always interested in throughout all of these interviews. The many and varied paths that folks take, and the often serendipitous avenues that bring people to their employment spots give me hope. John has worked at Durham, and Dodge County Historical Society, and the Nebraska State Historical Society. It is always neat to hear how people know and interact with other people one knows!

The archives/special collections at UNMC are quite fascinating and include rare books, artifacts, and the archives. When I asked John about document retention, I was once again struck with the differences between a medical institution and other academic ones. Patient information, even though not really an issue, drives all other information access policies. See my interview with Heather for examples of that with Ariel. They, like most academic libraries archives that I know receive the donations from faculty and administrators who are retiring/moving/etc.

The rare book collection was very interesting, and I met briefly with Ken, a contract rare book appraiser who is slowly identifying and evaluating each item in the collection; no small task given the amount of material. We also toured the recently renovated rare book rooms, and got a chance to check out not only some medieval material, but some pretty fantastic looking cases. Designed to look like wood cases, but powder coated and with passive air ventilation. Something that if any archivists are reading this, will appreciate.

Every archive has its portions of artifacts, that much is common knowledge. But the archives at UNMC have all sorts of interesting things, including a large collection of anatomical models depicting all sorts of medical conditions. I have to admit that examining them reminds me why I chose books over medicine. Also were all manner of various accessories. John noted that he struggles to minimize the artifact donation; though it seems that if space were not an issue, a small museum could easily be generated with some of the materials potentially available.

We also looked at a number of pieces of artwork donated by various donors and benefactors. They have quite an extensive collection of western themed art that was very interesting to look at.

All in all, I felt I could have spent another hour or two on the tour and interview. As always the depth and diversity of a special collections unit, never ceases to amaze me.