Alex (pictured) is new to volunteering at the Archive. He is a 2nd year Ancient History student at Reading University and is keen on pursuing a career in libraries.
Alex has joined us to help on the Library with our Information Manager Elizabeth, who is in charge of the Library. Today he has received some general inductions – on Health and Safety no less! – and is now making a start on reclassifying the books we have as part of a major restructuring of our library system.
Elizabeth said that working with books is a great way to exercise, as she demonstrates in the picture!
A long-term contributor, Talbot has been involved in a number of big projects, and at the moment he can be found working hard on cataloguing our huge Press Cuttings Collection. This initiative was started by an intern we had last year called Sarra, and since Talbot has taken over he has doubled the number of press cuttings added to our online catalogue, making the current total 2709 precisely. He’s just finished working on a press cutting about the infamous Dad’s Army clip involving Corporal Jones getting stuck on a windmill!
Here is Talbot taking a well-deserved break:
Andrew is a recent graduate who is about to start a full-time degree in Archives and Records Management. To get on such a course, students need to show that they have a range of experience working at different archives, which is one reason why he became a volunteer here. Andrew is currently working on an important collection from E M Gardner, a lady who was particularly interested in watermills and helped to expand what was the Windmills Section in the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) to become the Wind and Watermills Section (now known as the Mills Section). Andrew told me that he is about ¾ of the way through cataloguing the collection, which comprises photos of watermills mainly from the 1940s and 1950s, and he hopes to finish the collection by the time he starts his degree. We will be sad to see him leave but wish him all the best on embarking on his new course.
