{"id":10982,"date":"2024-05-24T14:38:41","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T18:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10982"},"modified":"2024-05-24T14:38:41","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T18:38:41","slug":"my-archival-journey-by-vilma-chicas-garcia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10982","title":{"rendered":"My Archival Journey by Vilma Chicas Garcia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vilma Chicas Garcia is the L. Claire Kincannon Intern in the Special Collections Research Center for the Spring 2024 semester. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at Old Dominion University.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Vilma Chicas Garcia.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

I have always felt very lucky to have discovered this profession when I did. It was during the late spring or early summer semester of 2022. I was in the middle of my junior year at George Mason University and still felt like I had no direction in life. At the time, I was pursuing my Bachelor’s in history but didn’t know where I was headed post-graduation. That was the case until I came across a TikTok by the Joan Meyers Jampel Center for Michigan Jewish Heritage or @mijewishheritage on TikTok. The video was silly in nature; they used a popular audio clip to convey the different paths one can take after obtaining their MLIS, such as becoming a librarian or archivist. It was a TikTok that changed my life! I immediately became interested; I had considered being a librarian before, but I never considered working in an archives. If I’m entirely honest, I didn’t even know what an archivist was! Yet, the more I learned about it, the more I considered it a potential career path.<\/p>\n

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Vilma holding a photograph of Claire Kincannon.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The more I watched, the more I learned how important gaining experience in the field is. As soon as I could, I began looking for internships or part-time jobs in the field, and luckily enough, the Special Collections Research Center at GMU was hiring for an Undergraduate Archival Assistant around the same time! I have had so many wonderful opportunities and experiences during my time at the SCRC. I have worked on the James Buchanan collection, attended my first MARAC and SAA conference, and processed three other collections- with the most recent being the L. Claire Kincannon theatre collection. The L. Claire Kincannon theatre collection contains her life’s work as a theatre critic, radio journalist, and overall an outstanding woman. I\u2019ve never been much into theater, yet I have had a wonderful time reading Kincannon\u2019s reviews. Her personality shines through her work, and processing her collection has been a privilege.<\/p>\n

Follow SCRC on Social Media and look out for future posts on our\u00a0<\/em>Facebook<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0<\/em>Instagram<\/span><\/a>, and\u00a0<\/em>Twitter<\/a><\/span>\u00a0accounts. To search the collections\u00a0held at Special Collections Research Center, go to our\u00a0<\/em>website<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and browse the finding aids by subject or title. You may also e-mail\u00a0us at\u00a0<\/em>speccoll@gmu.edu<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or call 703-993-2220 if you would like to schedule an appointment, request materials, or if you have questions.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vilma Chicas Garcia is the L. Claire Kincannon Intern in the Special Collections Research Center for the Spring 2024 semester. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Library and Information Science (MLIS) at Old Dominion University. I have always felt very lucky to have discovered this profession when I did. It was during the late […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101014,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,121,784],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scrc-interest","category-scrc-picks","category-studentreflections"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-2R8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10776,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10776","url_meta":{"origin":10982,"position":0},"title":"Student Reflections","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"December 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This blog post was written by Vilma Chicas Garcia and Colin McDonald, former SCRC student workers. Congrats on graduating, Vilma and Colin! My Experience at SCRC by Vilma Chicas Garcia I began working at the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) during the 2022 Fall semester, and at the time, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SCRC interest"","block_context":{"text":"SCRC interest","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/colidgrad.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/colidgrad.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/colidgrad.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/colidgrad.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/colidgrad.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10301,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10301","url_meta":{"origin":10982,"position":1},"title":"Student Reflections – Processing the James M. 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The Life of an Economist by Colin McDonald When I first came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "George Mason University History"","block_context":{"text":"George Mason University History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=529"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Student-Blog-Cover.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Student-Blog-Cover.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Student-Blog-Cover.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Student-Blog-Cover.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Student-Blog-Cover.jpg?fit=1200%2C676&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10353,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10353","url_meta":{"origin":10982,"position":2},"title":"Open for Access – the James M. Buchanan Papers","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"May 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at George Mason University (GMU) is pleased to announce that the James M. Buchanan papers are now open for access! This collection consists of the papers of the Nobel Prize-winning economist James McGill Buchanan, documenting his career and research from the mid-20th century through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "NEH Buchanan papers project"","block_context":{"text":"NEH Buchanan papers project","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=882"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/JMB_001.jpg?fit=1200%2C833&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/JMB_001.jpg?fit=1200%2C833&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/JMB_001.jpg?fit=1200%2C833&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/JMB_001.jpg?fit=1200%2C833&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/JMB_001.jpg?fit=1200%2C833&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10482,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10482","url_meta":{"origin":10982,"position":3},"title":"SAA Reflections","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"August 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by SCRC Student Assistant Vilma Chicas Garcia. This past Society of American Archivists (SAA) conference was my first ever. I wasn't sure what I was expecting going in. However, I came out with much more than I ever thought I would. Initially, I thought perhaps speakers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/SAA.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/SAA.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/SAA.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/SAA.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/SAA.png?fit=1200%2C300&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10730,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10730","url_meta":{"origin":10982,"position":4},"title":"New Finding Aids – November 2023","author":"Meghan Glasbrenner","date":"November 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The SCRC processing team is excited to announce that we have more new finding aids to share! 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