Sourcerers: advance your skills

Sourcery is a great way for early career archivists and librarians to advance their archival skills and knowledge in a hands-on, structured environment. Because Sourcery is a job-based commitment, creating an account or even completing one job does not obligate you to complete more jobs. You can use this flexibility in your favor by only accepting jobs that are useful or exciting to you. 

 If you like exploring unique collections or surveying reading rooms, then Sourcery can take you to many different repositories. Want to get some ideas for your own place of employment? Curious how large/small/established/young institutions function? Want to meet peers who work at different institutions? Sourcery offers compensated, hands-on professional development opportunities to experience how different repositories support research.  

Similarly, you can use Sourcery to increase your facility in archival handling best practices. Want more experience handling handwritten manuscripts, archival photographs, or oversized material? Look through local Sourcery requests and choose the ones that will cultivate your skills.  

Are you typically processing collections or assisting researchers? Learn what it’s like on the other side of the desk! Sourcery helps you become more familiar with the request fulfillment process from the patron’s perspective. Requesting materials for use in the reading room is an important step in the research workflow for historians, genealogists, and researchers of pretty much any topic or time period. Use Sourcery to familiarize yourself with how different archives accept and manage request fulfillment so you can best help your own colleagues and patrons 

Lastly, be sure to include Sourcery on your resume to demonstrate experience handling archival material, creating scans, and knowledge of request processes!