As the semester comes to a close and excitement gathers around this week’s commencement ceremonies, Special Collections & Archives would like to congratulate our three Student Assistants who will be graduating as part of NAU’s Class of 2025!
Max Schrader | Anthropology, Museum Studies
Max joined the SCA Student Assistant team in the fall of 2023. Over the past two years, he has worked with SCA staff to process the David Muench Photography records, our biggest photographic acquisition to date.
Max has worked closely with Sam Meier, Archivist for Discovery, Melissa Lawton, Archivist for Collections Management, and Erin Carter, Libraries Assistant Manager for Archival Processing, to physically process materials in this collection. In his time with SCA, he has rehoused countless 4×5 transparences, sifted through business records, inventoried a wide variety of material formats, and ultimately provided invaluable support.
As the David Muench Photography records have taken shape, Max has expanded his archival skills into the new age. Most recently he has worked with Kelly Phillips, Archivist for Digital Programs, and Jess Vogelsang, Library Coordinator, to digitize photographic selections from the collection. Utilizing the DT Atom imaging system, Max has created high-resolution digital surrogates of some of Muench’s lesser-known work.
These photos will soon be findable in the Colorado Plateau Digital Collections.
Caroline Milar | Sociology, Museum Studies
Caroline started in SCA in the fall of 2024 and has been working with Sam Meier and Erin Carter to process collections out of SCA’s backlog. This year, she was able to physically process and create finding aids for over 16 collections that were previously unavailable to researchers!
Through working on these collections, Caroline has learned about how collections are appraised and processed. She has also learned how to write Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) compliant finding aids in ArchivesSpace and Encoded Archival Description (EAD). These skills are foundational to the arrangement and description realm of archival work, and the collections Caroline has made discoverable are a testament to her ability to move from physical processing to archival description with ease.
Two standout collections from Caroline’s work that demonstrate the diversity of the materials she has worked with this year are the Stephen Hirst papers and the Steve Dudley papers. The former centers on Hirst’s work with the Havasupai Tribe and includes many material formats like photographs, VHS tapes, and maps; the latter contains photographs and training materials related to Dudley’s decades in fire management in Coconino National Forest. Caroline’s work this year has been of great help to our ongoing efforts to increase the accessibility and discoverability of our collections.
Jordan Bohn | Anthropology
Jordan joined SCA in the fall of 2024 and has worked closely with Melissa Lawton to assess and inventory materials in SCA’s vault storage space. The vault is used to store more high-risk material formats like photographic negatives, film reels, and audio cassettes.
As space is always at a premium in the world of special collections and archives, Jordan’s inventory of the vault is helping us map out ways to maximize the space we have. She also completed an inventory of collections in our regular storage, and both of these endeavors will help inform how we approach both space and materials management.
In addition to her collections management projects, Jordan took on some arrangement and description tasks. She processed the Lou Kokonis photographs, a collection that features National Parks and landmarks from all over the west, and the Dick Arentz Four Corners Country photographs, taken while compiling images for his 1986 publication.
Jordan will be pursuing a Master of Arts in Library & Information Science at the University of Arizona this fall.
Congratulations Max, Caroline, and Jordan! Thank you for all the hard work you have put into your time in SCA. We look forward to seeing where the future takes you all!