Practicum Entry 21 January 2011

Today was my last day at the Wellington City Council Archive. I was able to finish recording the results of the inventory I started last week which was really important to me. I hate leaving a project half done! After completing that assignment, I worked on a basic description for a series in the Archive. The WCC Archive receives building permits and consents from the Council every month. In 1991 the law was changed and the process for building permits was altered in favor of a consent system which allowed for greater building flexibility as long as a standard was maintained. this means that every series needs to include the relevant descriptions regarding the system under which it was created. The following is the list currently used by the archivists in the description process:

• "What the series is, what it does, what type of information in contains and what type of record it is;
• "The history of the series - how it arose, what went before;
• "The type of information typically contained in any one record item or the general range of the subject matter in the series;
• "Any anomalies in the information contained by, or system of arrangement of, the series;
• "How it fit into the system of operation and record-keeping of which it is part;
• "How it is arranged and/or controlled;

"It is important to write this remembering that the public will read it" (from Section 5.10 of the Wellington City Archival Standard).
After my introduction to the current series description, I was given the opportunity to create a description for a series myself. I really had very little to add to the original description. I added the more recent additions to the consent process which included the project information memorandum or PIM, which is a pre-assessment of the basics of any building proposal to see if continuing with a full proposal would be feasible.
This description exercise was my final project and brought home to me the need for archivists to have a basic understanding of the business processes of many departments in order to provide the information that the public at large requires. The archivist must understand the process of submitting information and plans to the Council for approval, the process the Council undergoes to grant permission or withhold it, and subsequent communications dealing with the completion of construction.
I have enjoyed my practicum experience at the Wellington City Council Archive. I feel like I have gained a much better idea of what being an archivist entails. I think this experience has given me a good hands-on foundation for further work in the field.