Sean Buckner
J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Digital Preservation System Coordinator
A little about Sean’s job:
I administer the library’s Ex Libris Rosetta digital preservation system and oversee the ingestion of all digital content into the permanent repository. I ensure the integrity of the preservation master files and corresponding metadata preserved within Rosetta. I help coordinate digital preservation activities, manage legacy archives, and establish submission standards and workflows.
1) What are some things you like about your job or about working in libraries in general?
I love the university environment and the mission and work of academic libraries. I feel that my efforts and accomplishments are services rendered to the university and library patrons, and that my work with digitized historical materials is a form of outreach to a larger academic community.
2) What’s a project or committee you’re working on right now that you’re excited about?
I have for some time been working on inventorying, reorganizing, and preserving the archival master files of the Utah Digital Newspapers program. I love viewing Utah newspaper front pages from the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s and the historical record they relate. It helps me to appreciate even more the virtues of digital preservation.
3) What is your dream library job?
Since the beginning of library school, I knew that I wanted to become the digital preservation librarian for a university library. I feel extremely fortunate to be given that opportunity so early in my career as very soon I will be leaving my duties at the University of Utah and assuming the new position of Digital Preservation Librarian at Texas A&M University.
4) What got you interested in libraries?
I have served as a Military Intelligence professional and linguist in the Army for almost 13 years now. My experiences working with people of various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, my efforts to gather and provide information to others, and my love of academia all kind of blended in a way that got me interested in working in libraries. Additionally, my wife has worked in libraries a little longer than I and her professionalism and work ethic have to me served as an excellent example of true librarianship.
5) Do you have any advice for other new librarians?
Having come to librarianship later in life and in a roundabout manner, I have many years of varied experiences to draw upon. Looking back at those experiences, I have discovered that my greatest opportunities and subsequent accomplishments have almost always come about from situations that at the time I considered to be less than ideal. My advice to other new librarians would be to accept work, projects, and tasks that may not be your first choice or most desired. Embrace challenges and draw experience and opportunity from circumstances.
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