Last week I accepted the Walter Ong Graduate Student Research Assistantship, which I begin July 1. In that position, I will assist an archivist in "organizing, preserving, describing, and producing online finding aids and a website for the Walter Ong Collection in the Pius Library Department of Special Collections." I'll be keeping a journal of the experience here in this blog.

My duties will include:

• Compile a preliminary inventory of all printed materials and papers at the folder level in the Walter Ong Collection
  
• Survey the printed materials of the Collection for annotations by Ong and other association or provenance evidence
  
• Assist in producing descriptions and summaries at the item level of papers, unpublished works, lectures, class notes, etc.
  
• Compile bibliography of works by and about Walter Ong, e.g.:
  
  
  
  • Works by Walter Ong
    
  • Works about Walter Ong
    
  • Works that make significant use of the ideas/theories of Walter Ong
    
  • Works that cite Walter Ong
    
  
  
• Assist in completing the Archives' already significant collection of off-prints and photocopies of articles by Walter Ong
  
• Perform basic preservation activities such as removing staples, paper clips, rubber bands, etc., from papers and published materials, rehousing papers in new acid-free folders, and providing preservation photocopying of selected materials as needed
  
• Assist with creation, data entry of descriptive information, and maintenance of online finding aids, images, and Collection website.