Careers for History Majors: Emma Hale (FSU B.A. 2022) - Document Manager, FSU Facilities

I graduated from Florida State University in fall 2022. I have always been interested in history but did not think about making it my major until I was a few years into my time at college. I spent my first year at the University of Central Florida studying French and then at FSU switched to creative writing. Eventually it dawned on me that what I really wanted to study was history.

I grew up watching Ken Burns documentaries with my father: the Civil War, World War I and World War II. I also had really great history teachers in high school. They were passionate about their topics! At that time, I became deeply interested in the Battle of Gettysburg. I went to visit the place; I did my History Fair project on it. In the end, I double majored in creative writing and history with a minor in French.

I currently work for FSU Facilities which is made up of a series of different departments: Planning, Design, and Construction; Space Management; Utilities; Grounds; and Master Craftsman Studios, to name a few. I work in Planning, Design and Construction. I am their archivist. I keep track of all the construction plans, and any project that involves building renovations, improvements, or demolition – once it has been completed. I look after both paper and digital documents.

I am in charge of both the virtual vault and the physical vault that contain all of FSU’s building plans. Part of my job is overseeing the digitization of completed projects. Many projects are still done on paper first – and part of my job is archiving them into a digital form. Today everything is expected to be digital for ease of access, from contract agreements to the actual building plans. Building plans from before 1980 are all in the physical vault. The oldest ones we have are from the 1910s and 20s.

Digitization is not that easy, though. Some of the older plans are simply too large for our scanners. Some of the plans were done on material that is not easily scannable (like vellum). And some of the plans are on material that has become too fragile to handle. It is interesting to see the evolution of the material on which the blueprints were made. If I look at the earliest drawings we have, they were made on good quality material, but as we move through the 20th century the paper becomes less durable which means that today it is yellowing and brittle.

I am tasked with digitizing all the projects that have been completed during the last 20 years and adding them to the virtual vault. I work with FSU Libraries’ Special Collections to decide on what to do with the paper copies of documents that have been digitized. Additionally, FSU Facilities has its own historical archive in which we store old building plans. We need to evaluate on an individual basis as to which documents will be kept post-digitization. Sometimes it is good to have a paper copy, in case there is an issue with the digital version. But on the other hand, there are considerations of space. Given how many buildings we have on campus, how old they are, and how many renovation and improvement projects have been undertaken, it is not feasible to keep all the paper records. It often comes down to the scale of the project. An HVAC renovation paper document might not need to be kept after we have digitized it. But the blueprints of a new building should be.

Facilities’ historical archive is part of our physical vault. My predecessor worked very hard on keeping the older blueprints, and I have taken this mission over from her. Even though we have digital copies in the virtual vault, these older plans are important historical documents. Some document buildings that are no longer there. Some deal with buildings that were demolished and completely rebuilt. We have been able to hand over some of our treasures to Special Collections to add to their collection on the history of FSU. That makes the plans accessible to researchers and those interested in the history of FSU’s campus.

Part of my job involves giving project managers access to the plans they need to undertake the work they have been contracted to do. People will need to know the construction plans, the way electricity is laid out, how the HVAC system is set up, when a particular part of a building was renovated or added … Usually, I go into the virtual vault and find the plans that are required. Sometimes they aren’t there, and then I need to go into the physical vault to dig out the paper copies.

I applied for this archival position because of my interest in historic preservation. As an undergrad, I had never thought that the university would have its own collection of blueprints and renovation documents for all the buildings on campus and that these would be housed in its own archive. When I applied, I was concerned that I had no experience with the construction side of things, but seeing what I do now, my work revolves around handling documents, physical and digital, and ensuring the transfer from physical to digital.

Most of my working time is spent in my office. Most of my work is on the computer. I had to learn BlueBeam, the specific software we use for digitization, as well as Aim, the software we use for project management. There are moments when I need to check things in the physical vault or go to digitize documents. But the bulk of my work is digital, which is not necessarily what comes to mind when we think of someone working in an archive.

What really surprised me when I started was that we have physical copies of these old drawings from the early 20th century. I learned so much about FSU’s history by looking at these documents and reading about the people who worked on the plans. We have these beautiful red-brick buildings and the live oaks on campus and knowing their history gives walking across the university grounds a lot more depth.

My training in history helped me to be meticulous in my work as an archivist, to pay attention to details. Some of the most important parts of history are in the details. It is easy to paint in broad brush strokes, but it is much harder to go into the details to see why things are the way they are. It helped me see why what I was doing was important. And it prepared me to keep track of a lot of documents at once – you need to be able to cite your sources!

I have come to realize that there are a lot of organizations that need archivists because they need to keep track of previous work and plans. Like the digital economy or construction industry. Buildings are constantly changing, they are almost like living organisms, any repair or renovation might change them, so in a sense they need the same kind of care any other living being would need. It is my job to keep on top of those changes and catalogue the latest additions and subtractions.

My advice to others thinking about a career in archiving would be: Be prepared to spend most of your day organizing things. In my experience, organization is a very tall, precariously stacked Jenga tower. If the wrong block falls out of place, the whole thing will collapse. The other thing to be mindful of is the naming and labeling of files – and buildings. People need to be able to retrieve files easily! Semantics do matter.