We present to our faithful blog followers a different kind of post today, the unveiling of history in an unusual sort of way! We have a flurry of things to share with everyone. First, we’re introducing our new Assistant Institute Archivist, and second, we have just unveiled a new interface for users to connect with our institute records and manuscript collections via a slick new database.
Hello everyone, my name is Jenifer Kuba, the new Assistant Institute Archivist. I began working at the Archives in March 2011 as Project Archivist. My work here, until recently, focused on implementing a new database for the Archives collection guides (all the really cool stuff RPI archives is made of!). I was enthusiastically immersed in all the collections, swimming in a sea of Institute history and manuscript collections while riding the wave of open source technology to get our collections revved up for users to enjoy.
This Institution has been an enigma since I was a little girl. To my little eyes, RPI was a mysterious, illustrious Institute sitting high up on a hill. I didn’t know much about it but the words Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute always rolled right off my tongue! The first time I stepped foot on campus I was a teenager. I tagged along with my sister and some friends to one of those 1980′s rock concerts here at the Fieldhouse. Ha!
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is an amazing place. From my perspective here at the archives, the collections are remarkable: science, technology, engineering, faculty and alumni who have done outstanding things throughout the world. I couldn’t ask to be immersed in a better repository!
So after 14 months of diligent work on our new database, we present to our researchers the new interface. The database enables researchers to view, browse and search across some of the department’s most heavily used collections. Many thanks go to our team of experts for their support: Tammy Gobert, Automation Archivist, Katie Dunn, Technology and Metadata Librarian, Arlen Johnson, Senior Web Producer, George Biggar, Systems Administrator. As I sit here thanking everyone for their help, I sadly recall the day I said goodbye to my predecessor, Amy Rupert (wonderful mentor/great blogger), she was the one who brought Archon into our lives.
And lastly, RPI history unfolds another year as we see students leave and move on to great new exciting lives. I want to thank Irene G (aka “speedy”) ’12. The collections in our new database could not have been completed without her dedicated service to the Archives (4 years total, but 1 one year with our database) while she focused her studies on BioChemistry and BioPhysics. Good luck Irene!


















