Welcome back to another Hagley Staff Favorites article! Every quarter, we share stories from our collections staff, giving you the opportunity to hear from the experts, the people who first lay hands on our archives and objects, about the items that made a mark. Maybe you'll find something new to investigate.
This quarter's Staff Favorites interviewee is Doug McQuirter, Reference Archivist at the Hagley Library, speaking about the David Sarnoff Library collections.
Q: What is your role here at Hagley?
A: As the Reference Archivist at Hagley, I help our researchers navigate and access Hagley's collections. Additionally, I assist the Technical Services Department by serving on our Cataloguing Team and accessioning new published collections.
Q: How do you engage with the materials Hagley collects?
A: Most of my day revolves around working with our collections in one way or another! Whether it is scanning photographic materials for reference questions, pulling manuscript boxes in preparation for a research visit, or cataloguing a pamphlet in our collection, my role is firmly collections/materials-centered.
Q: What is one of your favorite collections?
A: The David Sarnoff Library collections (Accession 2464) are a particular favorite of mine.
Q: Why does this material stand out to you?
A: The David Sarnoff Library collections contain a little bit of everything, from videos and books to manuscript materials, photographs, and more. Its broad scope reaches into 20th-century popular culture, business, and science.
Briefly, the Sarnoff materials touch on topics such as electrical engineering, television and radio broadcasting, and even early video game research. It is not hard to see why this group of collections remains one of Hagley's more popular research sources!
To learn more about the David Sarnoff Library collections, visit the Hagley Finding Aids Database. For more information on using Hagley collections, please reach out to our Reference Services staff at askhagley@hagley.org.
Hannah Spring Pfeifer is the Library Coordinator and interviewer for Staff Favorites at Hagley Museum and Library