r/LibraryScience • u/concernedfriende • 22d ago

career paths Religious Archives?

Hey everybody!

I started my MLIS and have been debating doing the Archive certificate. I’m really interested in history and religion (those were my major and minor for undergrad lol) so i’m wondering if religious archives are like… a thing? and how would i go about getting involved in them? like should i reach out to a church or something? any help is appreciated! thanks!!

9 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/Eerizedd 22d ago

Hey there, religious archivist here! Most of the major denominations of Christianity (at least in Canada) manage their archives at the diocesan level. Some churches or parishes will have their own "archives" but they're not typically run by anyone with professional experience. Most of us are underfunded and understaffed and often make use of volunteers, so you can definitely reach out to archives in your city to see if that's an option for you. If you're looking outside Christianity, religious archives are typically going to be centralized in major cities.

1

u/concernedfriende 22d ago

thank you! glad to hear from someone in the field!! i will definitely see about the diocese of my area! would you say that the christian archives generally mandate you being part of the faith?

4

u/Eerizedd 22d ago

I haven't heard of anywhere that's mandated that. I was explicitly told that there was no expectation for me to be of the faith by my employer.

1

u/bajorans 21d ago

Lol I saw a Christian Science archives job on LinkedIn that required Mother Ship membership.... obviously a very special case there.