Interview with Ailie Pankonien, Texas Fashion Collection, Collection Manager

July 11, 2024

I am working towards my Library Science degree with a concentration in archives. Some of the essential skills necessary for this field include being well-versed in managing archival collections, utilizing online databases, and conducting archival research. Also, I am currently working with a heritage apparel brand, assisting with their corporate archives, which include vintage clothing. This practicum worked out perfectly as it combined vintage clothing and collections management. As a fellow MSLS student, I have been very grateful for the opportunity to learn from Ailie and gather insights into her career growth and the additional skills I can develop to prepare for my future in this field.

Q: As a fellow MLIS professional, how did you begin your growth and career track and find yourself at TFC?

Ailie completed a master’s degree in art history and had multiple museum internships. She was interested in the construction of historical narratives and the role of institutions like museums, libraries, and archives in this process. After working in a large museum, she realized it wasn't the right fit for her and didn't offer many career opportunities. Due to her interest in information access and libraries, she went back to school and completed a graduate degree in MLIS. While working on a digitization project at UNT, she discovered the Texas Fashion Collection and applied to complete her practicum there. It turned out to be the perfect fit for her, and after her practicum, she stayed on as a student assistant. When the Collections Manager position opened up, she applied for it and got hired.

Q: Can you share and explain some of the projects you have worked on or are currently working on at the TFC?

Ailie works on a combination of short-term and longer-term projects. Like most repositories and institutions the day is usually never the same, and there is always a long list of projects to complete.

Collection digitization is one of the most important and time-consuming ongoing projects that require pulling objects from collection storage to be photographed. On photography days, she works with a team of students in 4 to 6-hour sessions to dress and undress the mannequins, move them on and off photography paper, and turn them to photograph the garments in the round. After photography, she backs up the photographs, puts the garments back in the organized collection area, then processes the edited photographs and submits them to the UNT Digital Library to be made available to the public online.

She also works closely with creating and monitoring their day-to-day learning and task management. Tasks can include creating clearer labels for our object storage spaces, making archival padded hangers, photography prep, collecting lists of artifacts to be (re)photographed, cleaning to prevent pest infestations, and making small improvements to how objects are stored. Also, students help to re-write the garment tags that are not archival safe and presort the garments to make mounting on photography days more streamlined.

She also regularly processes new donations. As part of collection preservation, this includes freezing things to prevent pest infestations in our space, creating object records for and describing the garments in our database, which is used to create metadata for the UNT Digital Library’s records, and putting them in the queue for digitization, creating object labels, and finding appropriate storage for them.

Also, as part of collection management, she processes incoming and outgoing loans, pulling the objects according to the checklists, completing condition reports on everything, and then packaging them safely in archival boxes. Helping with exhibition installations requires a large amount of travel, including traveling with the archival boxes of garments, moving and installing mannequins, mounting the garments on the mannequins, and installing labels.

One of the longer-term projects she has been working on is creating finding aids for the collection to supplement the Digital Library by providing more access points to the collection. She has worked on developing the standard format for our finding aids, which I have had the opportunity to improve significantly during my practicum!

As if that weren’t enough, Ailie helps with programming by providing tours and presenting at a couple of UNT OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes) sessions.

Overall, Ailie balances short—and long-term goals to improve the efficiency of the TFC systems, organize the space and ensure long-term access to the collection.

Q: What are the essential skills or qualities for success in this role, and how can I continue to develop my skills and knowledge in this field after the internship ends?

It is important to be flexible and able to work both independently and collaboratively. Effective time management and project prioritization skills are crucial as there is often a need to work on many different projects simultaneously. Being organized and able to manage workflows efficiently is essential.

Q: Do you have any advice for someone starting in this industry or role?

Ailie's advice is to continue seeking hands-on experience. Many of her qualifications for this position were not gathered from her studies but from internships and other jobs. It's also important to be open-minded and willing to learn new things. Being open to how your varied experiences could support work in other areas is crucial. She shared that at the start of her career, she would not have expected to be working at a fashion-focused special collection. However, in many ways, it made sense and aligned with her skills and interests, just not in the way she might have predicted.

Q: If you could create a specific role at TFC that fully utilizes the potential of someone with an MLIS degree, what would that role be, and how would it contribute to the TFC mission?

Ailie mentioned that she and Annette have frequently discussed this, but it remains a long-term goal. Ideally, the goal is to have someone dedicated to improving the database and how the assets are described and cataloged in the collection in order to enhance access to it. The TFC database is internally facing, but it feeds into the metadata for the records uploaded to the Digital Library. The ability to search for or browse items in the collection is limited due to often incomplete internal records. There are significant inconsistencies throughout the records, and outdated language has been used in the DL records. It would also be valuable to have a dedicated person to improve the records for the 10,000+ items in our collection and assign them more descriptive metadata.

Q: Are there any networking opportunities or events I should know about?

ARLIS (Art Library Society) is a resource and community she recommends. They have specialized subgroups and local chapters through which someone could become acquainted with librarians and archivists working in museum libraries and other arts-based institutions. The Metroplex Archivists is another excellent group of very friendly people working in archives across DFW. They have regular meetings that are free and open to attend and typically include a tour of an archive in DFW. Through this group,  Ailie has toured the Southwest Airlines corporate archive and the Dallas Municipal archives. Annette also recommends professional organizations like the Society of Southwest Archivists, Costume Society of America, and the Association of Dress Historians, and the programming offered through the UNT Career Center.

The information and guidance Ailie shared were amazing. She validated so much of what I have learned from my coursework and also provided some very important insights that only come from someone who has worked extensively in this field. I really appreciate her emphasis on the importance of being flexible in your learning and potential work environment and acquiring additional skills that can greatly benefit anyone interested in pursuing this field.