Thanks to the generous support provided by the Raymond Watson Library Fund for Regional History, the Libraries has appointed Patricia Glowinski as the Processing Archivist for Regional History in Special Collections and Archives.

Patricia is focusing on processing a number of the Libraries’ significant regional history collections that have been inaccessible to researchers and the public.

Prior to coming to the Libraries, Glowinski served as an archivist at the Brooklyn Historical Society, where she participated in a grant-funded project to survey and make available the repository's 19th-century manuscript and photograph collections. She has also worked as a librarian for Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects where she worked with the firm's archives, as well as worked with archival collections at the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and at the La Guardia and Wagner Archives. Patricia has an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the Pratt Institute.

During her 15 month appointment, Patricia is focusing on processing a number of the Libraries’ significant regional history collections that have been inaccessible to researchers and the public.  These include the Raymond L. Watson Papers, the McPherson Family Papers, the Laguna Greenbelt Records, the Judy Rosener Papers, the Frank and Francis Robinson Papers, the Charles Sparks Thomas Papers, and multiple photograph and ephemera collections documenting Orange County.

Patricia Glowinski working with archival materials.

“As an archivist, it’s very exciting to be able to focus on such important archival collections that represent many different aspects and viewpoints of Orange County history,” said Glowinski. “I will also be working with materials ranging from glass plate negatives to born digital materials, so this too is both challenging and exciting for me professionally.”

Since starting her appointment in November of 2011, Patricia has completed the processing of the Watson Papers and the finding aid may be found here

The Watson Library Fund for Regional History was established in May of 2011 to provide critical funding to organize and preserve these important materials, and to assist Special Collections and Archives in more actively pursuing the acquisition of new materials on the growth and development of Orange County.

One of the Libraries' highest priorities is to build premier Special Collections that are reflective of UCI's unique geographical setting and institutional history. The Libraries' existing archival materials cover regional and university history, and include the Watson papers, papers of UC Irvine's former chancellors and many founding faculty, the Don Meadows papers on Orange County history, and many others. For more information or to support Special Collections and Archives, please go to http://special.lib.uci.edu/collections/, or contact Julie Sully, Interim Director of Development at jsully@uci.edu.