Jessica Venlet arrived at MIT in October 2014 to begin a two-year fellowship with the Libraries in the area of digital archives. She came from Michigan where she received her Master of Science in Information degree from the University of Michigan, and was a graduate assistant at the University’s Bentley Historical Library. She has a BA in English literature from Aquinas College.

Venlet’s work is focused on providing greater access to MIT’s archival content in digital forms. Working closely with the digital archivist in the Institute Archives and Special Collections, she explores methods and tools to collect, store, and provide access to the content.

“Learning more about the context of digital archives at MIT, and what it takes to create new workflows and procedures, is a fantastic professional experience for me,” she said. She’s already getting experience in many areas including creating experiment frames for the Digital Sustainability Lab.

As a history and literature buff, Venlet has embraced her new surroundings. “American Transcendentalism was one of my favorite classes—so moving to Boston was really very exciting for me,” she said. “I’m also really enjoying learning about the history of the Institute.”