StarWrite

information management

StarWrite

meet Katy: archivist | editor | writer

About

Katy
Henrietta Swan Leavitt

Katy is an archivist, editor, and writer. She found herself “lost in the stacks” after following her passion for words and stars. While still in high school, she presented a historical paper on Henrietta Swan Leavitt at an international astronomy conference and was then invited to visit the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. There, she viewed cabinets filled with thousands of starry photographic plates from the late nineteenth century. A powerful scanner has digitized the plates in order to make them available to astronomers around the world. It was then that she discovered the intriguing possibilities of archives in making information available for research.

Today, Katy is a Certified Archivist and holds a Digital Archives Specialist certificate from the Society of American Archivists. She earned her master’s degree in archives management from Simmons College and her bachelor’s degree in English/journalism from the University of New Hampshire. She is available as an information management consultant under the company she founded in 2007, StarWrite.

The mission of StarWrite is to create and manage well-researched, accurate, and accessible information to fulfill the needs of targeted audiences.

Archiving

Katy earned her archival certification from the Academy of Certified Archivists, demonstrating her knowledge of the scope of professional practice. She is also a Digital Archives Specialist with a certificate from the Society of American Archivists. As such, she develops and implements policies and strategies to ensure the long-term preservation and availability of valuable information. She has expertise in access tools, such as finding aids, which enable researchers to locate relevant materials. Information is not usable if it is not discoverable and accessible.

Research interests:

Services offered:

Editing

Katy is a self-driven, perceptive editor who is known for her eye for detail. She skillfully organizes and refines information into its most essential parts. While editing, she enjoys constantly learning something new and knows how to translate abstract, technical information into useful material for targeted audiences. She is ardent about consistent, grammatically correct, factually accurate, and engaging information. She is also proficient in paleography of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century manuscripts.

Recent projects:

Services offered:

Writing

Katy's instince has always been to write. With an emphasis on word choice, she carefully crafts content that will educate and enlighten readers. In particular, she combines her language skills with her archival expertise to share knowledge and convey the value of history. She is also an adept interviewer and photographer.

Recent projects:

Services offered:

Portfolio

photographic plate of galaxy Small Magellanic Cloud letter in eighteenth-century handwriting
read me [external link]
watch me

“Genealogical Data in a 1782 Smallpox Inoculation Ledger from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.” New Hampshire Genealogical Record 35, no. 2 (Spring 2023): 25–40.

read me [external link]
read me

“On Deposit: Description and Access of the Grimké Letters.” Descriptive Notes (blog). Description Section, Society of American Archivists, 21 January 2022.

read me [external link]
read me

“Research by the Numbers: Strategies for Tracking Reference Statistics.” Archival Outlook (May/June 2020): 9, 19.

read me [external link]
read me

“Migration and Metadata: Facilitating Discovery of and Access to the Marine Biological Laboratory Archives.” Archival Elements, newsletter of the Science, Technology, and Health Care Section, Society of American Archivists (Summer 2017): 13.

book cover for Perspectives on Women’s Archives
read me [external link]
read me

Review of Putting Descriptive Standards to Work, edited by Kris Kiesling and Christopher J. Prom. Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies 6, no. 1 (2019): article 14.

read me [external link]
read me

Review of Digital Preservation Essentials, edited by Christopher J. Prom. NEA Newsletter 44, no. 2 (April 2017): 18.

read me [external link]
read me

Review of Becoming a Trusted Digital Repository, by Steve Marks. Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists 34, no. 2 (2016): 58–60.

read me [external link]
read me

Review of Perspectives on Women’s Archives, edited by Tanya Zanish-Belcher. Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists 34, no. 2 (2016): 78–80.

illuminated manuscript page from fifteenth century
read me [external link]
read me

“From the Ground Up: Strategies for Building an Archival Program—Archivist as Architect.” Paper presented at the New England Archivists Spring 2023 Meeting, Portsmouth, NH, 31 March 2023.

read me [external link]
read me

“How to Create an Archival First-Aid Kit.” Poster presented at the Society of American Archivists 2021 Research Forum, virtual, 21 July 2021.

read me [external link]
read me

“Make an Impact: Marketing and Communications for Archives.” Discussion facilitator at the New England Archivists Fall 2017 Meeting, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 23 September 2017.

read me [external link]
read me

“Illuminated by Archival Research: The Role of Books in Religious Reformation and Early English Drama.” Paper presented at the Twelfth International Conference on Books, Publishing, and Libraries, Simmons College, Boston, MA, 8 November 2014.

infographic for Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies
read me [external link]
read me

SOLO, newsletter of the Lone Arrangers Section, Society of American Archivists | Spring 2023

read me [external link]
read me

Portsmouth Athenæum annual report | 2020

read me [external link]
read me

Portsmouth Athenæum “Become a Friend” brochure | 2020

read me [external link]
read me

University of New Hampshire Library annual report | 2016–2017

read me [external link]
read me

West Falmouth Library Archives brochure | 2016