Creative license often came into play, especially when responding to written inquiries or when working with researchers selecting photographs for documentary film projects. If there weren't many users in the room, miscellaneous tasks were preformed to help maintain records, create new finding aids, etc. Another aspect of the job that I enjoyed was the relative freedom I had to pursue my own interests and projects. This gets to be a drag after like the fourth time. Also, working at a large government agency can get to be really depressing sometimes.
Resources are scarce.
There are very few top level positions available and the people who have them stay there for years , therefore it is extremely difficult to be promoted or to have your work recognized in any kind of monetary fashion. This kind of situation can also lead to a highly territorialized work environment as people try to protect what little piece of the action they have. This student position was a GS-6. While I did not consider myself to be a full-fledged public historian when I worked at the National Archives, I did consider my work to be part of the field of public history. When I answered requests for photographs or assisted documentary researchers, the decisions I made ultimately affected the way history was presented to the public.