AT WORK WITH...

Cynthia Arkin

	News briefs Bookquick from the University Press Quoted recently At Work With... PennPix

WHO SHE IS: Associate Director for Special Collections, Biddle Law Library

YEARS AT PENN: 23. She plans to retire in June.

WHAT SHE DOES: “I do two fairly separate jobs. The bibliographic aspect, selecting books and materials in current American law, and then the special collections aspect.î

COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS: Documents signed by George Washington concerning James Wilson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first person to give a law lecture at Penn, in 1790. Also, a six-page letter from Thomas Jefferson telling a friend what his son will need to study to become a lawyer. 

RECENT PROJECTS: Arkin and colleagues reclassified the collection to make sure every document had a computer record. “That was quite a project.”