At the beginning of the semester, we were introduced to the
question “What is an archivist?”. I wrote my first class blog on this very
topic and defined it that first week, where I wrote “An archivist processes, manages,
and makes available a variety of media that serve audiences in their pursuit of
knowledge.” Now that we’re about halfway through the semester, I thought it would
be a good time to reflect on my first definition and see d since I initially
wrote it.
In the
last couple of weeks, though, I’ve noticed that my own definition is a scant
coverage of what archivists actually
do. Archivists are also grant writers, budget managers, negotiators, preservationists,
timekeepers, researchers, exhibit builders, digital developers, social stewards
and communicators, etc. etc. and the list goes on infinitely. It’s certainly a
far cry from “the archivist in the stack” image I had before going to college.
While
that captures the nuance, importance, and challenges of the archival profession,
it still doesn’t get to the heart of the matter. Why are the archives
themselves important – and how would I articulate that value for someone in an
elevator speech? We’ve seen over the weeks, as has argued David Bearman in his
chapter on “Access and Use” that archives are only reaching small portions of
the population. About one in four people will access the National Archives at
least once.[1] Archives
are important because they are the sources of information that promote a stake
in society, both in the past and the present. Perhaps the sooner archives are
introduced in our educational lives, the more people are aware of their value. This
isn’t a new argument, but if there is more an investment archives from beginning
educational ages with programs such as National History Day, archivists might
have to spend less time defending their profession and their collections.
[1] David
Bearman. "Access and Use." Chapter 4 in Archival Methods. Pittsburgh:
Archives and Museum Informatics Technical
Reports, Vol. 3, no. 1, Spring 1989. pp. 39-48.
http://www.archimuse.com/publishing/archival_methods/#ch4.
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