The Attic of History

I understand that archivists have a general reputation as an odd bunch. Almost as odd as catalogers.

In a potentially deadly combination, I am both the cataloger, and the--I can't say archivist, as I have no specialized knowledge whatsoever, but the archives-maintainy-person--at my library.

One of the things I've heard about archivists is that they can sometimes get kind of possessive about their collections, and vigorously defend against attempts to view them, even though in theory the collections exist for the benefit of researchers.

Well, I recently had to restrain myself from mounting a vigorous defense against the mere suggestion that someone would want to view 'my' collection, but it wasn't actually because I'm possessive. I'm all for people using that stuff. It's because I have no time to show anyone 'my' collection.

I really kind of love the archives, and I like going up there and rooting around in the musty records of the past to answer someone's question about when so-and-so was on the faculty at the School of Medicine, but every time I spend a couple of hours doing that, I'm not spending a couple of hours on the 1,800 e-books that need cataloging.

And if someone wants to see something, I have to make a time to meet with them, and show it to them (because policy forbids just turning them loose in the archives rooms), and answer their questions about it. It's the time! There's no time!

As a side note, I am regularly appreciative of the fact that people have saved so many records, letting us answer a lot of the types of questions we get, and of the fact that so much was recorded in print. We have continuous catalogs from the medical school back to the late 1800s, with lots and lots of names. Very useful for tracking people.

But as of a few years ago, they don't print them anymore. It's all online--for now. Is it still going to be online 80 years from now when someone wants to know about so-and-so's time as a member of the faculty?

I find myself mentally wagging my finger and intoning in a singsong voice "future generations of researchers are going to be sorry!"

Of course, by then the people who decided to stop printing the catalog (for very sound reasons, no doubt), will be dead, and so will I, so it's not like we have to care.

Still, I kind of do.

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