11.3 Accidentally found on purpose: Information-seeking behavior of historians in archives
Duff,
I found this article specifically interesting because in my current job, one of my special projects is essentially to create an archive. This is a heady task for a first semester library school student with no archival experience, but I have more insight into it than my employers, who are mostly art historians. What is interesting about archival creation is that the description and organization is truly at the whim of whoever is in charge of creating the archive. In some instances, there are obvious ways to organize it, in others, it is much harder. While I really enjoy organizing things (in some cases) it is daunting to think about organizing a full set of archives. And as I mentioned in a previous journal about information in the workplace, I want to make sure that my organizational principle is understandable by the archivist who follows in my footsteps.
Not only does my organizational principle have to be understood by the next archivist, it also has to be usable by patrons. For someone to use an archive easily, they have to be able to understand how it is organized. In my case, there were many ways we could organize the archives, but we eventually came up with a standard way. The way that I go about organizing things, however, is very visual, so it is impossible for anyone to help me. In my mind, I have a very elaborate internet ready finding aid, but unfortunately there is not the time or the resources to create that. While I am very conscious of everything needing to be findable in the future, I have also been informed that I (and my archive) are at a disadvantage. Because I am a student with little archival experience, my object descriptions may not have the same degree of accuracy they would have if considered by a “real” archivist. This also puts those who want to peruse my archive at a disadvantage. If the archivist does not do his or her job properly or to the correct degree, the archive becomes very difficult to use. While I am enjoying my exciting and stressful archival experience, I have determined that I do not want to work as an archivist. While I love objects and preserving knowledge, I enjoy hands on knowledge exchange with people, specifically children, much more. Archives are quiet, and the children’s department is lively. I know where I belong.
1 comment:
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