Archival disputes over email date back to 1989

The question of how archivists should handle electronic records is rather odd. One gets the sense that electronic records are perennially new, that there is no prior experience with them. In a reading for one of my archives classes, I've just found out about a fascinating legal case from America.

The case was called Armstrong vs. the Executive Office of the President (1989). In brief, those who brought the suit argued that the President's office used an email system from 1985 and that these records were in danger of being destroyed and/or not being archived properly - the suit sought to demand preservation. Much of the case involves the specifics of the US political system, but some of it is relevant to other situations. For example, courts established that electronic records and hard copies versions of same are not equivalent. Indeed, one court ruled that electronic records are the fuller version. This fits well with something I've covered in class a number of times; the idea that a big part of an archival record is the context, the web of relationships from which it emerges.

The article concludes by looking at how to develop policies that handle email. Of course, then you get the problem of people dodging the requirements by only communicating (or mostly) orally. But that's a whole other kind of problem.

Meeting chief archivists

Tomorrow afternoon, I will get to meet the chief archivist of New Zealand. Then, a few months from now, I will get to meet the Chief Archivist/Librarian of Canada. This should be quite interesting. Among other things, I am hoping that they can offer some concrete encouragement to counter all the bad things I'm hearing about the archives job market.

Depairing at my bad timing

Several times over the last few months, I have seen very interesting job postings for archival employment. As I am only in my first year of study (of a two year program), I cannot apply for these. Even worse, the old demon of the Catch-22 experience problem "this position requires x years experience" (but how do you get that experience?!) is omnipresent.

I have some part time and short term contract (<6 months) experience but I assume that this will not satisfy the "x years" requirements.

White Lab Coats

While working at the small educational archive today, I felt rather uncomfortably cool due to the large AC unit. As a result, the powers that be mentioned that I might like to wear a white lab coat. It gave the whole enterprise a rather more scientific bent than it normally has.

Creativity gap plagues... archivists?

In today's Globe and Mail (a newspaper based in Toronto, Canada), there was an article titled, "Creativity gap plagues workers." In part, the article reads, "A good number of workers say they're creative types, but fewer say their jobs allow them to express that creativity, according to a recent survery. It's a conundrum that some say is leaving to a 'creativity gap' in the work force., leaving workers feeling unfilled and sometimes willing to job hop, occasionally for less pay." The survey sample is so small (+500) that is effectively meaningless, but I think the concern articulated here is an interesting one.

I have two kinds of reaction to this sort of claim. The first, cynical reaction is to metaphorically shrug my shoulders and think something like, "How sad for you - you can't be creative at work. There's a reason that it is called work. If you want creative, go write a damn novel or act in a play or something in your spare time." My other reaction concerns archival work. I have worked, in a rather junior capacity, in two archives now and the work is quite the opposite of creative. Some of my archives readings have argued that archivists play a creative role in creating records, through selection, appraisal and so forth but I wonder if archivists really have that much influence in what happens. In institutional archives (i.e. most archives), what is archived is often defined by somebody else in the organization (e.g. accountants, lawyers etc).

The question of the day: Are archivists creative workers? Is much creativity involved? Or to put my spin on this: Is it intellectually satisfying work for somebody with three university degrees or is it, as I sometimes fear, little more than glorified file clerks who have tried to inflate their status?

No CBC tour for me, but conference hopes...

It turns out that I will be receiving my MA degree in history the same day my program is going to the CBC Archives / Museum. Argh. This is quite depressing, as you might imagine. In contrast to this disappointment, I submitted a conference proposal to the Association of Canadian Archivists recently. If accepted, I will get to go to Fredericton, New Brunswick next summer. I hope that comes together, but it is now in the hands of the archival powers that be.

Tour of the CBC Library and Archives!, further reflections on going to school as an archivist

Through my program, I have the chance to take a tour of the Library and Archives of the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in Toronto. I'm quite excited about this as I've long been a fan of the CBC and think that they are one of Canada's interesting institutions. Apparently this event is so popular that I might not get a chance to see it. If I do end going in October, I expect to make a post about it here.

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I am now a few weeks into my studies at "Information School" and it is a fairly interesting place so far. I wasn't sure how to compare it with other kinds of professional / graduate programs. It isn't as expensive (though the tuition level is steadily approaching the cost of most Canadian law schools) or competitive as medical or law school, so this makes for a more collegial atmosphere. Presumably, I think that archivists (and librarians etc) are often very collegial and interested in cooperation - these are professional characteristics that interest me.

On the other hand, the professional aspect mean that there is a fairly strong careerist undercurrent to most classes, which can be strongly articulated by mature students in particular though I think most people share it to some degree. While I enjoy some of my readings, about the social and political politics of classification (there was some great medical examples too, but archives/library methods also determine the limits of knowledge in some interesting ways), I'm still a bit ambivalent about the whole process. The pendulm tends to swing between stimulating academic/theoretical reflection (e.g. "What is the underlying theory of archives?") and rigidly, professional workshop type training (er, hard to express but certainly something that comes to mind).