[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: "Underpaid...and not Well Understood"



I stand corrected as to the salary of our President.  It still doesn't
diminish the point I was trying to make, in that compensation of the
President is vastly overshadowed by that of a CEO.

Laura Smith


-----Original Message-----
From: Heidi Christein [mailto:heidic@JFMD.ORG]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 2:14 PM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: "Underpaid...and not Well Understood"


The salary of the President of the United States is now $400,000.  It was
raised from $200,000 when G.W. Bush took office.  President Clinton signed
this sometime in 2000; he did not benefit from the pay raise.  The $400,000
does not include benefits or "perks."

I would be quite happy to make either $200,000 or $400,000 per year.  with
or without perks.

-----Original Message-----
From: Laura Smith [mailto:Laura.Katz.Smith@UCONN.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 1:47 PM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: "Underpaid...and not Well Understood"


The concept of what we think we are worth is in many ways irrelevant.  We
see frequently that people get paid not necessarily by the importance of
their job but how much money they generate for their employer.  Take, for
instance, the case of Derek Jeter asking for $18.5 million a year from the
Yankees.  Is he worth it?  Well, we might not think so, but if he wins
baseball games and brings in the revenue, then I guess he does.  Also, what
about the salary of the President of the U.S. (about $200,000,000/year now)
and the salary of a CEO of a major company?

Also, I do not believe that there is any justification in paying archivists
more than librarians.  We're not getting paid by virtue of the worth of the
materials for which we oversee, but by the level of skill we have in helping
researchers gain access to them.  And, I disagree with Sally's assertion
that archivists' work is more complicated than librarians. Can any of us who
work with librarians really be under the impression that their work is a
breeze?

Laura Smith

Laura Katz Smith, CA
Curator for Business, Railroad, Labor and Ethnic Heritage and Immigration
Collections
Archives & Special Collections
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
405 Babbidge Road, Unit 1205
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT  06269-1205

Phone: (860)486-2516
Fax: (860)486-4521
Email: Laura.Katz.Smith@UConn.edu






-----Original Message-----
From: Sally Gibson [mailto:sgibson0@CITY.TORONTO.ON.CA]
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 12:03 PM
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Re: "Underpaid...and not Well Understood"


Some nice ideas for promoting archives and, by extension, archivists.

On the "underpaid" theme, however, what ** should ** archivists be paid?

For example, I have three graduate degrees (including a masters in a subject
field, a PhD in a subject field, and an MLS with emphasis on archives); I
have published a book on local history; and I have worked in various
archives, including my current position at a large municipal archives, for
five years (my decision to become an archivist was a mid-career shift).

How much "should " I be paid?

Should I / we be compared to academics, lawyers, or nurses?  I get paid less
than urban planners, policemen, and other mid-range municipal employees.  I
don't think that's "right" ... but what do others think?

Personally, I think that archivists should get paid significantly more than
librarians (who would also claim to be "underpaid and not well understood"),
since our work is inherently more complicated (e.g., describing records is
far more complex than cataloguing a book; providing archival reference is
also significantly more complicated than providing library reference
services) and, arguably, more socially significant (e.g., if we destroy
primary sources, nobody will ever know what they contained and "history"
altered; if a librarian destroys a book - unless s/he's a rare book
librarian - or fails to add a book to the collection ... the error tends not
to be irreversible) .

But how should we rank compared to others?  (That's the only way to decide
whether, and to what extent we may be "underpaid.")

Personally, I think we are moving into an era when archivists should have
two masters degrees in order to do their work competently - one in a subject
field and one in archives or libraries.  Obviously, such education and
training should receive compensation.  But what would be adequate?

Sally












********************************************************

 Sally Gibson
     Archivist

     City of Toronto Archives
     255 Spadina Road
     Toronto, Ontario
     Canada  M5R 2V3

    tel.:      (416) 392-5561
    fax:      (416) 392-9685
    email:  sgibson0@city.toronto.on.ca

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>