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Re: Forgive us "Poor Saps"



I also feel a need to defend the "poor saps"-

All professionals have on the job learning. Student Physicians have
residency requirements, law students represent clients in a clinical
setting, nurses have a period of practice, teachers have a period of
student teaching. In the legal profession newly hired associates are
welcomed and assisted and a great deal of interest is taken in their
professional development.  Shouldn't this be the case in the Archives
world too? Part of professional reponsibility is sharing information and
experience and welcoming newcomers. The frustrations towards institutions
not hiring people with a great deal of experience is understandable, but
shutting that person out from the professional intercourse does very
little other than tarnish the image of the profession itself.

I'm embarking on a career change and slowly and painfully learning that
one of the most important parts of being a professional is learning to
respect all people from all backgrounds.  My professional training has
also lead to a realization that professionalism means knowing that you
don't always have all the answers when you thought you did.  The most
important qualities of professionalism are courage, reponsibility,
dedication, respect, and a desire to seek knowledge.  The "poor
sap" can grow and blossom but it is the responsibility of others within
the profession to provide the nurturing environment to grow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jennifer Allain Rallo                   The Ferdinand Hamburger,Jr. Archives
Assistant Archivist                     The Johns Hopkins University
rallo@jhu.edu                           3400 North Charles Street
                                        Baltimore, MD 21218
                                        Phone: (410) 516-4259
                                        Fax:    (410) 516-7202
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Tue, 20 Mar 2001, Ellee Louise Figi wrote:

> Okay, I too am going to leap into this discussion.  I understand the point
> made by persons with years of experience that archives are something
> complex & not to be taken lightly by the populous at large (the "how hard
> can that be?!" approach).  However, in most cases archival and/or
> manuscript collections are not taken as seriously as archivists see them
> being.  I believe that this is largely because everyone has their own
> personal papers collections and they usually don't see the ravages of time
> and other destructive factors (pests, water, light, etc..) because of the
> time frame they are dealing with.  This is not to say that they are right,
> just that most people don't want to be told they are wrong.
>
> I am also a graduate student working toward my MLS degree.  I have had
> several part-time archival positions, but do I beleive that I have all the
> preparation I need to perform a large-scale records appraisal on my
> own?  NO!  These issues and some preservation issues are not necessarily
> things that one can learn before going on the job and since the majority
> of people in the archival profession are baby-boomers and will be retiring
> soon, people like myself need a chance to be able to learn this kind of
> stuff.  Microfilming was one 2.5 hour lecture in my preservation class -
> does this prepare me to take on a $5,000 or larger microfilm project - no,
> it does not.  I have the basic idea on what sources to consult, but all
> those sources (including the Northeast Document Conservation
> Center) instruct one to ask your colleagues to see what techniques,
> vendors, consultants, etc.. have worked best for them.  If my
> distinguished colleagues are going to look down on me and other newcomers
> to the profession for asking questions they consider basic, then there is
> little point in having this listserv and no future for the profession at
> all.
>
> Asking questions here IS part of our training and seeing what tone the
> questions are answered in reflects on each of us and on the profession as
> a whole.  Simple questions can also be informative for long-time
> archivists since a lot has changed in the last 30 years (in the last
> 5!) with technology, of course, but preservation standards have also been
> revised (think of all those laminating projects in the '60's).  I
> understand what those of us who are concerned about defining our
> profession as something distinct & specialized mean, I just think that we
> can't jump to conclusions about the training and qualifications we have
> when someone asks a "fundamental" question.
>
> (okay, off my soapbox now!)
>
> Ellee Figi
> Graduate Student
> University of Maryland
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
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>

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>