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Re: Archives Consultant Fees and "Poor Saps" Thread



March 26, 2001

Dear List and Daniel Sokolow, Stephen Seames, Mark Lambert, Lucinda Glenn
Rand, Gwen Green, Reagan Grimsley, Ellee Louise Figi, Jennifer Rallo,
Christina Wolf, Barbara Pope, Susan Panak, Tom Berry and Bridgette Kelly,

I understand that topics take on a life of their own, but I was kinda
flabbergasted that my passionate stand on the need for graduate archival
education and training  when hiring archival consultants morphed into a "poor
saps" thread which seemed to be sort of a defensive apology for having
archives dumped on workers with no experience.  If my point was misunderstood
I'm truly sorry.  I'm not trying to bash poor librarians or poor historians
for doing the best they can.  I just hoped to contribute some perspective
from 22 years of archival, historical and libraryl work. IMea culpa,
everybody.  I had hoped that someone thought my "rate schedule" was kinda
funny 'cause I do--you get what you pay for.

Just as I don't think that I should be expected to complete an accounting
audit or provide legal advice to UFT members grieving a case, I don't think
that individuals should accept additional responsibilities for a company's
historical archives and programming without getting appropriate training and
work experience.  Or, if that's not possible for the individual, then
suggesting hiring a trained archivist because historical records are valuable
enough to require expertise and trained judgement in their appraisal and
handling.  If archives are "just old stuff" that anyone can figure out then
why do we bother?

As Daniel Sokolov pointed out,  "it always makes more sense to hire
professional people, as it saves money, time, and aggravation in the long
run--anybody here tried to fix something in their houses on their own,  & had
it go horribly wrong?  You end up paying twice as much to have it done
right."  I can personally vouch for this in my  archives work in many
different insititutions.  So, like Daniel, I feel sorry for the saps, too,
but I also think that Merriam's dictionary has it right: "sap  2. a foolish
gullible person." (Or, maybe that's the definition for "archivist"?ha)

Anyway, I have always felt that the archives profession is a relatively
"open" one with many entry points into the field and is very conscientious in
its educational hiring recommendations for trained and experienced
archivists.  So, I'm kinda befuddled by the tone of resistance to my
recommendation to hire a trained consultant.  Why don't we care if the
archival advice is given by a knowledgeable source?  We all want trained and
knowlegeable dental hygienists, car mechanics, data entry operators,
obstetricians, etc, etc. don't we?  What's wrong with our self esteem as
archivists?

Several people made the point that you can be a good archivist without
specific training.  And, of course, we all know  academically trained
archivists who make poor archival decisions, as well as untrained archivists
who make brilliant decisions-- because they ask questions and have good
common sense, maybe?  Anyway, my main point was just very simple--our
profession should regulate its members, by requiring training and
credentials, because archival decisions are "forever" and if poor decisions
are made then the history doesn't survive.  We know this.

This is why I don't feel that an archival certification exam has ever been
useful for determining whether an archivist is qualified, without tying it
into educational coursework, i.e. graduate level courses and internships.  As
we all know, we must have agreed upon job requirements in order to be a
respected, viable profession.  If practicing archivists don't care about
archivists' training, skills and experience, then no one else will either.
And we'll all still be Rodney Dangerfield lamenting that we "don't get no
respect" fifty years from now!

Well, the reason I took this amount of time to respond to the "poor saps"
discussion is because I really care about our profession and am very proud to
be a part of it.  Can't we please discuss these topics without getting
defensive or misunderstanding our comments about the need for archives
credentials?  I would never suggest that new archivists or graduate students
not ask for help--just that they also read our profession's books and
publications, check with their archival colleagues, and attend conferences
and workshops too.   I am interested in what you all guys think--

Very sincerely yours,

Lucinda Manning
UFT Archives & Records Center
United Federations of Teachers
260 Park Avenue South
NY, NY  10012
212-598-9213

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