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Why We Stick With it Results



Hello all!

Sorry it took so long to compile the results from this question.  I got 25
separate emails - some were made to the whole list and some were just to
myself.  I had 8 replies within an hour after posting.  More responses are
welcome, but here are the results as they stand so far.  Most people had
multiple reasons for "sticking with it," thus the numbers do not total
25.  :)


REASONS ARCHIVISTS STAY IN THE PROFESSION:
1.  Hard to get out of the profession after working in it for some time.
2.  Love of the work/history in general. (18)
3.  Sharing history with others is exciting and rewarding. (15)
4.  Excitement of uncovering history, thrill of discovery. (12)
5.  Satisfy a quest for knowledge. (9)
6.  The work is important, leaving a lasting mark on the world. (15)
7.  Material is interesting. (10)
8.  Low job stress levels.
9.  Likes colleagues in the field. (4)
10. Able to apply personal strengths and talents. (7)
11. Satisfaction of childhood dreams. (4)
12. Enlighten others to the necessity of archives. (5)
13. Variety of work/challenges. (6)
14. Independence. (3)
15. Recognition for efforts. (2)
16. Provides sense of well-being. (4)
17. Able to collaborate with spouse.
18. Providing a legacy to donors.
19. Meeting (sometimes famous) people. (5)


IN SPITE OF:
* Lower salaries than other fields. (2)
* Backlogs.
* Politics.
* Severe budget cuts/restraints.
* Exploring unsanitary locations (though some thought this was a
perk! :)  )
* Encountering vermin in said locations.
* "Weird" donors.
* Monotonous processing.

Other things would be encountered in other professions including not
enough vacation time, bad experiences with customers/patrons (3), bad
bosses, and dealing with bureaucracies.


I found this very informative and very interesting too!  :)  Thank you all
for the time and thought you put into your responses.  If you did not
respond before, please feel free to email me now.  :)

Sincerely,
Ellee Figi
Graduate Student
University of Maryland

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