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Nicholson Baker ad infinitum



Ok, fellow Listers....I think I sense a thread of extreme sensitivity on
this subject of preserving newspapers via microfilm-only and tossing out the
tired remnants... Perhaps Mr. Baker is "full of it."

But, please allow me this comment. As a researcher/future author myself in
the field of Far Western logging and the lumber industry, nothing has made
me grind my teeth more than encountering both microfilmed periodicals and
bound periodicals with the advertisements and classifieds deleted.

That loss of information -- in this case lost patterns of domestic commerce
and trade on the part of individuals and businesses the individuals might be
running -- is serious.

I understand to limited extent that an institution might have to budget X
dollars for X amount of microfilm footage (or finite numbers of apertures),
but when the specimen originals are lost, what is a historian to do? One
cannot research and or write a definitive history from news reports alone,
most of which are subject to editorial sensationalism, biases and so forth.
At least advertisements, even if seen as synthetic commercial propaganda,
have strong value in that ads reflect patterns of urban or regional economic
health. Further, they help modern eyes frame a view perhaps different from
what was originally intended, and give us a means to understand popular
trends. And from an artistic standpoint, period display ads and graphics can
be historical eye candy, if you will.

In the field of the lumber (or practically any other large scale industrial
enterprise) even trade ads have a lot to say about what technological
improvements were being marketed at a given place and time! Hype may only be
hype, but vintage hype still has plenty to say.

I'll get off my band-sawn Oregon pine soapbox now, with thanks for your
earnest attention! Have a grand Spring weekend, all -- and don't eat too
many Krispy Kremes, Dunkin' Donuts, dough nuts, waffles, pancakes, apple
fritters, hot-cross buns, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow chicks, boiled and
dyed eggs.....

Kevin (my tummy hurts) Bunker
Student Assistant
California State Archives

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