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Re: Baker



I've got to take exception to Heather's
characterization of the microfilm vs. orignal format
debate as "making life easier for ourselves as
archival administrators."

The easiest course to follow is for everybody to keep
everything they get in its original format forever.
Cooperative programs like last copy depositories,
shared cataloging to enable users to locate holdings
and microfilming are all much more work than taking a
passive custodial approach that would best suit Mr.
Baker's purposes.

I realize that much of the above simply doesn't apply
to archives but the discussion has largely turned on
the question of microfilming newspapers, and these are
techniques employed to dea with massive bulk and slim
resources in libraries.

Mr. Baker's point reminds me of that tv commercial
about the motel which was offering any movie ever made
at any time.  The company that was advertising its
services with that particular commerical is no longer
doing so and the library (or archives) that attempts
to take/keep everything it is offered will not be
either.  Selection, collection development or
appraisal are among the toughest jobs we have to do.

One last comment which applies to a lot of the
discussion of the last week -- it seems to me that
when Mr. Baker criticizes library practices for
handling mass-produced items like newspapers and when
we discuss archival practices for unique items like
personal papers or corporate records, we are talking
apples and oranges.


Judy Turner
Director, Library and Archives
Milwaukee Public Museum


--- Heather Willever-Farr
<hwillever-farr@MAIL.ACPONLINE.ORG> wrote:
> I think our patrons, Baker included, have every
> right to criticize us, particularly when they are
> supporting many of us through their tax dollars.
> That doesn't mean we must agree with them, but
> certainly we should take what they say seriously.
>
> This ongoing thread about Baker has revealed to me
> something I have suspected for a long time: some of
> us care far more about making life easier for
> ourselves as archives administrators, then we care
> about providing for our patrons.   We care more
> about what *we* think constitutes "historical
> importance", rather than looking to our patrons and
> historiography for help.  We are the experts, they
> the pedestrians.  (Maybe this why so few user
> studies have been conducted and published in
> archives professional journals).
>
> We can not fulfill every need/want of our patrons,
> but trying to meet their needs when feasible should
> be our ultimate goal, and that may mean finding the
> resources to preserve some originals.
>
> Heather Willever-Farr
> Electronic Records Archivist
> American College of Physicians - American Society of
> Internal Medicine
> 190 N. Independence Mall West
> Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572
> hwillever-farr@mail.acponline.org
> (w) 215-351-2470
> (h) 215-481-0962


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