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Re: Where's the Archives content?



These are some great questions that I hope will stimulate some discussion
and debate.  As someone who has had reason to consider some of the archival
implications of the past couple of weeks, let me throw out some of my
initial reactions.

It would seem to me that an archivist's duty is to retain and preserve
documents that fall under the purview of a retention policy (reflecting
institutional priorities, archival theory and ethics), even if the specific
information within those records is demonstrably false.  It is, after all,
our responsibility to preserve evidence of institutional and individual
actions, including the information that motivated those actions, which
oftentimes includes erroneous data.  Of course, the "truth" and "falseness"
of a body of records is often ambiguous (heh, the postmodernist within me),
with data and opinions intermingled and personal bias influencing the
collection and presentation of information.  Though this is a period of
heightened fears and a larger than usual volume of rumors, is this
qualitatively different from the situation we routinely face?  Let's
remember that "false" information can provide a very important window on
decision-making and the state of a society; just think, for example, of how
history was impacted by the forgery know as the Donation of Constantine and
the rumors and innuendo that have swirled through societies during times of
crisis and war.  I, for one, would not want to leave future generations
with a sanitized paper trail that, in the end, would probably be less
informative and useful in understanding contemporary events.  On a
practical level, it would extremely difficult, if not impossible, for
archivist's to act as fact-checkers.  As always, our job is to document the
chain of custody and ensure the integrity of records as evidentiary
material.  I do, however, think it is fine for finding aids to
contextualize records groups and identify for researchers information
sources that may complement and dispute what is in our collections.

As to security concerns, this would be a very appropriate time to discuss
with our superiors the procedures we have in place.  Ultimately, the answer
to what practical steps should be taken is "it depends."  It depends on the
nature of the repository - what is contained in the collection? what laws,
regulations and policies govern the records in question? who provides the
funding? is it a private, governmental, nonprofit,
educational...institution? what does our mission statement have to say
about service to the host institution and the public?  Though it may be
wise to reconsider how we conduct our daily business, I hope our
institutions proceed thoughtfully, instead of allowing ourselves to driven
by fear and paranoia.  Current concerns, properly framed, may actually help
us convince superiors of the value and fragility of our collections.  It is
a preservation nightmare scenario to which many supervisors can relate.

Joseph M. Komljenovich
Assistant Archivist
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
joseph.komljenovich@ny.frb.org

Any comments or statements made in this transmission reflect the views of
the sender and are not necessarily the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York.



                    Bridgette Kelly
                    <BKelly@STANHYWET.OR       To:     ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
                    G>                         cc:
                    Sent by: Archives &        Subject:     Re: Where's the Archives content?
                    Archivists
                    <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.M
                    UOHIO.EDU>


                    09/27/2001 12:07 PM
                    Please respond to
                    Bridgette Kelly






Here's some archival related questions / points to ponder related to the
responses to the 9/11 incident. Please don't all come down on me for these
ponderings. Think of them mostly as rhetorical, but if anyone has had
experience with it, maybe some light could be shed as to the impact of this
on archives. :)

Let me start off by saying that I got frustrated with the news & only now
catch drips & drabs of the latest developments.

That said, I think I'll start with the news. Lately the trend has been to
have 24hr coverage of a breaking event whether there is anything new to say
or not. We've seen it before, and we saw it with this event. It got to the
point where falsities were coming out in the news simply because the
reporters ran with a tidbit & it grew out of control. Archives link: when
we as archivists get this in, how should we handle it? Do we preserve the
stories (incorrect as well as truth) to document society at the time or do
we weed out the falsities that the media later corrected? If we keep it in,
do we make a note somewhere as to the phenomenon of the media making news
when there is nothing new to report? Do we clarify how they got the false
information? Or do we just save it & hope for the future historians to sort
it all out? (said as a history major)

What I've heard is talk about the possibility of making it easier for the
government to monitor people in the hopes of catching terrorists & trying
to stop attacks before they happen. While I'm sure this may sound good to
some & like the loss of freedom to others, what would happen to this
information that is gathered? I'm still a newbie to records management and
gov't documents, but don't most gov't documents have to see the light of
day at some point (even if it's 150 yrs from now)?

There's also talk of restricting what gets talked / written about (not
necessarily from govt). If this happens, who makes sure the other side is
told? What do we as archivists end up with in our collections as
documenting this time in history?

Another possible impact is the information we give out. Say someone wants
to look at the blueprint of xyz building & very convincingly makes the case
that they are doing research for something or other. Do they still get to
see the blueprint? What if they end up using that information to do harm
rather than the research they said they were doing. We can only do so much,
but the call seems to be leaning towards treating everyone as a suspect
until you or they can prove otherwise.

If we do get involved in a military war, and fighting does occur on US
soil, what can we as archivists do to protect our collection? Just as WWI
marked a huge change in the way wars were fought, I believe a war with
terrorists will have a similar huge change in the way it is fought. We all
know how slow it is to get funding to do projects. If we do need to take
action to protect our collections, how do we raise the money to do that
without adding to the fear that is making people hold tightly to their
money? How would we convince them that this is something to spend their
money on? What types of actions would we take? Store things underground?
This would add a new dimension to the disaster plans we all have - what to
do if under attack. Like one archivist from NY mentioned about dealing with
all the dust & debris. Everyone thinks of water & fire, but who thinks of
inches of dust or high winds or explosions?

Granted, this is just stream of conscious pondering. Has anyone else
thought of these types of things? Or do we still suffer from the "It won't
happen here" syndrome. I know I'm battling that now. Having grown up in
Ohio, I know I still think of tragedies like what happened on 9/11/01 only
happen in coastal, major cities. Let's face it, while Ohio is so much more
than cornfields, what would be accomplished by a similar attack here? Yet,
if a full-fledged war breaks out, who's to say that attacks wouldn't come
at the heart of our country? Wouldn't it become the logical place to strike
terror? At the 'under-belly'?

Honestly, I am not paranoid. People around me may actually think I'm too
laid-back about the whole thing because that is the only way I can deal
with it all. But these questions have passed through my mind, and if the
old adage is true, if they passed through one mind, they probably passed
through someone else's.

Is there anyone from another country that would have something to
contribute about how their archives (small or large) deals with some of
these issues?

Thanks for the space. Feel free to delete. :)
Bridgette Kelly
(on her own on this one.)

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