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Re: Your intemperate attack on the Academy of Certified Archivists



Thank you for your comments. I appreciate what you say about certifying archival educational programs. That seems far more rational to me.  I have also come to believe that perhaps producing a portfolio and references might be a more adequate way of showing competency in the Archival profession.  I am not opposed to archival certification, I am opposed to taking one more exam over a very limited amount of information and then claiming that it shows I am more professional and/or more competent.

If one takes the bar to become a lawyer it is because the law is based on precedents as well as laws. A lawyer is heavily dependent on learning a certain amount of information and remembering where to find it again and how it has been interpreted in the past. Granted there are many other elements that make you a good lawyer, but, there are certain basic requirements to be a lawyer.  The same thing with being a CPA. Those are facts and figures. While intuition may be needed to make you a better CPA, you still need a certain basic amount of information.

As archivists, however, our understanding and appreciation for the subject matter of the type of archives in which we work is every bit as important as knowing some archival terms and other filing rules. We need to understand the researcher and his needs as much as we need to understand how we determine what to save and how to save it. I don't really believe one can know what to save or how to save it without a broader understanding and appreciation of what one is saving. All understandings, however, are equally important.  I think of it as being the difference between a technical and scientific education as compared to a broad humanities education.  Tests are very well suited to the "left brain" learner. In the humanities, however, we more often have to produce a product to show our competencies.

What I would advocate is some way to receive certification that would allow for certifying or showing that in fact an archivist not only has the technical facts, but, also the humanist's ability to understand and appreciate the subjects with which we are dealing.  I do not mean to imply that the scientist lacks feelings, it is simply that scientists and humanists often view the world in different terms. I believe that archivists need both worlds to appreciate what they are trying to do. Our certification should reflect that our group finds value in all of the areas with which we must deal. As it is, it is too limited.

Have a good day.

Cecilia

Cecilia Aros Hunter
Archivist
Texas A&M University-Kingsville
South Texas Archives & Special Collections
James C. Jernigan Library
MSC 197
Kingsville, TX 78363
phone: 361-593-4154 or 361-593-2776
fax; 361-593-2240
e-mail: kacah00@tamuk.edu

UFTARCH1@AOL.COM wrote:

10/23/01

Hi Patrick--

        Wow, are we having a bad day?  It' s always very telling when someone uses the * formal* salutation (sarcasticly?) on our informal listserv................watch out!

        First of all, your charge that my straight-forward comments and opinions, because they are different than yours, evidently, are gratuitous, uninformed and insulting.  Patrick, I also participated in many of the early discussions regarding certification in the mid-1980s-- through Archivists Roundtable of Metro NYC meetings, MARAC sessions, and SAA conference programs and discussions, and have not varied in my belief that we should not utilize individual exams to take the place of archival education standards.  As we all  know,  from our own experience working with different individuals in an archives, scoring well on an archives exam does not automatically equal archives competence.

        I will say again what I have always said:  I do not think that SAA should certify individual archivists, but should certify archival education programs.  Just because certifying programs is more difficult, does not let our profession off the hook on the issue.  For me to express my reasoned objections to certification does not constitute a "rant" in my opinion.  I am puzzled by your comment that I contributed nothing important to the discussion and should be ashamed of my ignorance.  I got *many* personal emails thanking me for my comments, because the individuals didn't want to go public with their agreement.

        Re: unionization of archivists-- I wrote several research papers in my MLS program in the late 1970s related to comparable worth/equal pay, the need to organize library and archives professionals/workers, and unionization of professional workers. In all of our archives profession-wide discussions, I don't ever remember the argument that certification would fulfill the same needs as union representation.  Individual certification is not equivalent to unionization of a group of archivists.

        Most of the objections to the certification exam that I remember were practical-- how would a certification designation help an individual with jobs, salaries and status?  Most everyone I discussed this with in NYC area felt that the exam was not useful in providing any additional credentials for hiring or status.  It was seen as an empty symbol of  having memorized and passed a terminology familiarity exam, not of any particular academic competence.  Unfortunately for ACA, that's still the impression by hundreds of professional archivists, even today.

         I was interested in your comments Patrick, but maybe next time you could be less insulting and defensive.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on this--perhaps the emperor (has no clothes) does in fact walk naked (progressively!) down the archives repository aisle when it comes to certification?   Take care,   Lucinda
 
 

ntemperate = lack of moderation, not temperate,  criticism esp. given to excessive use of intoxicating liquors.  Reread my commentary and opinion on the certification issue and frankly, I don't think that term applies. I was very deliberate and reasoned and quite ionDoesn't seem to apply here, but anyway....