And the prize goes to Susan, as the first poster to a.) recognize my posting as SATIRE (Come on folks: do you REALLY believe that a.) Dick Cheney EVEN knows who Nicholson Baker is? and b.) That Nicholson Baker would get involved in the Cheney/Enron/Anderson embroglio? Nothing against Baker, well, at least not in THIS context {i.e., rumormongering!}, but, come on...) and c.) recognize the Pythonesque nature of the oblique reference to Digital Imaging and Photography ("She's goer, eh? Into sports, eh? Know what I mean, nudge, nudge?"). Not only that, she's promulgated yet another great rumor: Tom Ridge reads the List!
Think of this all as a semi-hysterical response to the combined Infoglut of Cheney/Enron/Anderson/ (or "Pipelineistan" for short!) and the implications of Executive Order 13233. The Smirking Chimp refers to this media circus as "Enronpalooza" (http://www.SmirkingChimp.com/article.php?sid=5099)...
Driving through some very thick fog this morning, I paused in thought to wonder how much of the fog was in my head. Clearly, not all of it. This thread evolved from a discussion of opportunities in which we, as archivists, could promote a positive image of our profession. The fact is we don't "need" crises or scandals in which to do this. Take a long at the soul-searching over on the Rec-Mgmt list if you don't believe me. Positive proselytizing of this profession is s 24x7x365 endeavor and word-of-mouth does an amazing job. Sure, you get tired of those uninformed questions, responses, and blank looks, but there are also those times when the lights go on at the other side of the conversation and you realize that "they" understand why what you do is still important.
Be careful what you wish for when you go thinking that we need a scandal to promote our image. Oh, and while I wish I could claim credit for "Pipelineistan," I can't. It first appears here: http://atimes.com/c-asia/DA25Ag01.html ... the page even has a map, for those who feel slightly "*istan-challenged."
Dennis Moser, MILS
Project Director, IMLS National Leadership Grant
Digital Imaging Faculty
Lee College
P.O. Box 818, Baytown, TX 77522-0818
(281)425-6819/(281)425-6557 (fax)
dmoser@lee.edu
Obviously not an official statement of my employer!
----------
From: Hamson, Susan
Reply To: Hamson, Susan
Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2002 08:30
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
Subject: Dropping Like Flies
Dateline Peoria --
Archivists throughout the United States are dropping like flies thanks to an email virus that was propagated on the Archives and Archivists Listserve. The worm, delivered with the subject line, "New photos from my party!", emails itself to every person in an infected users' email log making it look as if the worm comes from a colleague or friend, experts said.
"This is not a form of terrorism," Tom Ridge, Secretary of Homeland Security for the United States, assured the populace, "it's more the result of a human need to see party photos from people you don't know."
Nudge, nudge, say no more!
---
Susan Hamson
Archivist
Othmer Library of Chemical History
Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702
susanh@chemheritage.org
Voice: 215-925-2222
Fax: 215-925-6195
The views expressed here are those of the individual author only and not necessarily those of the Chemical Heritage Foundation.