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Re: Article in Chronicle of Higher Ed



Agreed, Eric, that we are a service industry and exist for the needs of the
researchers, but that doesn't mean I have to hunch over like Igor in Young
Frankenstein and say "Yeehhhhss Maaaster", groveling before the demigods of
academia.  (P'raps I lay it on a wee bit thick, ey laddie?)

I have no problem being of service to the academics that make up the key
function of Higher Ed (other than, naturally, collegiate athletics) but they
owe us a heck of a lot, too, and there should be a level of respect reserved
for those of us that make their research possible.  Half of 'em can't find a
dictionary, much less decide the best place to look for obscure archival
information, and they need to accept our role in their work.  I would
suggest there's a partnership between researcher and librarian/archivist -
they have the questions, we bring them to the answers.  Maybe it's 60-40 or
70-30 in their favor, but see if any academic can get his/her job done
without our help.

Oh, and to make you all feel better about the occasional stupidities of our
jobs, I'll remind y'all of a website with laughs for us library weirdos:

http://www.librarianavengers.com/

I was reminded of it off Cynthia Van Ness' website, so thanks for the link.
Check out Stupid Librarian Tricks for Dopey Reference Questions 101.

DS

> Look, let's call a spade a shovel, shall we? The archival and academic
> librarian professions really
> ARE "[relatively] unimportant second class desk job[s] for faculty
> wanna-be's." We exist for them
> and the students; they don't exist for us. That's the way it should be.
>
> And THIS faculty wanna-be is not going to look for another job. I love
> mine too much -- even though
> I fully recognize its subordinate nature, status, and function.
>
>
______________________________________
Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator
David Taylor Archives
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
155 Community Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
mailto:dsokolow@nshs.edu

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