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Re: Higher Education Article



Listmembers,

There are a number of issues presented in this article, and I think we have touched on quite a few of them. One that stands out, immediately, is that the author calls herself a "curator" and then describes it as one with seemingly limited duties. Has she fully understood the responsibilities of a curator?  We don't know.

Why has she taken this job? Initially, because she is in pretty dire need and thinks that it will be a "cure" of some kind for both her need to be near academics and to be near her husband and home. It seems to me that in any job situation there are some compromises one has to make, that's called reality.  She does remark that she is enamored with both the "benefits and the more-than-adequate wage." This statement, from my 20 years of experience in University Archives, is somewhat surprising! The benefits are usually pretty good, but the wages are not often described as being more than adequate!

One of the main thrusts of the article, however, is that the job is supposed to enhance the authors life in so many ways! What does this person bring to the job, however?  Her attitude seems somewhat sullen, she does aspects of the job she seems to want to do, and doesn't really talk about the processing and cataloging of materials she was assigned to do!

And a last statement. Simply because you have a bad experience in one job, doesn't mean ALL JOBS OF THAT TYPE are just the same. One life experience doesn't make it so. I think that's the part of the article that makes me the maddest. You could have just as well painted all doctors as nerdy and brainy, it just isn't so.

--Geri Solomon, University Archivist, Hofstra University

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