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Re: Article in Chronicle of Higher Ed (long)



Hi - I'm back!  Due to the BIA lawsuit, my agency had been part of the DOI
quarantine from electronic communication, but we have finally managed to
separate ourselves from that quagmire and are now back in business in
e-space.  Virus-spam on my first day back was almost enough to make me turn
it off again, but it's just a hazard of the game, folks.  ;-)     Moving
on.....

Ah, so many conflicting emotions, not just from the CHE article, but from
the many & varied replies on this list.  I agree that the author should not
paint the entire academic world with such a broad, unhappy brush, but keep
in mind that she perceived the problem as one endemic to academe, NOT the
archives profession.  I read the article twice - once with the attitude
that she was sincere in her desire to become a top-notch curator, and once
with the attitude that she was arrogant, over-educated, and possessed a
keen sense of entitlement.  In both cases, I thought she had some valid
points, but could have advanced her cause more sympathetically.   I wonder:
if she were a trained archivist and still been treated that shabbily, would
so many have been so quick to condemn her?

The main point of resonance for me was the "job" vs. "career" gulf that she
perceived.   Separate lunch hours for faculty and staff - could they be any
more blatant!!! When I first started in my present job, the common verbiage
for the two main classes of employee was "professional" and "staff"
(although "serf" was a better indicator of the treatment received by the
latter category).  When a new agency head was appointed a few years later,
one of the first things he did was to survey us on how our work environment
could be improved ("empowering the masses", I think, was the buzz phrase).
Without exception, the #1 "staff" request was for the respect due their
professional expertise in their jobs.  This necessitated a major sea change
in the way people perceived each other, and it didn't happen overnight, but
nowadays, the terms are "research" and "operations", and people who do
their jobs well are treated accordingly.  Most are encouraged and supported
in their desire for training and professional development.

That said, there are still fiefdoms in existance at my agency much like the
one described in the article.  The author's  boss has carved out a little
kingdom for himself, and any attempts by the masses to better themselves
will be seen as potential competition which needs to be stifled
immediately.  Ms. Young's boss basically told her she was doing a good job
learning & performing the basic tasks of the job, but he wasn't going to
give her any brownie points for extra effort.  [At one temp job I had, my
boss told me that she never gave anyone the highest ranking on a
performance review, no matter how great a job the employee did!].  It's
certainly possible that if she is successful at outreach, the photo
archives may well come to be associated with HER and not her boss - a very
real threat to his position!!!

She may also well be right about the sexism she perceives in her situation,
although she doesn't really develop this as a theme after the first cursory
mention.  She writes that she has tried to learn more about the archives as
a whole, its policies and practices, but has run into a stone wall from the
higher-ups.  Her direct supervisor is a man, and maybe she is seen as too
pushy and ambitious, maybe she is too self-promoting, maybe she is
extremely strident in voicing her complaints, maybe she just rubs certain
people the wrong way.  If she were a man, would her actions and attitude be
more accepted?  Since I don't know, I'm willing to give her the benefit of
the doubt, having seen such behavior in the workplace on more than one
occasion.

In any case, I think that Chris Flynn hit the nail on the head.  I do think
the author's main theme was the professional development of ALL staff in an
institution, not just the faculty.   She's ambitious, she shouldn't have to
apologize for it.  She wanted a career - why should  she settle for just a
job?  Since the article was written after a year on the job, it would be
interesting to know if she continued her outreach efforts after the initial
6-month review.

Well, enough of this - gotta get back to my "other" work...  :)   ttfn -
jill in alaska.


Jill L Schneider
USGS - Alaska Technical Data Unit
907-786-7457
jschnidr@usgs.gov
http://alaskaminerals.wr.usgs.gov



                    Chris Flynn
                    <cflynn@FNA.FSN.UIDA        To:     ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
                    HO.EDU>                     cc:
                    Sent by: Archives &         Subject:     Re: Article in Chronicle of Higher Ed
                    Archivists
                    <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.M
                    UOHIO.EDU>


                    01/29/2002 01:21 PM
                    Please respond to
                    Chris Flynn





I don't know folks. It seems to me that while our thin skins are being
pricked by reactionary responses, we are possibly missing some of the
essential points. As we look within our individual organizations how many
Ms. Youngs do we have? Are we doing everything we are able to foster and
promote development within our staff? Is this something that is important?
Should this be one of the roles we pursue as professionals? Aside from the
personal decisions Ms. Young made, I think we should be asking ourselves
whether or not the next article will have our name attached to it. I think
we should see this as more of a wake up call to promote development than as
a criticism of the profession as a whole. For those of us working in the
University environment, I would hope that we identify the chasm between
staff and non-staff as an important issue in the article. Shouldn't we be
more concerned with reducing the gap and promoting archives and archival
development to all, rather than pointing out our views on the career
choices
of MS. Young?

As to some of the comments made earlier, I think Twain said it best when he
commented on folks speaking up. Having said that I think some comments made
so far on this thread have removed all doubt.

Chris Flynn CA CRM

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