[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: The Miscellaneous Box!



Roy Webb spake:

"That completely violates the Archival Imperative, which to
me is "Bring it all back alive."  Despite all of our training and
experience and certification, we are neither mind readers, who can
look into the future and see what researchers will want, nor time
travelers, who can go back and ask the person who collected it
whether we should keep it or not.  If I wanted to have the power to
weed and toss at will, I'd be a librarian, not an archivist."

Wow, you must have unlimited expanses of space to fill! Who can bring it ALL
back alive? To me, as with many archivists with limited space, the
Imperative is more like: "Precious space demands precious records." The
decision to weed and toss - i.e. appraisal -- is the central prerogative
(and challenge) of the archivist.

Thomas J. Wood
Archivist
Archives/Special Collections LIB 144
University of Illinois at Springfield
P.O. Box 19243
Springfield IL 62794-9243
217-206-6520 | wood@uis.edu | http://www.uis.edu/library/lib-arch

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>