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Re: Being poor



On Sat, 8 Jun 2002 13:46:56 -0700, Debra Cernieux <librarydebra@YAHOO.COM>
wrote:

>I cannot stand it when someone tells me to pick
>another profession because the pay is low. Why should
>I be penalized because I wanted to be an archivist?

You shouldn't be penalized because you want to be an archivist. But realize
that like in all things it is a matter of supply and demand. In the case of
archivists the supply is large, but the demand is low. When the supply of a
commodity is large the price is depressed. Now if the number of archivists
were to decrease substantially within the next few years we might see
either of the following;
1. salary levels increase in order to attract applicants. usually this will
attract established folks causing them to move from their current location
to the new one.
2. Organizations deciding that librarians can do the job just as well.

>Many archivists have Masters degrees, and they should
>be rewarded for taking out the time to be educated
>about the archives profession.

Sorry but life doesn't work that way. As I see it the conundrum is that
most employers want applicants who have the upper-level degrees but are not
willing to pay for it.   What role does SAA play in making sure that
salaries are in line with the education demanded?

>This goes the same for
>librarians. I am a librarian, but I volunteer for an
>archives. I thought the pay was low for librarians,
>but I think it can be lower for archivists! This is
>ridiculous!

Yes the salary structure for archivists is ridiculous, but as long as
archivists apply for these low-paying positions organizations will continue
to pay at that level. This list periodically gets in high dungeon about
archival pay scales.

As I see it there are several things that can be done;
1. SAA contacts the organization and asks them why such a low salary
2. No one applies for such a low-paying position
3. Accept the fact that you are willing to take such a low paying position
4. Stop kvetching and be happy that you are doing something that is saving
history. Realize that you will never be highly-paid, that you will probably
always drive a used car, etc.

Peterk

PS - Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch.

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