Week 8

Before I began my current venture at SEMO, I purchased Public History: Essays from the Field in order to familiarize myself with the issues Public Historians face professionally. I had recently graduated from Lindenwood University, so I had a lot of time on my hands (I guess you could say I was trying to fill the void in my life left by my recent graduation, considering that no sane person would read this book for pleasure).  Being a virtual tyro to the archival profession, I decided it would be best to begin with the chapter on archivists and records managers. As I began reading the chapter, I was shocked by the revelation that archivists did not save every scrap of paper in their possession. I guess I had originally envisioned an archivist as someone like my Grandma Luecke: A nasty, bitter old hag obsessively hoarding documents for no logical purpose. Thankfully, this chapter fundamentally altered my initial misconceptions.

Since then, I have had several remarkable people mentor me as I attempt to improve my knowledge-base and skills. Unfortunately, I have encountered several archivists throughout the years who have not had the same opportunities afforded to me. For instance, I was visiting an archival institution several weeks ago and noticed a stack of newspapers lying on the table. When I asked the assistant archivist about the newspapers, he informed me that he had accepted them as a donation from a patron. This struck me as an odd decision until I remembered that this was the same person who thought nothing of bringing his dirty dog into the stacks on the weekends. I decided it would be best to say nothing at all.

Based upon this experience, I sometimes wonder if the profession still has much more to do to improve standards in the field. Currently, the profession does not seem to have an established set of criteria for the education required for professionals. Although the Society of American Archivists recommends that students pursue a Master’s degree, this varies from advanced degrees in Public History to Library Science. Hopefully, as the public begins to understand the importance of what archivists do, the profession will be able to standardize educational requirements.