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21st-Century Archivist
by Anne A. Salter
The 20th Century is now a thing of the past, a source of archival collections, and the end of the majority of my career years as an archivist/librarian. Straddling two centuries has provided a series of interesting challenges, especially in the field of librarianship. These challenges include the identity crisis in the profession, the infusion of technological changes, and the present "digitization" craze and its effects. Working at this place and in this time has proven both rewarding and exhausting.
As a librarian/archivist, I have worn two hats for many years. Like many librarians in the 1980s, I came into the profession through the back door - that door, in my case, being archives. (For others, it was a first master's degree that yielded no job!)
Long-Lost Cousins
Archives and libraries are professional cousins, regardless of their various differences. Their basic professional orientation is the same - to provide access to information. When OCLC was introduced, the gap between archivists and librarians narrowed. A system was now in place that required that a set of standards be imposed, a set of nomenclature be adopted, and access to materials allowed through a common threshold.
OCLC was one of the greatest catalysts for the two professions' ability to find unity. During the change, archivists and librarians weathered the loss of their sacred cow (the card catalog), found ways to coordinate use of the shared bibliographic system with APPM standards, and enjoyed a time of coming more closely together. The way we did things - "cataloging" - started to take on similarities.
A New Addition
Along with this new means of doing things, though, came a sharp identity crisis. With the expanded use of technology, librarians and archivists were suddenly overshadowed by their new cousin - Information Technology. IT arrived in a big way! IT is here to stay, and, with little exception, it rules. Librarians and archivists suddenly found themselves reporting to directors of IT operations. Library schools began to see their graduates drifting to the non- traditional setting of IT jobs in corporations, largely because the of the enormous pay scale difference between the two settings.
Sadly, instead of strengthening the identity, the abilities, and the respect of librarians and archivists, IT eroded their positions. Library schools closed all over the nation. The loss of training in these facilities will be felt soon. In fact, there is a gap now - and it will grow until we re-strengthen recognition of the role of librarianship.
Can't We All Just Get Along?
Archivists fared even worse. The average citizen doesn't recognize the term. To tell someone you are an archivist by profession is the equivalent of telling them you are a nuclear physicist, only with somewhat less respect. You would have more luck with the latter in the public's ability to associate your job with an understood body of knowledge.
Fortunately, there are now a number of programs in the U.S. and abroad where an archival degree is part of a graduate program in schools of library and information technology. For those of us who learned on the job, this is a wonderful change for the better. There is still, though, a wide gap between those who are in a position to hire archivists, and the knowledge that such a profession exists. Far too many archives - in the U.S. especially - are operated by well-meaning librarians or "professional" retirees without any knowledge or training in preservation, conservation, archival processing, and environmental monitoring. This situation is sure to change over the next few decades. The day may come where an archivist is more well-known than a librarian, as the library profession continues to be subsumed under the information technology umbrella.
As OCLC radically changed the way the two professions met and operated, so has the latest and greatest craze digitization. Digitizing, the current challenge that straddles the 20th and 21st centuries, has given archivists and librarians pause to re-consider access to their collections. The world of digitization is the catalyst for IT people, librarians, and archivists to unify the way they do things. Time, money, and reason should provide a context in which to rationally apply this new "toy." Cooperation between these three groups should help fine-tune their capabilities, much as OCLC did in the 20th Century. Too many hands are in the pie, however, and the mania that surrounds digitization far exceeds the reason behind many of the selections for such costly and high-maintenance projects.
All In the Family
Despite the hurdles, the worlds of archives and librarianship are fascinating, active, and challenging. Both professions offer a career that brings something new every day. I started my professional life as an archivist, received a library degree to qualify my credentials, and have participated actively in the archivist professional organizations. I am fortunate to have had the best of both worlds, but anyone contemplating a career as a librarian or an archivist in the 21st Century has more options in their training at an academic level. Despite the identity crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the two professions have survived and will continue to do so. What lies ahead? Join us and find out.
The author of Integrated Systems for Small Libraries (ALA, 2003), Anne A. Salter has worked in the library and archival field for more than 20 years. She received both a B.A. in History and an MLS in Librarianship from Emory University. Since 1982, she has worked at a number of library and archival positions, and currently serves as the library director at Oglethorpe University.