Monday, August 16, 2010

Shoutout to Derangement and Description

Rebecca Goldman (@DerangeDescribe on Twitter) did an amazing job with her latest blog posting, Post-SAA Howl.

I encourage you to read her thoughts about new archivists and why this profession may run them off, which include such insight as:

"I worry about these kids. And I worry about you, archivists, and your profession, because I worry that these archivists will take their skills and ideas and find jobs outside the field instead of putting up with all this bullshit. And how can you truly preserve your collections in the long term if there is no one to replace you if you change jobs or retire or get crushed in your own compact shelving?"

The comments are also thought-provoking. I know other fields have this same dilemma of "how do I get a job without experience, and how do I get experience without a job," but this is MY field, and it bothers me.

In the words of Simon and Garfunkel, "Preserve your memories; they're all that's left you."