Category Archives: Archival profession

What should archives or archivists stop doing? What should we drop?

That’s my appropriation of a question asked on Twitter by Andy Burkhardt, who asked it about libraries and librarians. His tweet was inspired by this article on Fast Company, “The 5 Questions Every Company Should Ask Itself.” So, friends, what … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession | 30 Comments

What books about archives should historians read?

In thinking about book groups yesterday, I thought it would be interesting to have historians read books from our discipline to help them learn about archives. So I’ll pose here the question I posted on Twitter, what one book do … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession, History & related professions | 24 Comments

A different kind of “archival silence”: “we are in the middle of a selective recreation of inherited culture”

This has been making the rounds on Twitter this morning, and it deserves a wider audience. Tim Hitchcock, a professor of 18th century history in England, has posted “A Five Minute Rant for the Consortium of European Research Libraries.” He … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession, History & related professions | 1 Comment

Honest tips for wannabe archivists out there

This post was inspired by an exchange on Twitter last week which followed up on a tweet regarding something said at #rbms12 (that’s this year’s meeting of ACRL’s Rare Book and Manuscripts Section).  A conference attendee summarized a speaker as … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession, Technology for archives | 51 Comments

Matthew Kirschenbaum’s DHSI Plenary Lecture: “Digital Humanities Archive Fever”

I have been meaning to write a post about this lecture for some time but haven’t been able to find the time for it. But that shouldn’t stop you from watching it, if you haven’t already. Matt generously posted a … Continue reading

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New trend? Librarians, archivists & museum professionals ruling the world

I’m referring to this almost ebullient post by the Library of Congress’ Butch Lazorchak on the Signal blog, “#sxswLAM: Libraries, Archives and Museums in an Interactive World.” It’s a beautiful vision, and it’s great to hear that participating in the South By Southwest … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Archival profession | 2 Comments

My Version of Trendswatch 2012: The Archives Edition

I just quickly looked over the inaugural issue of Trendswatch, a new annual report from the American Association of Museums’s Center for the Future of Museums. The inaugural issue of TrendsWatch—TrendsWatch 2012: Museums and the Pulse of the Future—highlights seven … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession, Crowdsourcing, Electronic records, History & related professions, Outreach | 8 Comments

The problem with the scholar as “archivist,” or is there a problem?

I have a problem, dear readers. And I think the solution to my problem is that I need to get over my problem. But let’s get to the end of the post and see if you think that’s the right … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession, Branding for archives | 30 Comments

Peter Wosh’s thoughts on the “archival divide”: remarks delivered at AHA

To complete my series of posts related to the session “Archivists, Historians, and the Future of Authority in the Archives” held at the recent meeting of the American Historical Association in Chicago, below are the remarks made by my follow … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession, Conferences, History & related professions | 5 Comments

Antoinette Burton’s perspective on the “archival divide:” remarks delivered at AHA

Following up on the last post, containing the remarks I gave at the AHA panel, “Archivists, Historians, and the Future of Authority in Archives,” I am very pleased that my fellow panelist, the historian Antoinette Burton has permitted me to … Continue reading

Posted in Archival profession, Conferences, History & related professions | 2 Comments