Unprepared

My assignment this week in my introductory Library Science course has me checking out a lot of Library Science related blogs and other technologies that are gaining in popularity in the field. Today I was looking at the Library Success wiki, which pretty much has information or links to examples of all the technologies I have been looking into this week, such as the best software for IM services in libraries, blogs, RSS Feeds, and podcasts. This wiki also has links to scholarly articles and professional websites. It feels like it is almost a "one stop shop" for the latest trends and information in the field. It is a site that I will be bookmarking and browsing through on a regular basis now, mostly because in just browsing for about thirty minutes, I have been feeling increasingly unprepared and unsettled for the career path I have chosen.
I think I underestimated the field. I underestimated the constant struggle to maintain funding, the struggle to keep patrons engaged in their libraries, and the way in which the field is transitioning into the digital age. I think the increasing necessity for librarians to be technologically savvy is what makes me most unsettled, because I am not even close to being a technology wonk.
I was a history major in my undergraduate work- and I am going to be getting an M.A. in public history along with my Library Science degree- microfilm, moldy books, and yellowing newspapers have been my M.O. for a long time. The trend to digitization makes me nervous because I know it is inevitable, but part of the experience for me, being a historian/librarian is that I can go to the archives and all of these artifacts and crumbling sources are right at my fingers. I handle papers that were written with a quill and sealed with wax everyday. The tangibility of such sources is why I decided upon this field in the first place. Digitizing all the records and eliminating the necessity for patrons to have to come into an institution and handle the records or artifacts themselves takes aways something from the research process I feel like. Tangibility makes one connect with the project more. And yes, I grumble about having to make the three hour drive to South Bend to get to my archive, but there is something to be said for having to gently turn and smooth the papers of turn of the century newsprint. But I might be that those of us who love paper are a dying breed.
The recognition that I am behind the times is unnerving, but it was good to be given a wake-up call. I think that I need to learn to reconcile my love for the tangible to the fact that in order for me to ever get a job, and for libraries and archives to remain operational at all, we have to recognize that most of the public, our patrons, are consumers of speed and ease of accessibility. Digitization provides this, and I am going to do my best to up my level of savvy.

I subscribe to an RSS feed from the New York Times called "Libraries and Librarians". It searches for stories from the daily New York Times that are related to the field and pulls them out for the RSS feed. When I checked the feed today, I came across an Op-ed piece that had to do with the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, which happens to be the very first presidential library that was built. The Op-ed piece was basically an advocacy piece. Apparently, the FDR Library and Museum is outdated and falling apart, in desparate need of repair, and no one is doing anything about it.
That a repository of historical records and artifacts is being left to fall apart does not suprise me. I only need to look at one of the places I work to see that it can happen- the exposed wires, the unruly cooling system, the humidity that cannot escape, the fight against the onslaught of mold. However, the author of the Op-ed piece is arguing that such unsightliness should not be just be the accepted reality for those who work at or visit such an institution. Much of what is contained in our archives- papers dealing with the founding of New Deal programs, a state constitution- are important records to the history of the state or the nation.
This Op-ed piece is probably very lonely in the fact that it is probably one of the few of its kind. The state of our historical repositories is not something that receives much press or itnerest. There are most likely only a few constituencies who are roused to action by such an artlice in the paper. However, because of the dire state of many archives throughout the nation, more articles like this should be showing up. The message of advocacy needs to be taken to a public forum like the newspaper, a blog, or a podcast.

New Technology, New Uses

I think that there is a perception that libraries and especially archival institutions are outdated and out of touch with the ever-changing world of technology. However, after reading through a few blogs out of a very long list of blogs kept by librarians around the United States, it is apparent that many librarians are plugged in and wired on incorporating the latest technologies into their libraries. However, I think that many archivists have yet to catch up with their librarian counterparts. As an aspiring archivist myself, I would like to proffer a few suggestions as to how archivists can use blogs too.
Currently, I am employed as an intern for the department of the state government which oversees the retention and preservation of public records in the state. As part of my internship, I am also working on projects for the state's SHRAB (State Historic Records Advisory Board). One of the major issues currently facing the archival community in the state is that it is very disjointed. There appear to be a lot of different interests and a lot of misguided perceptions about what the state does in terms of preserving historic or vital records. In other words, there is a problem with image.
Reading the librarian blogs presented me with an image of the library as an institution on the cutting edge, an institution that is sort of...trendy? Therefore, I got to thinking that perhaps starting a blog for the state's SHRAB or for the State Archives might be a way to start working on the image problem. For people who have some interest in history or historic preservation, they would be very interested to find out about the interesting or unique events that occur within the Archives. For instance, there was that time when the largest ear of corn from a State Fair of years past found its way to the Archives in a box of State Fair memorabilia, or the times when the Conservation Lab technician breaks out the collection of the various objects or organisms that have been discovered while processing records over the years.
It would be really great to be able to link a blog to the State Archives or SHRAB website that would be kept by one or a few staff members at the Archives, relating interesting or humorous occurrences at the Archives on a daily or weekly basis. Posting these stories and events for all the world wide web to see could be a huge image booster. It could turn the opinion that the Archives is a drab, scary place around; the public would gain a little insight as to why I really love working at the Archives.
In the future, I hope to use this blog or something similar to give an insiders view of the daily occurrences and interesting finds at the State Archives. Perhaps this is an option to present to the state's SHRAB to increase advocacy and to enhance the perceptions of the public the State Archives serves.