I have finished most all of my requirements for graduate school. My final archives research paper was on visual literacy and I discussed important angles to consider win the process and the context when looking at visual materials. There was a section where I was able to include a type of personal statement. It flowed from what I was writing and is the lens I look through when considering what to do and how to process a collection. The following section was included as an explanation of how I viewed the purpose or responsibility of an archive.
I look at all aspects of archival work as pointing to an end goal of getting people interested in what the institutions hold and secondly a certain degree of customer satisfaction. In order for interest to be created—in a collection, in an institution, in anything—they need to it exists. This step in awareness is extremely important and it seems that is it often viewed as cursory or even completely overlooked. As Joyce Gardella has stated, “Being a ‘Good Thing’ is not the protection it once was.[1]” Although she was referring to museums, it is true for all cultural institutions. Providing unique materials, creating exhibits and programs that offer experiences that are irreplaceable are only useful to the sustainability of the institution if people know about it. While this may sound childishly simple and obvious, much of the available literature seems to focus on theory and technique. By no means am I saying that there is no more room for theory in archives, but I am wondering where the practical information resources are. Where and how do people find out about your institution? Where is advertisement, or, if that term is too commercial for the cultural institution, where are the awareness materials located to showcase your events? I recently had to register my car with the state and receive my stickers from the Department of Transportation that get placed on my rear license plate. Included with my sticker was a one-sheet envelope-sized “brochure” from the Wisconsin Historical Foundation, asserting their value in the community and promoting their museum and information about the foundation. Every car owner in the state of Wisconsin was exposed to the mention of the Historical Foundation and what the society and the museum have to offer. Exposure is a first step, wide exposure is a bonus.
Second is access. In regards to access, mostly I have been concerned with improving electronic access versus physical access. Suitable hours of operations and providing a clearly stated use policy to your constituents[2], whether it is a public facility or a restricted access archives, is important and is probably already determined in an established repository. With electronic access, I have encountered so many frustrating sites and databases; I can’t imagine what a novice computer or database user would feel or how they would begin to search. What would be the motivation for returning to the site if they received nothing but frustrations and unhelpful results?
I really do see archives as a “customer service” type profession, however the commercial idea that “the customer is always right” should never apply to archives. (As a personal note, I have seen “the customer is always right” mentality abused many, many times and I am quite jaded towards it.) Unlike a specific brand of cereal that is not on the shelf the last day of a sale, one cannot give a raincheck for archival materials. They might simply never have existed in the first place, were destroyed and never made it to the archives, or perhaps they are restricted. Restrictions are particularly frustrating when it come to that commercial attitude. If we have it, why aren’t we letting people see it? Protecting other people’s rights and wishes–not only the donor’s, but anyone else who may be referenced in the collection–is of utmost importnace. If we desire our archives to be of lasting value, than lasting ethics should be attached to the institution to maintain its integrity.
[1] Gardella, Joyce. “Surviving the Perfect Storm: Branding, Positioning and Differentition.” History News. Summer 2003. Page 22.
[2] I use the term “the public” to refer to the specific users of a repository, whether is actually the public or a restricted access archives. “Users” and “researchers” may also alternatively be used to refer to the people allowed to request, refer to and use the materials.