Today’s post is an interview with Eira Tansey, with questions formulated by Burkely Hermann, Metadata Librarian for the National Security Archive and current I&A Blog Coordinator.
Eira Tansey is a researcher and archivist who focuses on climate change impacts on cultural heritage and archives. She also founded Memory Rising, in December 2022, which provides archival, consulting, and research services for humanities and cultural organizations, and worked in academic libraries from 2008 to 2023, first at the Louisiana Research Collection of Tulane University Library, and more recently at the Archives and Rare Books Library of the University of Cincinnati. This post is an interview with Tansey about her recently published report “A Green New Deal for Archives,” which was published by CLIR in July.
Question 1: The public policy program, which you propose in your report, outlines three foundational principles for a Green New Deal for Archives (increasing permanent staffing for archives “that steward vital public records”, “create a nationwide plan for collection continuity and emergency response,” and developing “climate change documentation projects organized by watersheds”). Do you envision this program as applying to community archives or activist archives, in the United States, which are not formal institutions?
Eira Tansey: In a Green New Deal for Archives policy platform I think there’s an important role for community archives to play in documenting watersheds and local environmental problems. Community and activist archives can do this in ways that government archives likely could not or would not. Even in the original Historical Records Survey which I explore in the publication, WPA workers did important work to identify archives from informal institutions. I think that work can and should be replicated in a Green New Deal for Archives.
With that said, there is a reason why I put the first priority as increasing staffing at archives that steward vital public records, because I think this is the most important priority facing American archives. To be clear, vital records have a specific definition: “a record necessary to begin recovery of business after a disaster, as well as a record necessary to protect the assets, obligations, and resources of an organization” and “a record that documents significant life events, including births, deaths, marriages, and divorces.”
Vital records are usually stewarded by public-facing archives like local, state, and federal government archives. Without the preservation and access of vital public records, we are at major risk of losing individual rights and the collective ability to hold public institutions accountable. Like the original New Deal that emphasized the importance of strengthening government institutions as a means to better serve the public (instead of primarily relying on the private sector), I believe we need to apply similar thinking to meet the scale of climate change adaptation in archives.
My stance on this is shaped by my professional trajectory, which comes from working in academic libraries for 15 years until I left earlier this year to build my business. In my last role I was the records manager for one of the largest public universities in the state of Ohio for nearly a decade. Records management work, even in higher education, has far more in common with the kind of archives work carried out by government archivists than a topical focused curatorial collecting model. Even though my institution was legally mandated by Ohio law to carry out records management, and retention scheduling directly supported our most popular use area – university archives – I received zero dedicated budget resources for records management. Meanwhile collections of non-institutional materials that had comparatively little use had endowed funds. This led me to appreciate how the records that receive the most use and are required to be managed according to law rarely receive the resources needed to do this work effectively, and are especially vulnerable to becoming unfunded mandates.
In my city of Cincinnati, we do not have a municipal archive that makes the records of the city easily available to the public. So based on my own local experience, I’m not convinced that formal institutional archives are always receiving the support they need to make the records of government and public institutions accessible and accountable to local residents. In many cases, they don’t exist to begin with.
Librarians – regardless of where they work – understand that public libraries are integral to the larger enterprise of librarianship and that public libraries are an essential part of the democratic experiment. I’d like to see archivists – regardless of where they work – embrace the same kind of support for government and other archives that serve the larger public. This is why although I hope A Green New Deal for Archives will resonate with all archivists, I assert that the priority needs to be on bolstering the capacity of archives that have a broad public mandate.
Question 2: In your view, how should readers, who agree with your “Green New Deal for Archives” public policy proposal, share their support?
Eira Tansey: Learning how to advocate on behalf of archives to elected officials is really important. Within SAA, the Committee on Public Policy has done great work on this front, especially with the Archives on the Hill event that happens when SAA meets in Washington DC.
I have been excited to have some encouraging recent conversations with Congressional staffers about the importance of archives. There are a lot of folks in Congress who care both about climate change and archives, but they don’t necessarily connect the dots between how archives can both identify climate risks and help communities be more resilient in the face of climate disaster. It’s up to archivists to have these conversations and put this issue squarely in front of our elected officials.
Question 3: If you could make a change (or changes) to the core values statement (which states that archivists “must necessarily involve an ongoing awareness of the impact of archival work on the environment”) or recent strategic plan of the Society of American Archivists, based on what you have written in your report, what would you change?
Eira Tansey: SAA’s Core Values statement includes Sustainability, and that section is very thoughtfully worded. However, the current Strategic Plan does not specifically address or name environmental concerns or climate change among its activities. I’d like to see this change in future iterations. For example, many of the strategic plan actions rightfully focus on workforce issues. There is a climate change link here – as increasingly severe and frequent disasters disproportionately impact more vulnerable communities, how will this impact hiring and retention of archivists? Climate change is already affecting our work, and will only continue to do so. Our strategic plan should reflect those realities so we can prepare and respond accordingly.
1) What was your first experience working with archives?
I have always had a fascination with the materiality and meaning embodied in artifacts, so when I was given the chance to work directly with artifacts as a volunteer at the Autry National Center, it set the stage to becoming an archivist. Over time, after speaking to archivists in the museum and library sector, I decided to earn my MLIS and focus on archival theory. My first archival work was during my graduate studies at UCLA as an archival assistant for the Barbara and Willard Morgan Archive, processing Willard’s working papers, and Barbara’s prints and artwork.
2) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?
I believe that investing in and prioritizing the processing of under-represented and mis-represented archival materials should be work that is centered and supported by institutions and fellow professionals alike.
3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?
As an early career archivist, I look forward to learning from my colleagues about the nuanced issues that persist in the archives profession and having open-minded discussions about how to address them.
4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?
I am an avid hiker, and can often be found communing with local flora and fauna. I also enjoy creative expression through cooking, art and crochet.
Today’s post comes from Alexis Bhagat, a student at SUNY University of Albany, currently studying for a Master of Science in Information Science, with a concentration in Archives & Records Management. If you would like to write a guest post, please use the guidelines here. It has been edited for brevity and length before publication on the I&A Blog by the current blog coordinator, Burkely Hermann.
Promotional image for symposium discussed in this post. The Artwork: “Change Our Worlds” by Shyama Kuver in collaboration with The People’s Paper Co-op, which was created for the 2023 Black Mama’s Bail Out
During Brown University’s announcement of their acquisition of the papers of the celebrated, and long-incarcerated, writer Mumia Abu-Jamal, Amanda E. Strauss, director of the John Hay Library, remarked that “the carceral system touches millions of Americans’ lives, yet the historical archive has a scarcity of stories of incarcerated people.” This glaring absence of incarcerated voices in the historical record is precisely what the Hay Library seeks to address with their groundbreaking collecting initiative, Voices of Mass Incarceration in the United States. This initiative is aimed at providing researchers with first-person accounts from individuals who have endured the harsh realities of prisons and jails in the era of mass incarceration.
At the heart of this new initiative are the Mumia Abu-Jamal papers. There are “more than 60 boxes of letters, notebooks, manuscripts, pamphlets, personal artifacts, books, and other items.” These invaluable documents, previously in the custody of historian Johanna Fernandez, will be made available to researchers starting September 27, 2023, when the John Hay Library at Brown University officially unveils this collection. The finding aid is currently accessible online through the RIAMCO online inventory, allowing scholars and the public to explore its contents.
To celebrate the inauguration of this vital collection, the Hay Library has organized an exhibition that will span the Brown University campus. The exhibition will be complemented by a three-day symposium that will bring together over two dozen artists and experts, each offering unique perspectives on the multifaceted impacts of mass incarceration, from its effects on health and policing to issues of gender and racial justice. Together, the symposium and exhibition are designed to shed light on the daily realities of incarceration. They offer a catalyst for a broader discussion on American history and culture, as seen through the material records of one man. Thus, the exhibition and symposium both exemplify the power of archives to illuminate history while also exemplifying a historic flaw of the archives profession in collecting the papers of prominent individuals.
Mumia Abu-Jamal occupies a singular place in American history. He is a rallying point for a global movement advocating for his amnesty, the object of organized outrage from the Fraternal Order of Police and their supporters. Given his status, and the controversies around his case, it’s undeniable that Mumia Abu-Jamal is a “prominent individual” whose papers would be coveted by any repository in the United States. The Voices of Mass Incarceration project aims to move beyond collecting the papers of prominent individuals and to collect the papers of incarcerated individuals more broadly. Last year, Mary Murphy of the Hay Library said that her team has identified a mere 25 archival holdings in American libraries related to first-person experiences of incarcerated individuals. The Voices of Mass Incarceration project aims to address this archival silence. I am curious if Murphy has reassessed her statement over the past year. Is the silence of the voices of incarcerated individuals primarily a problem of acquisition? Or is it also not a problem of retrieval?
Consider, for instance, other ways to search: The first newspaper published within a prison by an incarcerated person was “Forlorn Hope,” released in 1800 by William Keteltas (1765–1812) while he was in a New York City debtor’s prison. This occurred two decades before the first surge in American prison construction from 1816 to 1825. There are no “Keteltas Papers” in American repositories, but correspondence between William Keteltas and other individuals can be found in various archives. This includes letters to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Adams, from 1801 to 1812, found on the National Archives’ Founders Online website.
By using different frameworks to search, users can uncover writings and artwork created behind bars, which is scattered throughout America’s archives. In this respect, the curation of a digital collection, by the Beinecke Library in 2020, is an exemplary project. It features writings and artwork by incarcerated individuals drawn from the library’s extensive holdings. The collection includes notable pieces such as Austin Reed’s memoir manuscript, poems by Ethridge Knight and Leonard Peltier, and periodicals like “The Shadow” monthly, produced by Oregon prisoners, and “The Angolite,” produced by inmates at Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary.
In conclusion, the Voices of Mass Incarceration project, anchored by the Mumia Abu-Jamal papers, represents a pivotal moment in archival collections. It not only seeks to bridge the historical gap by bringing forth the narratives of those incarcerated but also underscores the urgency of acknowledging and addressing the myriad challenges faced by millions of prisoners in America. This initiative serves as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of archives, revealing both the past and present contradictions within the Mumia Abu-Jamal papers and offering a promising path toward a more inclusive historical record.
Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. Today’s post comes from Burkely Hermann, Metadata Librarian for the National Security Archive and current I&A Blog Coordinator. This post does not represent the views or positions of the Issues & Advocacy committee or National Security Archive. The views expressed here are the views of Mr. Hermann, and are not the views of any other individuals or organizations.
Promotional image on the official website for the ICA’s Congress, screenshotted on Aug. 15, 2023, trying to legitimize their presence in the UAE. I re-examined the page before publishing this article and the numbers were the same.
Recently, there has been a hullabaloo on social media about the location of The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)’s World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) in 2024. Set to occur in Dubai, the most-populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and capital of the Dubai Emirate, it was panned on social media as willfully ignorant, divisive, disappointing, embarrassing, spineless, craven, shameful, disgusting, disregarding queer librarians, driven by money, and resulting in a conference attended by “mostly bigots and…centrists.” Others criticized it as undemocratic, since the IFLA’s own press release showed majority opposition among those voting on the resolution, especially those from “Europe, North America…Latin America and the Caribbean”. Some proposed that the conference could be held any other location in the region that wasn’t hostile and “outwardly dangerous…to human rights,” stated they would not join the IFLA as a result, called for a boycott on the conference, or fumed that the decision was being blamed by the IFLA on members from “Asia-Oceania, the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.” It appeared there were a small number in favor, who seemed excited that IFLA’s conference was coming to their country, but it is not known how representative that is, as such individuals appear to be outliers. [1]
What is not talked about as much is the congress/conference of the International Council on Archives (ICA) in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, set for October 9 to October 13. Official materials call it a “unique chance” to network with fellow archivists and a place to promote the “best examples” of achievement in archival and records management. The ICA claims it will be somewhere where archivists can connect with professionals across the world to build networks to empower our “knowledge societies,” all under the “hospitality of Abu Dhabi.” Considering the response to the IFLA conference, I have to ask whether the ICA conference is, rather than being some networking opportunity, a slap in the face for queer people and unsafe for those people? It is an indication of the non-neutrality of archives and un-representative nature of the ICA? Should the conference, due to its location, be boycotted? [2] In this post, I’ll answer those questions and explain why the ICA’s reasoning is flawed, and talk about the deeper problems with this conference, which go beyond the conference taking place somewhere that is hostile to queer people.
Much of the opposition to the IFLA’s conference appeared to center around lack of rights in the UAE for queer people, more than any other reason. There was some mention of how the location went against the IFLA’s own values. Some called for a new location in a “developing country”. There are further problems with the ICA’s choice of Abu Dhabi as the conference location. It’s not the focus on climate change, sustainability, accessibility (of information), memory work, peace, and tolerance, nor even the theme of enriching “knowledge societies,” which are welcome. Rather it is that the conference is tied directly to the UAE’s government. One speaker, Abdulla Majed Al-Ali, currently Director General of the UAE’s National Library and Archives, formerly worked for Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism. He also worked in the country’s armed forces. Another speaker, Dr. Abdullah Al Raisi, chair of the ICA’s conference organizing committee, was formerly director general of that archives. That institution has a message from the UAE’s Vice President, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy head of state of the entire country, on its website. The archives declares that safeguarding documents is an important responsibility of a “sovereign, enlightened state,” notes the importance of improved archiving to preserve the nation’s history, and states that this archives will reinforce the concept of “institutionalization and enhance[d] national identity.” [3]
That isn’t all. The UAE’s National Library and Archivesis directly involved in fostering nationalism, instilling loyalty, values, and virtues of the UAE’s founder, Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and “enhancing national identity.” Other pages state that the archives aims to enhance civic spirit. One individual working there even did public relations for Dubai’s Crown Prince. This goes beyond the archives’ objective to preserve the country’s history, duties, and agreements/partnerships/memberships in various international organizations. The institution’s approach appears to be very nationalistic. It is reinforced in part by having the National Records & Archives Authority, which focuses on preserving the “antique history” of Oman in an effort to “build a brighter future,” as an exhibitor and even more by having theAbu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau as a conference sponsor. The latter is an issue primarily because the Bureau aims to champion the Abu Dhabi Emirate, one of the country’s seven emirates (all are in a constitutional federation), as a “dynamic global business events leader.” [4]
Surely, like the IFLA’s executives, some from ICA will defend this location choice. They may point to exhibitors such as non-profits like Al Ghadeer Emirati Crafts, or companies like Rookie Ninja, Phase One Photo, Clarivate, and Artefactual. They might point out that the Emirates News Agency is wholeheartedly supporting the conference, note that participants would join a “global community of archivists and industry professionals,” or note that you can visit interesting local sites (there is even a special program for one’s spouse or partner). These executives could says the country as tourist-friendly and “world-renowned for its social and modern environment.” They might declare that the conference can be a great business opportunity to reach a global audience, point to the expansive program with many topics and sessions, the conference’s sub-themes, or other features.
All of this ignores the fact that FamilySearch, a genealogical arm of the Mormons, uses prison labor to index records, as I’ve previously written about on this blog is a sponsor. Xerox, EXPM, Artefactual, NVSSoft, Zeutschel, and Nirvana Travel and Tourism are sponsors as well. Also, former French President Francois Hollande is a keynote speaker. [5] On the one hand, he supported the legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBTQ+ couples, which passed the French National Assembly in 2013. On the other, hestrongly supported the U.S.-backed Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, which began in March 2015, and militarily intervened in a former French colony, Mali, from January 2013 to July 2014, obstinately to fight Islamic extremism, but also to protect “French interests” in the country, with a continued French military operation until November 2022. [6]
This conference is nothing to look forward to (as Preservica declared), praise, be grateful for, or treat it like just another conference, which was decided upon by the ICA sometime before November 2022. Is it possible to experience “Arabian hospitality” or “discover new horizons” in a country hosting this “cultural heritage” event which is strongly supported by UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan? [7] This conference is clearly positioned to promote the UAE, whitewashing its problematic elements. The U.S. State Department’s latest human rights report, not an unbiased source by any measure, on the country, cites “credible reports” of arbitrary detention and arrest, privacy invasions, media and free expression restrictions, internet freedom limits, unfair and unfree elections, curtailed political participation, criminalization of same-sex consensual actions between adults, and prohibition on independent trade unions. This conference will, without a doubt, boost the country’s role as a regional “trade and investment hub,” support the country’s desire to attract additional foreign direct investment, and push to shift the country’s economy to a so-called “knowledge economy” in the next ten years. [8]
This screenshot from a video on the official YouTube channel for the conference (mostly has Arabic-language videos), from February 2020, shows that planning for the conference there began at that time, if not earlier than that.
Ultimately, the ICA is shilling for the government of UAE. Its assessment of the UAE is no better than the country’s self-submitted Universal Periodic Review reports to the U.N. Human Rights Council. The official site for the conference boasts that the UAE is “ideal tourist destination,” declares that women have equal rights to men, and calls for modest dressing, especially in religious areas, and recommends visitors respect the “Muslim values of the local community.” While some of this makes sense, the description misrepresents the UAE as a rosy place. It boggles the mind that any of the other 21 Arab states, or any other states in Asia, Oceania, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, or North Africa, were not chosen as a conference location instead. [9]
There is only one response to this decision by the ICA: to boycott the conference in Abu Dhabi and encourage sponsors, like Preservica, to pull out. This call is not Arabphobic, Islamophobic, nor does it engage in what some call “homonationalism“. Many governments in the Middle East have laws infringing upon LGBTQ+ rights, either due to religious conservative governments and/or holdover laws from colonial control. In the case of the UAE, although it was under British control between 1820 to 1971, the Arab rulers were nominally independent. They could “keep the peace,” with arbitration of disputes through the British, to abstain from relations with other European countries, while the British committed to providing the rulers, and their governments, with protection against any “unprovoked foreign aggression,” but did not interfere within the countries. This ended when the United Arab Emirates was formed in December 1971, ending the unofficial British colonies in the Persian Gulf region. [10]
As such, the homophobic laws of the UAE do not have roots in colonialism, but in the country’s legislative history. They include capital punishment for male-male and female-female sexual intercourse, punishments for sex “outside marriage” and cross-dressing, while gender reassignment surgery appears to be illegal (or hard to obtain). This “conservative” and regional hub for tourism reportedly allows lesbian or gay relationships under decriminalization of cohabitation by unmarried couples, in 2021. It is not known whether this is enforced evenly or if such relationships are socially accepted by residents. Previously, it has been reported that the country’s authorities investigated a children’s magazine which depicted a “multi-coloured character” with claims that it promoted homosexuality, resulting in its retraction. The UAE also refused to air Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (possibly because some saw Gwen Stacy as trans) in the country or films like Lightyear (for a kiss between lesbian characters). [11]
Even Arab countries like Bahrain, Djibouti, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria have better legal strictures toward queer people than UAE, even though they still are restrictive. The conference’s current location in Abu Dhabi runs afoul of the ICA’s own mission stating that archives are fundamental to “identity, democracy, accountability and good governance.” How is accountability and democracy possible when the conference is a vehicle for the country’s government to promote its interests? Will any criticism of the government be allowed? Or will it be discouraged to not annoy and anger the government? Will any topics about LGBTQ+ sessions be allowed? The IFLA said that the latter was not possible and admitted that homosexuality is not recognized by the UAE constitution “and therefore illegal.” [12] A well thought-out thread on X/Twitter by Naomi House opposing the location of the IFLA’s conference in Dubai argued that conferences need to be inclusive (already in-person conferences exclude many in the library field from participating) of all members, stated that this location has laws endangering many with “encoded legal bigotry,” and called for online conferences which are safe for all groups and members. The same logic can be applied to this ICA conference.
Considering that the ICA has invested time, and money, into this conference, its sponsors, and location, it is extremely unlikely it will be reversed. The fact that the conference is in the UAE is indicative that the values of the ICA do not matter when money, prestige, and influence win out over common sense. Whether “true universality and inclusiveness” can exist isn’t the issue, but rather that sets a bad precedent that only countries like the UAE “can afford to host.” It may hint at “institutional homophobia” of the ICA, and a stance against inclusion and diversity, all of which was said in opposition to the IFLA’s decision. Those in favor of this choice will declare that it will foster community spirit between archivists across the world, claim it will be “unforgettable,” joyful, or even say that the conference will enrich the “UAE’s society and the fields of documentation and archiving.” [13] Having the conference in the UAE will weaken any (likely underground) efforts, by those on the ground, to improve lives for LGBTQ+ people within the country, by legitimizing the country’s laws, hurting any possibility of change.
Some months ago, a LinkedIn message from Sara, the Marketing Director for the conference, strangely extended a special invitation through a LinkedIn message to the National Security Archive (NSA), even though I’m not a manager there. She declared that NSA has widely recognized expertise, advancing historical research, and promoting transparency. She tried to convince me by saying that discussions at the conference would be enriched by NSA’s participation, claiming that the event would be influential, exceptional, and highly anticipated, and make history as taking place in the “Middle East for the first time ever.” [14] This marketing effort could be why a search for the words “ica abu dhabi” is dominated by tweets from the official account on X/Twitter for the conference, and very few responses from anyone else. Recent tweets make this clear. One tweet only a couple days ago from Piql claiming that the conference will be the “world’s biggest archiving event.”
All these arguments ignore the unsustainable nature of the UAE. A supermajority of the country’s energy comes from petroleum, coal, and natural gas, and only a small sliver coming from solar, wind, and biofuels, according to the International Energy Agency. The Energy Information Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Energy, adds that the country is energy-intensive since it is one of the largest petroleum producers in the world. Their assessment states that the UAE economy is fueled largely by “natural gas…petroleum and other liquids.” Hosting the conference in the UAE stands against at least four of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, [15] which the IFLA claimed they followed. It is also why some have argued that the hosting of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as COP-28) in the UAE from November 30 to December 12 of this year is a form of greenwashing. The country hired PR companies to promote itself as the COP-28 head, pay users to clean the Wikipedia page of the COP-28 president (Sultan Al Jaber), run promotional campaigns on social platforms, polish its “green credentials,” and preparation of a list covering “touchy and sensitive issues”. [16]
Those supporting Abu Dhabi as the conference location may echo arguments of library associations in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and elsewhere in the region which supported Dubai as the IFLA conference location. They supported the decision as a positive opportunity for Arab librarians and libraries, and for other reasons. As such, it makes sense there is positive sentiment by those individuals and groups toward this conference. Furthermore, there is value in standing against “historical biases towards Western countries” when choosing conference locations. [17] However, hosting the conference in the UAE makes it unlikely there would be open exchange of ideas, especially due to human rights violations, including about migrant workers and other individuals, within the country. In addition, the choice of Abu Dhabi by the ICA and Dubai by the IFLA stands against established principles of each organization. Both serve as promotional opportunities for the UAE. They whitewash the country’s reality.
The conference’s location in the UAE is interlinked with discussions about colonialism, Western imposition of values onto other parts of the world, and racism, at minimum. While archivists obviously cannot address this in one fell swoop, there is something that can be done at the present: boycotting both conferences. This should be accompanied with advocacy for a safer and more inclusive virtual/online conference. It could avoid librarians, or archivists, fighting among one other over a conference location, where nationalism comes to the fore, especially the case with the division between those opposing or supporting the IFLA conference’s location. Archivists should express these views on social media and directly to the ICA and IFLA management.
Dr Abdulla Alraisi (left), Cultural Adviser of the UAE Presidential Court and Board of Directors member and Member of the Executive Committee of the UAE National Library and Archives, and ICA President, David Fricker (right), virtually signing a memorandum for understanding for the ICA conference in July 2022. On the same webpage it is stated that the conference was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also claimed that the conference will have a “positive financial result for ICA’s ongoing programmes” and would provide “much-needed” financial resources for the ICA. Apart from the issue of the ICA depending on UAE oil money, one question comes to my mind from this screenshot: this signing could be virtual, why couldn’t the whole conference?
[9] “Results of the WLIC 2024 Advisory Referendum and Volunteer Survey,” IFLA, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “Universal Periodic Review – United Arab Emirates,” U.N. Human Rights Council, accessed Aug. 16, 2023; “Travel Information,” ICA Congress Abu Dhabi 2023, accessed Aug. 15, 2023. As I noted back in April, late Lebanese-American scholar and journalist Jack G. Shaheen in one of his seminal works, Reel Bad Arabs, defines Arabs as the hundreds of millions of people who reside in, and the millions around the world in the diaspora, from 22 Arab states: Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. One of the problems with the IFLA survey is that it does not say WHY people in regions defined as “Asia-Oceania,” “Middle East and North Africa,” and “Sub-Saharan Africa” supported Dubai as the conference location.
[12] “WLIC 2024: Briefing Paper to the Advisory Referendum,” IFLA, Jul. 2023. The same document noted that the IFLA previously chose Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a city in “a country with restrictive policies on same-sex sexual acts,” but they went through with it anyhow. They also admitted that “many LGBTQ+ potential delegates may feel unsafe or anxious” as a result of the conference location in UAE, answering the concern of one user, among others like here.
[14] I never responded to her message, as it appeared to be spam, and may send her a message back after publishing this article.
[15] Specifically the goals “Affordable and Clean Energy”, “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, “Sustainable Cities and Communities”, “Responsible Consumption and Production”, and possibly “Climate Action”, with stated UN action toward these goals and others. The UAE claims that they are committed to ” achieve sustainable development…sustainable governance…[and] adopting consumption and production methods that enhance the quality of life of the present and future generations,” but alternate energies are not even listed on the page.
Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. Today’s post comes from Burkely Hermann, Metadata Librarian for the National Security Archive and current I&A Blog Coordinator. There will be spoilers for each of the books, animated series, films, and other media he will be discussing.
Eight archivists-of-sorts in fiction. Top row, from left to right: Archie the Archivist (Regular Show), Jocasta Nu (Star Wars), Sunati (Always Human), Russ (Be Cool, Scooby Doo!). Bottom row from left to right: Unnamed archivist / records clerk (My Dictator Boyfriend), Atropos (Lore Olympus), Clotho (Lore Olympus), and Clark (Joker)
In January 2018, Cate Peebles wrote about examples of archives in popular culture, specifically in true crime documentaries. In her post, on this blog, she argued that archivists are missing in “moments of recognition” and said that representations of actual archivists are “few and far between”. She concluded that no popular image of an archivist exists, but that archivists are “more present than ever” even if unseen, adding that “without records and their keepers, there are no stories to tell.” In this article, I’d like to highlight some examples of fictional archivists that I’ve come across through the years, especially since starting my WordPress blog on the subject.
For one, there are some characters who who merge characters of archivists and librarians. This includes a reference librarian who manages a Yale University Library room which combines elements of archives and libraries into one institution in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) and a character who is almost an archivist, named Archie the Archivist (voiced by John Cygan) in Regular Show. In the latter case, Archie works in a library and becomes a guardian to protect analog data, which could have some parallels to archivists as keepers of information.
Similarly, there’s Madame Jocasta Nu in Star Wars, specifically in Attack of the Clones and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. She is played by Alethea McGrath in the film and voiced by Flo Di Re in the animated series. Madame Nu is described as a librarian and archivist, but seems to manage a library-archives hybrid known as the Jedi Archives, within the Jedi Temple. She is best-known for declaring, in Attack of the Clones, that “if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist,” an arrogant and untrue statement which ignores reality of archives as memory institutions and their role in society. Madame Nu differs fundamentally from the unnamed librarian in the dark, haunting Thatcher Memorial Library shown in a scene of Citizen Kane (1941). The librarian in the latter has been described as one of the world’s meanest archivists. Played by Georgia Backus, she has her hair tied up in a bun and has “an intimidating stare on her face”, acting as a “real dragon lady at the gates of knowledge.” This is not the type of archives you want to go to! It is not the image which should be projected.
There are various archivists, of sorts, in other media. For instance, in the webcomic, Always Human, Rae, a friend of the protagonist, Sunati, dreams of becoming an archivist and fulfills this dream during the run of the comic. More directly, an episode of Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, entitled “Silver Scream”, features Russ, a young film archivist who works in a film archive room and is a bit eccentric. Other archivists appear in issues of the popular webcomic Lore Olympus in 1980s style dress, helping characters who request records about their past memories, or in the webcomic My Dictator Boyfriend. In the latter case, the archivist/records clerk is manipulated to write a birth form for the ruler’s wife, Anna, even though the son isn’t even born! [1]
There are other prominent depictions. For one, there is a records clerk, named Clark (played by by Brian Tyree Henry), who brings out a medical hospital record for Arthur Fleck in Joker (2019). However, Fleck, who later becomes the Joker, steals the record from the clerk because he hasn’t filled out the appropriate paperwork to take the file with him. Then there’s the well-known depiction of a classy archivist named Abigail Chase (played by Diane Kruger) who appears in National Treasure (2004) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007). It is a depiction which has been oft discussed by archivists. Archivists also make an appearance in former webcomics like Power Ballad, and currently running ones like Brimstone and Roses.
There are many more examples, like supposed newspaper archivist (and former newspaper reporter) in the animated series, Stretch Armstrong, who has a newspaper archives in his basement. He declares in one episode, “some say I’m packrat, archivist I say!” Even The Simpsons has a character who runs the Springfield Historical Society, in the episode “Lisa the Iconoclast” which could be called an archivist. Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, otherwise known as Tangled: TheSeries, features, along with other archivy themes, a keeper of a museum, known as The Spire, named Calliope (voiced by Natalie Palamides). She is a scholar who does magic tricks and has a messy library. Most recently, a character named Arizal (voiced by Christine Marine Cabanos) is the protagonist of Recorded by Arizal. She puts together vlogs explaining why she wants to be a record keeper, often another name for an archivist.
However, very few, if any, of these archivists have any professional training. Furthermore, some are archivists in name only, or are confused with librarians. Current fictional depiction of archivists is not very positive. After all, there are even books that depict archivists are villains, or others in which archivists which rarely appear. [2] While there are recent webcomics like Vowrune, Fluidium, and Don’t Look at the Sky which feature archives, none of them depict archivists. There has not been, that I’m aware of, any characters which accurately depict an archivist. Surely, there is prevalence of archival source material in “popular recent true crime docuseries” like The Keepers, The Jinx, and Making a Murderer as Cate Peebles noted in 2018, but no archivists.
Often scholars have focused on the role of Star Wars when it comes to depictions of archives, and archivists. [3] Others, such as Gianni Penzo Doria, director of State Archives of Venice, have gone broader, noting archival themes in many films, such as Brazil (1985), Blade (1998), Julie & Julia (2009), Fail Safe (1964), Philadelphia (1993), and Erin Brockovitch (2000). Doria further argued that role of the archivist is lost in common perceptions, with “boring old stereotypes” and “poor visibility” of archives, with archivists becoming caricatures, rather than protagonists. He also states that in film archives are only respected when they are seen as a “sacred place” which preserves “memory of its creator and guarantees accountability and citizens’ rights”, but that archivists are not shown in those films. [4] In the preface to Doria’s book, Micaela Procaccia, president of National Association of Italian Archives (ANAI), urged archivists to make an effort to “spread awareness of the central role of their work and their professional skills in society.” His words ring true.
Others have rightly noted that many of the depictions of archivists “reinforce stereotypes that surround the profession”, including in National Treasure. Nuances in the archival field are often lost in popular depictions. Kyle Neill, a Senior Archivist at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives, has focused on this in his posts on such depictions over the years, as have others. [5] Additional scholars have focused on reel archivists and themes of records, and archives, in espionage fiction. In the case of the former, this included arguments that film images of archivists can be negative to archivists and a risk to the profession, causing negative effects on archival professional identity and may result in potential researchers having “negative connotations about archives and archivists.” For the latter, in such fiction, information is power, with stories often stating that documentation can reconstruct someone’s personal identity and career, and compiling a large amount of information to learn about their enemy, while events and personal information are intertwined. Unsurprisingly, in such stories, archives are shown as repositories of institutional memory, even if they do not focus on the dilemmas that archivists face when torn between their duty to their employer and their duty to society. [6]
Additional scholars have reviewed films, novels, and TV series, finding common themes. Karen Buckley, in fall 2008, argued that these popular culture medium had stories, with archives and records, which equated protection of truth to protection of a record, made archival experiences interior and archival spaces closed, had lost or buried archives, or stated that information within records centers around “the search for self or truth.” This inevitably leads into a strong division between real and fictional archives. [7] Arlene Schumland went further, studying images of archives and archivists “based on a reading of 128 novels”, examining how these novels disseminate and perpetuate “many stereotypes of the archival profession.” Others followed suit, examining issues surrounding the “image and stereotypes of archivists as presented in films”, and arguing that archivists in those films “follow generally accepted stereotypes.”
While archives, and archivists, continue to be portrayed poorly, and inaccurately, in fiction, in Star Warsand beyond, it remains important for archivists to tell the truth about the profession. This can, and should, go hand-in-hand with fights for unionization, better working conditions, and recognition, in order to make clear that archival work remains vital in this day and age.
[2] This includes archivists in the webcomicsHeirs of the Veil and Leif & Thorn. There’s also a librarian named Emily Quackfaster who appears in an episode of DuckTalesbut works in a library. If you squinted, you could see Theoda and Pothina, who are two researchers who work at the Savior Institute, in Cleopatra in Space, as archivists, or George and Lance in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. There’s also Mystique, otherwise known as Raven Darkhölme, who lost contact with her friend Destiny (also known as Irene Adler), who she found “working as an archivist in the Alamogordo nuclear research facilities in New Mexico.” Additionally, a solo archivist / lone arranger named Filis appears in bonus material for the live-action TV series, Ultraman Taiga, while multiple episodes of Vatican Miracle Examiner feature an archivist.
[3] Personally, I have been focusing on Star Wars more myself, with recent posts positing that R2-D2 may be an accidental archivist, restricted records and record seizure in Star Wars Rebels, and an upcoming post about an archivist, in name only, in Star Wars Crimson Reign. There were also category on Wookieepedia for “archivists” in Star Wars, although it is hard to know how many are actually archivists.
Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. Today’s post comes from Burkely Hermann, Metadata Librarian for the National Security Archive and current I&A Blog Coordinator. There will be spoilers for each of the books, animated series, films, and other media he will be discussing.
This organizational chart of the National Archives and Records Administration is an example of an archival bureaucracy
Large government, corporate, and private archives are bureaucratic. Even though the so-called Information Revolution threatened to upend existing practices within archival bureaucracies, and structures of these institutions, new records management strategies developed, in Europe and U.S., which are as hierarchical as previous methods. [1] Bureaucracy remains firmly entrenched, in language, practices, and strategies of collecting institutions, whether the National Archives or Library of Congress. In this post, I’ll discuss the role of bureaucracies in archival institutions and connect my findings to fictional depictions.
Recordkeeping often lends itself to bureaucracy, whether in non-profit organizations, corporations, or governments. Sometimes practices change and reinforce the bureaucracy of these institutions. This can include discouraging creation of “rich narrative reports”, while supporting archival classification and arrangement as an “infrastructural tool”. Furthermore, some bureaucracies are repressive, affecting restitution of captured wartime records. [2]
Unsurprisingly, culture of documentation has changed from being transactional to bureaucratic as organizationally sophisticated bureaucracies first developed in the 19th century. Scholar Francis Blouin called for new principles about diplomatics, referring to study of form, creation, and transmission of records, and their relation to facts within them, and their creators, to order to “identify, evaluate, and communicate their nature and authenticity.” [3] Blouin argued that bureaucratic culture produces transactional and literary records, systematic recordkeeping, analytic records, and records created in respect to “sovereignty of people in democratic societies”. In Blouin’s view, in such societies, public accountability necessitates “particular forms and genres of recordkeeping.” [4]
Other scholars have noted growing complexity, changing nature, and interrelatedness of government bureaucracies. Recently there has been a tendency to “free up” bureaucracy while encouraging entrepreneurship and risk-taking. The latter undermines archival missions. [5] Modern bureaucracies have defined existing file systems, even as archivists and historians are presented with many challenges. This includes influence on archival theory, especially by Weberian bureaucratic thinking, and controlling access to records. This was even the case in Eastern Europe, with political shifts in latter years of the Cold War caused archival access procedures to change. [6]
Modern bureaucracies have produced a “sheer mass of records”. In the past, this caused archivists to use sampling in order to determine “research potential” of records and appraise them. Even so, archivists continued to experience frustrations when “dealing with” bureaucracy, while being a part of complex bureaucratic structures, which can include competing groups. [7] More recently, there has been discussion of how various technologies can change bureaucratic processes, including in the United Nations and Vatican. Other scholars have asked whether the role of archives in the life-cycle of government records is a way of “holding democratic governments accountable”. The latter is the case in Germany, which has a strict division between records management and archival functions, with records remaining in custody of government bureaucracies. [8]
Fictional depictions of bureaucracies reflect some of these realities. One of the best known examples are the Vogans in Douglas Adams’ TheHitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, who destroy Earth because the planet is in the way of a hyperspace freeway. They are the embodiment of bureaucrats. The Vogans are inefficient, with absurdly lengthy official processes, and their continued efforts to thwart “any real progress in the galaxy.” Adams’ makes clear a metaphor: the house of protagonist Arthur Dent will be destroyed by an uncaring (and extremist) bureaucracy, just as the Vogans are doing to the planet. [9] Archives are not directly shown, but characters in the 2005 film view a restricted archival record from the Magrathean Public Archive. The record cuts off before revealing the name of a supercomputer, with a message stating that information has been deleted, as I noted in my post on the Issues & Advocacy blog back in December.
While bureaucracies are famously criticized in novels like Catch-22 and The Trial, they are a major part of other media, like the acclaimed animated series, Futurama. In the series, Hermes Conrad (voiced by Phil LaMarr), is a bureaucrat who works for the Central Bureaucracy, which manages legal, financial, and business matters in the city of New New York. In one episode, “Lethal Inspection”, a physical file archive is shown, with Hermes taking a folder out of a file cabinet. It is later revealed that he was the inspector who approved a defective robot named Bender (voiced by John DiMaggio), after be burns the file.
Brad Houston, a Document Services Manager for the city of Milwaukee, said the physical file archive is really a records center because it has semi-active records. He described how the Milwaukee records center works, noting the importance of filling out transfer forms correctly, pointing out that records are organized by box with specific assigned numbers, and importance of records management training. As another archivist put it, information and records management is as much about understanding bureaucratic processes and human behavior as it is about the records and information.
While there are many other examples of fictional bureaucracies, [10] one specifically comes to mind: the Elven bureauacracy in the children’s adventure and supernatural comedy-drama animated series, Hilda. An elf named Alfur (voiced by Rasmus Hardiker) is a series protagonist. Like the other elves in the series, they can only be seen if their tiny paperwork is signed and filled out. In the first episode, the protagonist, Hilda (voiced by Bella Ramsey), tries to come to peace with the elves, who see her as a menace because she stepped through their houses for years without realizing it. In the process, she goes through various Elven political officials who declare there is nothing that can be done and that the matter is out of their hands.
As the series continues, Alfur becomes a correspondent in the city of Trolberg, and files reports about his daily activities in the city, where Hilda is now living. Characters such as Frida (voiced by Ameerah Falzon-Ojo) and Deputy Gerda (voiced by Lucy Montgomery) are shown to care about the paperwork as much as him, as does the witchy librarian named Kaisa (voiced by Kaisa Hammarlund). In other episodes, Alfur proudly tells a legendary Elf story about a fight over a real estate contract, he meets a society which doesn’t use paperwork, and emphasizes the importance of reading the fine print. The series also features elf-mail, known as “email”, which is sent from the countryside into the city with various couriers, Alfur saying that elves pride themselves on the accuracy of historical records, and impressed by how Hilda is able to use loopholes. In the next to last episode of the show’s second season, Alfur is able to convince an elf sent as his replacement to write an eyewitness confirmation form, confirming that his reports from Trolberg, said to be “the most requested from the official archive”, are accurate and true.
Hilda, emphasizes importance of accountability within hierarchies more than fictional bureaucracies shown in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Futurama. Alfur is graded on a performance management system and experiences some level of bureaucratic accountability. The latter is achieved, within institutions, through strategies, administrative rules, budget reviews, and performance management. It can also be accompanied by citizen accountability, which attempts to hold government administrators accountable through forums and laws, using communication technologies to directly access bureaucratic information, monitor government activities, and give feedback on delivery of public services. However, Futurama and Hilda make clear the value of records managers (and archivists) who have developed strategies and experience with relationship-building and negotiating bureaucratic politics.
Many archives, these days, are not “faceless” or “nameless” as those in fiction, nor do they encourage falsification of information to protect individuals. Instead, some likely came into existence during the Progressive Era to “lessen anxiety” about issues such as race. While some bureaucratic records, within archives, may be considered “cold”, there have been efforts to humanize the files, especially those about human atrocities. Even so, some archivists remain impatient with “inanities” of bureaucracies they are part of. [11]
Bureaucracy remains part and parcel of archives. There have been efforts, in recent years, to reduce bureaucracies said to be “overlapping” and related claims that government by bureaucracy is dead or no longer necessary. Despite this, committing information to paper, then managing, or shuffling, that paper within a bureaucracy remains a “source of an essential power.” After all, records have the power to legitimize bureaucracy, while promoting political hegemony and constructing social memory. In fact, in the 1985 film, Brazil, a controlling bureaucracy rules people’s lives and crushes spirits. [12] The film’s protagonist, Sam Lowry, has been described by some as an archivist who has “dreamlike moments” and sees himself as a winged superhero. He tries to tamper with data in order to save the woman he loves before his vision is shown to be an illusion.
While there won’t be any “bureaucratic cock-ups” or Vogan Constructor Fleets demolishing Earth to make way for a hyperspace expressway, [13] sophisticated and complex bureaucracy will remain an integral part of archives, whether we like it or not.
[10] The Wikipedia category “Bureaucracy in fiction” lists 50 entries, including Loki TV series, the anti-communist novel 1984, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Pale King.
[13] Adams, Douglas. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” In The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide, 16, 25-26. New York: Gramercy Books, 2005. Vogans are also described, on page 38, as “one of the most unpleasant races in the galaxy…[not] evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous”.
Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of Steering Committee member, Burkely Hermann, National Security Archive, and current I&A Blog Coordinator. Other members currently on the I&A Steering Committee include Danielle Simpkins, Caitlin Rizzo, Sheridan Sayles, Liz Call, Holly Rose McGee, and Claire Gordon.
1) What was your first experience working with archives?
I first worked in an archives after graduating from college with my B.A. in Political Science and History, as a researcher at the Maryland State Archives for a project trying to track down the stories of Maryland Revolutionary War soldiers, called the “Finding the Maryland 400” project, having a flexible start and end time, often either working with a historian on staff or independently. While that job only lasted six months as the grant money from a non-profit ran out, it began my interest in archives, which was rekindled in later years when I started my MLIS degree and worked at NARA’s College Park location as a work study in my last semester.
While I was drawn toward genealogy when working at the Maryland State Archives, I remember digitizing documents, using a push cart to move heavy books from the stacks to my desk, the in-house system I used to input information, or the many databases I used day in and day out. On the other hand, there were mold remediation efforts during the end of my time there. Worst of all, however, was the public transit nightmare I endured to get to the archives. Every day, I went on a light rail train to the end of the line, then a caught bus down to the archives itself. One wrong transfer or traffic would cause delays either by minutes or by hours. One major lesson I learned from the whole experience was to work somewhere that is accessible through public transportation!
2) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?
That is a hard question. I would say precarity in the archives profession is very important, as many of my jobs since graduating have been precarious, whether working at a grant-funded position at the Maryland State Archives, an unpaid internship for NARA, or a graduate assistantship at University of Maryland, where I earned my MLIS degree, focusing on Archives and Digital Curation. Connected to this are those trying to unionize archivists, have fair pay, and safe working conditions, among other efforts to help archival issues.
Currently, I work at a non-profit which relies on grant funding, so in that way, it is a bit of a precarious position, I suppose, as a loss of funding could lead, possibly, to cuts in wages and benefits. I am glad that archival precarity has received a lot of attention in recent years and I hope that it continues to be seen as important by those in the profession, including in the SAA. This seems by the case from what I can gather when filling out the A*Census II.
3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?
I hope to connect with like-minded archivists who are concerned with various archival issues, such as reparative processing, redescription, institutional sustainability, institutional racism, and preserving social media posts. I’ll be using my perspective to positively contribute to the Issues & Advocacy Section (I&A) to continue existing advocacy and outreach efforts, including continuing to promote the value and importance of the archival profession.
4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?
Well, read a lot of webcomics and watch a bunch of animated series. And I write reviews of shows and comics I read, some of which have archivists and librarians! Also, for fun, I write fiction and incorporate some archivists into some of my stories. I occasionally do family history research for both sides of my family and have some blogs about that as well. When I’m not doing all of that, and it’s good weather, I go on hikes and read books.
Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of new Vice Chair / Chair-Elect Andrea Belair, Library Project Specialist at the Clark Art Institute. She is left her position as chair in Sept. 2022, upon accepting a new job as a school librarian near her record store.
What was your first experience working with archives?
I wish I could say that I’d had experience in an archive before I was in graduate school, but I can’t remember any. They always sounded cool and mysterious, but I didn’t really work with archives much until my first internship during graduate school, where I processed a small collection of records of the local fire department. The internship was at the North Jersey History and Genealogical Center in Morristown, New Jersey, and I had to travel there by train from Rutgers in New Brunswick. I created a finding aid in EAD, the records themselves were very dirty, so I had to clean them off and asked tons of questions about everything I did. The archivist there was great as a person and as a professional. This was only a part of an internship that had many facets, but I think processing that collection made me feel that I’d like a goal of becoming an archivist, although I was often told back then that I’d never find a job in archiving so I was trying to keep my hopes minimal.
2) What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?
As many others have said with this question, it’s hard to answer because there are so many issues that are so important. I am always thinking about climate change but I’m not sure what archivists really can do about it, and I think about decolonization a lot. However, one issue that has been hitting close to home lately for me is that of mental health. I know that archivists are not alone in this whatsoever. Lots of archivists take a beating when it comes to their mental health, and this is one area in which much of the general workforce became more aware of during the pandemic. I have just changed jobs, but the toxicity of some of my former workplaces, combined with things like the stress of a low salary, and especially the lack of recognition for your work, can really take their toll on one’s mental health. I have been in situations where supervisors didn’t understand what I did and didn’t trust that I understood it either, and that could be very stressful and taxing. It’s hard to constantly feel the need to prove yourself and your worth, and it has led me into some very dark places mentally. Once I even asked a supervisor outright to try to trust me because I’d like their support, to which the response was that they hadn’t been the one to hire me (although they had indeed hired me) and that was rather demoralizing. It takes advocacy to an entirely new level when you need to try to uphold respect for the profession while trying to advocate for recognition for yourself as an individual who deserves respect as a human being. This really comes down to workplaces in general, but many archivists are employed in academia, which can sometimes have tendencies to maintain a toxic hierarchy that can be hard to change. I cannot imagine how frustrating this must be for others who don’t have the levels of privileges that I’ve had.
3) What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?
I would very much like to regain my focus and become more involved in advocacy for the archival profession. As I said in the last question, I think I’ve become a bit out of the loop and focused a lot on my personal circumstances lately, and I’d really like to connect my experiences with the profession in general again. I am now working in a museum, which is quite different from the academic environments that I’ve been involved in for some time, so it will be interesting to be able to see issues and advocacy that arise within this framework. I’m already seeing a lot of differences.
4) What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?
I love hiking and I co-own a record store with my husband. Now that winter is here, I’m outside a little less often and inside the record store more often.
Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of the Steering Committee member, Caitlin Rozzo, Archivist at the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center, Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. Other members currently on the I&A Steering Committee include Danielle Simpkins, Burkely Hermann, Sheridan Sayles, Liz Call, Holly Rose McGee, and Claire Gordon.
What was your first experience working with archives? This is always a favorite question of mine! The first time I encountered the archive, I was a sophomore in college. In the spring, I decided to launch myself head first into a project that I was objective unqualified to perform and I applied for a summer job as a Research Assistant for a professor on campus, Dr. Marguerite Rippy. I spent what felt like a magical summer researching an all-black production of Macbeth that Orson Welles directed as part of his work with the Federal Theatre Project, which required me to go to places like the Library of Congress and National Archives and Records Association. I remember very distinctly my first ever trip to an archive was the Library of Congress. The day before I met with Dr. Rippy who told me very plainly that the goal for the first day was simply to get my research card and warned me that the first day of research you always feel very lost and a little like an idiot, so as long as I got the card I should celebrate my success. Fast forward to a very confused 19 year old wondering in the tunnels (I am not even sure how I got there) at 3:00 p.m. so desperate to leave and so terrified of asking for help that I followed a group of people with suitcases around for about ten minutes hoping somehow that suitcases signified an intent to leave a building. (Truly, who would drag around suitcases if they were just planning to Sorkin walk through the tunnel? This part of the story remains a mystery.) The good news is that an hour later, I did manage to find the exit and, utterly disoriented, make my way to the metro. I kept coming back and about a week later I made my first archival “discovery”—a little advertisement for the show in Texas where the black-cast was segregated from white production staff. Two years later, when I was searching for internships I applied to the Library of Congress Junior Fellowship program. I ended up staying there for three fabulous years (and, reader, I still wound up lost in those tunnels again and again, but seriously it remains very worth it.)
What is an archival issue that means a lot to you? This is difficult for me to answer because there are a lot of things that concern me in archives. I was incredibly fortunate to get my MLIS at the University of Maryland when Dr. Ricardo Punzalan was teaching there and I often repeat a phrase he would say that feels central to my engagement with and love of archives: “History is offensive. If it doesn’t offend you, then you might not be looking that closely.” He is such an amazing example of how a critical approach to a subject is born out of a great love for that subject and a belief in that subject’s value. This is a nice way to say that many things concern me, but that’s probably because I actively strive to be a person who is concerned and who is attentive to the struggles of others.
I would say if I had to pick one thing to talk about in this moment that issue would be divestment and prison abolition in archives and special collections. I am part of a wonderful group that meets regularly to talk about the ways the ideologies of the prison-industrial-complex pervade special collections and the ways that we benefit as a profession from prisons and prison labor. I recently have been working on a statement and thinking about how to phrase this for folks that might think that Special Collections exists in another universe from the systemic oppression of millions of the most vulnerable populations and communities around us. I think for me the idea that right now in the United States about 2.3 million people are desperately in need of evidence, of records, of proof to set themselves free should feel sinister to us as archivists. How does that word ‘evidence’ that sustains our positions (our jobs, our material wealth, and our freedom) condemn others? What do we have to do with that if we benefit from it? And truly how do two worlds seem at first so completely separate? I know of several librarians that work with incarcerated populations but very few archivists have anything to do with the incarcerated. Why is that? There are researchers, users, scholars (whatever you would like to call them that would connote to you their worthiness) who happen to be incarcerated. I have read their poetry, transcribed their letters, and maintained their work in the archive. I think we owe these individuals something better.
What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee? I hope to gain a sense of how advocacy can work in technical services. I’ve actually just started a new position that is a little more capacious, but previously all of my archival experience centered on technical or collection services. Most recently, I served as the Head of Collection Services for the Eberly Family Special Collections Library, but I often find that the work can sometimes feel unconnected from the conversations that seem the most interesting and necessary for the profession. I think largely that’s been changing with the incredible work of archivists that are tackling issues like redescription and reparative processing; however, I have found that it can be challenging to argue for advocacy in technical services. There is always the backlog, there is always software that need refinement or managing. I think of the words technical debt which always weigh heavy on your shoulders in technical services. Sometimes I think technical services gets too weighed down by those burdens of the “traditional” work of processing, description, and digitization to get to participate fully in these conversations, but the best professional development work I ever got to do was attend a Project STAND conference in Chicago and hear former Black Panthers speak to their experience with archives and activism. Those kinds of experiences feel vital and necessary to the work I do. The technology and the archival labor is not neutral. When you are so stuck trying to catch up with other institutions or new rules, it can feel really challenging to engage in what some people might cast as “value-added” work. The truth is that engaging critically with the issues and advocacy around the practice is foundational and necessary work for all of us. I firmly believe it cannot be additional or optional.
What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession? Well, lately my love of loafing and people watching has been cut short by the pandemic. I am at my core such a literature nerd, but somehow this also translates to a deep love for really “bad art.” I love bad poetry, strange/awkward one man shows, bad movies—I like seeing the things that don’t quite work out or materialize the way you thought they would. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the podcast “How Did This Get Made?” but I could listen to that endlessly. I also love podcasts from this moment deep in quarantine. The “Still Processing” podcast just came back and I could listen to the episode that breaks down the culture of public apologies a million times over. Other than that, I am generally playing around with one of my own failed crafting projects and loving on my furry family (one dog, two bunnies, and many unrealized plans for expansion of the pack).
Steering Shares are an opportunity to find out more about the I&A Steering Committee. This post comes courtesy of the Steering Committee member, Bradley J. Wiles, a PhD student in Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, School of Information Studies.
What was your first experience working with archives?
I first encountered archives from the user perspective doing research at a university archives for a local history project. I came away with the impression that these folks (archivists) really have their act together because I was able to get what I needed very rapidly and the specific person I dealt with had an almost preternatural sense of what I would be interested in looking at and what follow-up questions I was going to ask. Needless to say, I was impressed but I didn’t really make much of a distinction between what archivists actually do from what other library and information professionals do. It was only some years later while working in a financial services firm that I started to appreciate the volume and complexity of modern records and how consequential their management (or mismanagement) can be. At that time a friend had been urging me to go to library school but I only decided to do it when I discovered that the program I was looking at offered an archives and records concentration. Since then my career has taken a number of different directions, but I’m somehow always drawn to archives in one way or another.
What is an archival issue that means a lot to you?
The most important issue to me underlies or ties into almost every other issue that we as a profession seek to address–that of institutional sustainability. I think making sure we have stable and vibrant institutions–ones that are responsive to changing social conditions and value the profession’s expertise and perspectives–is key to enacting disciplinary and professional priorities related to education, training, job security, opportunity, outreach, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. We are unable to make progress in any of these areas without a strong foundation composed of the networks of institutions, professional groups, community stakeholders, and external champions who frequently have different ideas of what an archives is or should be in any given time or place. Very few archives exist as independent, self-sustaining entities and are thus dependent on institutional structures to carry out the key activity of any archives–to capture records and information for long term preservation and use. If these basic functions cannot be sustained long term at a societal level, then archives are worthless and all related goals are meaningless.
What do you hope to gain by being on the I&A Steering Committee?
I wanted to join the I&A Steering Committee because I believe that the relatively recent adoption of a more activist approach by SAA has been a net positive for the archives profession, but needs to keep moving forward. This section serves a crucial role in helping to keep SAA members apprised of issues that directly impact our institutions, communities, and professional position, and I believe that it can be a leader in shaping SAA’s overall approach to internal and external advocacy. Like others on the Committee, I believe that I have the necessary background and a unique perspective that will positively contribute to the mission of this group and I appreciate being able to collaborate with others who are passionate about advocacy.
What can we find you doing outside of the archival profession?
Outside of work, I spend as much time with my children as possible hanging out at Lake Michigan and looking for the best parks and restaurants in the Milwaukee metro region. I also like to write, play, and record music, so maybe if this archives thing doesn’t work out I’ll write the next “Who Let the Dogs Out” or “Mambo No. 5” and then retire early as a gazillionaire one-hit wonder. But for now, I’m busy with dissertation research, teaching, and volunteering on archives projects with a local historical society.
Issues & Advocacy 