My remarks have touched upon a number of archival images. You may have heard that sometimes the archivist is confused with the anarchist and the architect. Neither of these confusions is completely unflattering. Like the anarchist we should be distrustful of the government and governmental forms. Knowing the process of government, we accept them as man-made attempts to solve social problems rather than unchanging God-given forms for the ordering of humanity. Like the architect, we build the documentary resources to accomodate present and future needs. Form should follow function on the archivist's shelves as closely as on the architect's drawing board.
I can add only one image to those of the anarchist and the architect. That is one from my campus experience- the activist. The one primary distinguishing characteristic of the successful modern archivist should be his active participation in the world he is documenting. Involvement is not a diverion or a distraction but an opportunity to gain new appreciation of the actors and activities whose documentation is preserved and used in the archives.
-Brichford, Maynard J. (1967, Oct.). Informing the Government About Its Archives. The American Archivist, 30(4): 573.
Interesting. I have met students this year who are stilling dreaming up the Activist Archivist without knowing how often the profession has tried to ignite this image. As for the idea of Documentation, we all know how it is questioned, especially by the more Jenkensonian-minded among us...
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