Archives in Plain Words

What do Archivists Do?

An archivist’s job is to make archives accessible for use. Some archivists say they “collect, preserve, and describe” (Thompson, 2019). But collect what, and why? Preserve how? And what even does ‘describe’ mean? The Society of American Archivists says that archivists are “responsible for records of enduring value” (2020) which is about as useful as saying rocket engineers are responsible for making heavy things go up. It’s technically true, but it doesn’t get you very far. Here’s the inside scoop.

You can break down the role of archivists into three big pots: selection, preservation, and description. I’ll explain these more in detail, but none of this will make sense if you don’t know what an archive is. Archives (and it's usually written with the "s") are the collection of things related to the life and work of a person or group, stored for the sake of historical significance and future researchers. “Things” is intentionally vague here, because it can include almost anything - scrapbooks, patents, photographs, animal skins, fossils, emails, videos….Some archives are set up to maintain the records created by their own organization. For example, the university I work at has an internal archive which contains things related to university business, like meeting minutes and memos. Other archives collect things created by external groups based on a specific subject. For example, Vanderbilt University includes in their archives a collection of materials related to the history of playing cards, which includes manuscripts and books about the history as well as historic playing card sets (Vanderbilt University, n.d.). 

 

"Everybody's gotta have a little place for their stuff. That's all life is about. Trying to find a place for your stuff." — George Carlin, who has his own archives now at the National Comedy Center (Blair, 2016)

My own archival collection would include things like my paper journals, my gardening sketches and notes, letters and short stories I’ve written, and knitting patterns I’ve designed. These would be a “record of my life’s work” - the things, unique and banal, that make up my life. But the biggest part of Sagan’s Collection would be online - emails, schoolwork, photos and videos, Facebook and Instagram posts, this blog. None of these things have ever been a “physical” item, but would be included in my archives all the same. Once you start to inventory things, the list of what could go in an archives gets huge!

This is why the first job of an archivist is to select what comes into the archives. This is one of those statements that sounds much easier than it actually is. The archivist has to evaluate if a collection is “worthy” of being archived for the use of future generations, but also if the collection should be archived at their particular institution. Let’s go back to Sagan’s Collection. It’s pretty unlikely that the Archives at University of Hawai’i would want it. They have a limited amount of space, and even though I want my descendents to have a nice tropical destination to view my stuff, I’ve never even been to Hawai’i and I don’t have a connection with the university. However, imagine there’s an archives being set up that focuses on collections related to Portlanders who survived the 2020 Pandemic. My archives would fit much better with their mission, and the Portland archivists would be more likely to select it than the Hawai’ian archivists.

These are some pretty basic examples of selection. Keep in mind that life is rarely simple. Space is always limited, even for digital collections. Processing time is also limited - I’ll tell you more in a moment about preparing archival collections, but keep in mind here that even the task of moving materials into the archives takes time (and money, since your archivists most likely don’t work for free). Archivists have to balance the amount of work it would take to get the collection ready with how important that collection will be to history and to researchers in the future. Is the Sagan Collection the only representation we have of pandemic life, or is it one of hundreds? Does it contain materials that might be useful, historically speaking? Does the collection physically fit in the archives? Context matters, and deeply.

Lucky me! The archivist at the Portland COVID Archives has selected Sagan’s Collection for inclusion. The next step will be to ensure the collection can be safely kept in the archives. Preservation starts before the items even arrive at the archives. Items need to be carefully moved to keep them from being damaged, but also to keep them in their original configuration. It’s like an archaeological dig - it makes more sense if you don’t jumble the bones together. In the archives world, collections are kept in the same organizational pattern as the person who made it decided. That means if I organized my gardening notes by season, the archivist isn’t going to re-organize them by plant species.

Pears get treated one way to preserve them, paper preservation needs something entirely different. Preservation can get particularly complex in the archives world. Books alone can be made from multiple materials - paper, leather, thread and glue - and each material might need a special preservation technique. Digital items need still other preservation methods, including preserving the technology needed to actually use them. And you know how you’d never mistake canned pears for fresh? Preservation techniques can certainly extend the life of something, but sometimes only by irrevocably changing it. Archivists need to understand the ramifications of what they are doing in order to maintain the integrity of the collection.

In addition to preservation work for the items in the collection, archives rooms are often built specifically to better preserve the items within. This can include temperature and climate-controlled housing, storage in acid-free boxes, and even special fire extinguishers that don’t use water to put out fire. Preservation is also why archives are typically much less publicly accessible than libraries and museums - access needs to be carefully controlled so things aren’t stolen, lost, or damaged by spilled canned pears.

 

“What’s in the box?”

But access is still vitally important for archives. That’s why the third important job of an archivist is description. It’s not enough to box up materials and shove them in a warehouse. Archivists need to communicate what their archives include. Labeling boxes, creating detailed guides to the collection, inventorying, and teaching researchers how to find things are all part of the job of making archives more accessible.

Description is especially important because many collections aren’t, and may never be, digitized. Unlike an e-book which can at least be searched for keywords, in many archives collections the only thing a researcher will have to go on is the commentary the archivist has written. There are tools an archivist can use to make this process easier such as standardized ways of writing collection guides or technical languages to highlight the most useful components of the collection. These descriptions need to be complete enough to be useful to the researcher, without being so exhaustive the archivist can never finish the job.

Because in the end, finishing the job isn’t as important as having archives that can be used. Archives are a vitally important piece of our culture. Why are archives important? Why is memory important? Humans are social, and we thrive on stories. Every archive has a piece of human knowledge in it. Piece by piece, archives put together the story of humanity, not just for us, but for the future. We can’t save everything, but what we can save has the potential to edify and inspire us.

References

Blair, E. (2016). “George Carlin's 'Stuff' gets a new home at National Comedy Center.” https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/11/477520580/george-carlins-stuff-gets-a-new-home-at-national-comedy-center

Vanderbilt University. (n.d.). “Collection Development Policy.” https://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/specialcollections/policies/collectiondevelopment.php 

Image Credits:

George Carlin by Bonnie. “George Carlin at one of his last performances in 2008”, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_carlin_headshot_2008.jpg

"What's in the Box" gif by Tenor.com

Scope and Content Note & Container List

Scope and Content Note

This collection, dated 1944-1946, includes Eric T. (“Ted”) Carlson’s personal correspondence, transcripts, army orders, identification paperwork, news clippings and passes. The majority of correspondence is between Carlson and his parents. Additional documents relate to Carlson’s scientific work in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Monsanto Chemical Company, and his education at the Iowa State College.

Series 1: Correspondence. This series ranges from 1944-1946 and includes correspondence between Carlson and his parents and friends. It is organized alphabetically by correspondent name, then by date. A prominent subseries includes correspondence with Carlson’s parents.

Series 2: Academic paperwork. This series includes Carlson’s course schedules, transcripts, letters of commendations, and official inquiries with Wesleyan University, the Iowa State College, and Cornell University.

Series 3: U.S. Army documentation. This series includes official U.S. Army documentation including draft paperwork, transfer and training orders, identification cards, and correspondence regarding Carlson’s promotions and discharge. Much of the documentation includes paperwork related to Carlson’s scientific work in the Army Corps of Engineers and the Monsanto Chemical Company.

Container List

• The first folder would contain Ted Carlson’s personal correspondence. This would be organized into subfolders:
• Subfolder 1: correspondence between Ted Carlson and his parents. This folder would be organized chronologically based on the date written on the letter.
• Subfolder 2: all other personal correspondence. It would be organized alphabetically by the last name of Carlson’s correspondent, then chronologically.
• The second folder includes academic paperwork. This includes official correspondence to and from the colleges, transcripts and course schedules. This folder is arranged chronologically.
• The third folder includes official U.S. Army documentation, including draft documents, transfer orders, training paperwork and discharge orders. This would be organized chronologically from the date the paperwork was issued.