{"id":198,"date":"2021-08-04T06:47:02","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T13:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/hardfeelings\/?p=198"},"modified":"2021-08-04T06:47:02","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T13:47:02","slug":"talking-to-archivists-3-redescribing-the-profession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/hardfeelings\/2021\/08\/04\/talking-to-archivists-3-redescribing-the-profession\/","title":{"rendered":"Talking to Archivists (3): Redescribing the Profession"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post, written by project research assistant Elizabeth Bassett, is part of a series of posts we\u2019re writing over the next few weeks that will explore some of the emerging themes in our research on the emotional dimensions of archival work. We\u2019re calling this series \u201cTalking to Archivists\u201d because it reports on <\/span><\/i>our analysis of interviews with 29 archivists and working professionals<\/span><\/i><\/a> on grief and other emotions in archival work, on their preparedness for such work, and on resources that support it.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Talking to Archivists About Emotions (1): Introducing the Research<\/span><\/a>
\nTalking to Archivists (2): Surprise, emotion!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Redescribing the Profession<\/h3>\n

In our last post<\/a> of the series<\/span>, Jennifer Douglas and project research assistant Christina Mantey discussed how one of the overarching themes of the interviews was that participants felt that their education and training programs had left them unprepared for the people-centric realities of their jobs. Many of the interviews highlighted that the profession describes itself in ways that are often at odds with the actual work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Emphasizing this discrepancy, one participant jokingly explained:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell initially I thought I\u2019d get a tower and a pointy hat and a beard and sit there unrolling my parchment for eons to come, so everything is just shocking.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another reflected:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[C]ertainly I was taught that I was like, the god of archives. Right? Like, that I was the omnipotent decider of what the future looks like to people a hundred years from now [\u2026] and that\u2019s terrifying.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019ve talked as a research team about the pressures, misconceptions, and harms that can be caused by language around neutral custodianship. At best, this language provides only a partial picture of the profession.<\/span><\/p>\n

To add to the picture, this blog post turns its attention to specific language that the interviewed records professionals used to describe their personal experiences with archival work. Using metaphors and other resonant language, the interviewees provided some powerful redescriptions of the profession. Selections of their insights are provided here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Language describing archivists\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/h5>\n

Many of the interviewed records professionals compared their roles to those of other professions:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I feel [laughs] like <\/span><\/i>I\u2019m being a pastor in my role<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the most surprising things that I learned working in this job [\u2026] was how much of <\/span><\/i>an element of ministry<\/i><\/b> there is to it. I mean I\u2019m not a religious person, but I know it when I see it.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c[A] couple of colleagues and I have talked about how much <\/span><\/i>you feel like a grief counselor<\/i><\/b> working with donors.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWe end up being information professionals, we end up being privacy officers.<\/span><\/i> We\u2019re the social workers. <\/i><\/b>We\u2019re the<\/span><\/i> counselors<\/i><\/b>. You know, we\u2019re the <\/span><\/i>rides to the events<\/i><\/b>. We\u2019re, you know, the <\/span><\/i>displayers<\/i><\/b>, we\u2019re the <\/span><\/i>exhibitors<\/i><\/b>, we\u2019re the <\/span><\/i>historians<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Others offered poignant metaphors:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>I\u2019ve become kind of the sponge<\/i><\/b> for all these stories.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI think when we go into the profession, <\/span><\/i>we don\u2019t think that we\u2019re going to become<\/i><\/b> [\u2026] <\/span><\/i>sort of a repository<\/i><\/b> for knowing about everyone\u2019s awful sexual abuse stories.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>You\u2019re a voyeur<\/i><\/b>, you\u2019re looking at things often that were never meant to be seen by anyone other than the people who were involved and there are times when that experience elicits a very strong emotion.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI just talk about, just being entrusted. So that [X] knows that his memories went somewhere. Like, went into another vessel and will continue. Maybe that\u2019s\u2014we can do as much as we can, within the constructs of our archival practices, but <\/span><\/i>maybe part of our role just needs to be defined as that vessel.<\/i><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Language describing archives\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/h5>\n

When talking about archives, a significant number of participants took care to emphasize that records are intricately connected to the people who created them\u2014that records are extensions of their creators:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>These boxes, these are people<\/i><\/b> [\u2026] and they are here and, you know, as long as you remember that these are people that you\u2019re dealing with, then it\u2019ll make it easier on you.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI always find that people are kind of like asking, like, \u2018What happens? How do you keep it? Where is it kept?\u2019 Like they\u2019re very concerned about\u2026 the material being lost. And that, as well, too, <\/span><\/i>it\u2019s almost like they\u2019re losing part of themselves<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, she didn\u2019t really have a relationship with her father, but <\/span><\/i>she had this, kind of, piece of him<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you think about it, <\/span><\/i>the archives, <\/i><\/b>[\u2026]<\/span><\/i> it\u2019s the only physical manifestation of the person<\/i><\/b>. So it\u2019s important.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span><\/i>[E]ach case file is someone\u2019s life<\/i><\/b>, right?\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Others captured their experiences of working with records intimately tied to human lives:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe <\/span><\/i>the archive is a perpetual flashback<\/i><\/b>. [\u2026] And I\u2026 I\u2026 had nightmares. I didn\u2019t\u2014I stopped sleeping.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI try to encourage them to think about it as <\/span><\/i>bringing somebody to\u2026 to life\u2026 through the records.<\/i><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

—<\/span><\/p>\n

In the spirit of listening, which has been a central theme in our research, I am presenting these quotations here as they are instead of providing my own detailed analysis. For now, I will end with a few questions: What are the implications of reframing the profession using the language of these archivists?\u00a0 What would it mean, for example, to frame archives not only as the \u201cwhole of the records\u201d (etc.), but <\/span>also <\/span><\/i>as \u201cpieces\u201d or \u201cphysical manifestations\u201d of their creators?<\/span><\/p>\n

In a variety of ways, archival scholars and professionals have already begun to grapple with these questions (see the <\/span>MIRRA project<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Find and Connect<\/span><\/a>, and Hobbs 2001*); our research confirms the importance of continuing to keep them in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

As always, thank you for taking the time to reflect. And thank you to the interviewed archivists and other records professionals for sharing your insightful descriptions with us.<\/span><\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

*Hobbs, Catherine. \u201cThe Character of Personal Archives: Reflections on the Value of Records of Individuals.\u201d <\/span>Archivaria<\/span><\/i> 52, (2001): 126-135.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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