I
had never really been apart of a listserv before I joined the LIS
listserv for Wayne State. When this journal assignment asked us to join a
listserv that was outside of Wayne State, I expected to find many of
the same types of posts. I joined the Archives and Archivist (A&A)
List that is sponsored by the Society of American Archivist
(http://www.archivists.org/listservs/change.asp),
and I found that it was quite similar to our own LIS listserv. The
only difference was that many more people were involved with the
listserv, and so the posts were happening more often. Just like any
listserv, the post topics included things like job posts, advice on
archival procedures, interesting stories, new publications, and
events. Over the past months a few posts have really stuck out in my
mind as being different than the LIS listserv, and I wanted to
discuss the importance of each.
On
December 7th , Peter Kurilecz (2014) posted to the
listserv a Huffington Post article titled
"The
Archivist's Dilemma: Q&A With Oddball Films' Stephen Parr"
(Nirenberg, 2014, December 5). This article struck me as important because it challenged my view of what I expected to do as an
archivist. Before reading the article I primarily thought of
archivists working for a museum, a university, or a corporation. Never
had I really thought that a person could start their own archive with
the purpose using it to help filmmakers with hard to find source
material. Though I do not really care to do an archive with old film
footage, it made me interested to see what other archives people are
creating on their own. Now I find myself thinking what really
interest me and how could I turn creating my own archive into a
profitable business as well.
On December 5th,
Trina Purcell (2014) posted to the listserv asking if anyone could
quickly translate some Japanese book covers for her. I thought this
was an interesting use of the listserv. Posting a question like this
to the listserv gives her access to a lot of archivist that may
people able to quickly help her. She could use a translator software,
but rarely are those completely accurate in their translations.
Having a knowledgeable person translate the books titles for her will
definitely be a better option, and since this is such a big list, it
is likely that she would get an answer. Within ten minutes of Trina's
original post, Elizabeth Walters (2014, December 5) answered her and
said she could help. It is great to see such a connected and helpful
community. Using the listserv can help professional get quick, and
reliable answer to important questions.
On November 20th,
Carey Stumm (2014) posted that she was trying to find an article on
the Office of Homeland Security tracking what archivist were
research. Melissa Gottwald (2014, November 20) quickly responded with
the article, but the article itself was really interesting
(Christian, 2006). The post and the subsequent article made me
realize how important contacts like this can be. Rather than an
archivist being surprised by a visit for the government, then
warnings like this can easily be distributed. Also, the more
knowledgeable the archivists are about struggles in their field, the
more able they are to deal with them as a group.
On November 7th,
I got a great example of the awesome resources that are passed along
through a listserv. Leon Miller (2014, November 7) posted about a new
blog that included letters from a young soldier in WWI (“From the
Somewhere”. This post is one that purely was of personal interest
to me, but it could also serve a purpose for me. If I ever decide to
go back to teaching history, I would love to include resources like
the letters in my lessons. It made me realize that I should join more
listservs simply on the off-chance that they may provide surprises
like this.
Works Cited
“From
Somewhere” [tumblr]. Retrieved from www.umarchives.tumblr.com
Gottwald,
Melissa. (2014, November 20). “Re: Homeland Security”.
[Listserv Post]
Retrieved
from: http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=138889
Kurilecz,
Peter. (2014, December 7). “Fwd: The Archivist's Dilemma: Q&A
With Oddball Films' Stephen Parr”. [Listserv Post] Retrieved
from: http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=139609#139609
Michelle,
Christian. (2006). “Archivist and the USA Patriot Act: Are We
Prepared?” Provenance 24(1), pg. 33-53. Retrieved from:
http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/provenance/vol24/iss1/4
Miller,
Leon. (2014, November 7). “WWI Through the Eyes of Young Soldier”.
[Listserv Post]
Retrieved
from: http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=138168
Nirenberg,
Michael. (December, 5). “The Archivist's Dilemma: Q&A With
Oddball Films' Stephen Parr”. Huffington Post. Retrieved
from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-nirenberg/the-archivists-dilemma- qa_b_6273140.html
Purcell,
Trina. (2014, December 5) “Anyone Read Japanese?” Listserv Post]
Retrieved
from: http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=139581
Stumm, Carey .(2014,
November 20). “Homeland Security”.
[Listserv Post]
Retrieved
from: http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=138889
Walters,
Elizabeth. (2014, December 5) “Re: Anyone Read Japanese?”
Listserv Post]
Retrieved
from: http://forums.archivists.org/read/messages?id=139581
No comments:
Post a Comment