The Archival ‘Radar Screen’: Strategic Issues Identified by SAA Council

What’s on SAA’s “radar screen”? In February 2005, Council members identified about a dozen threats and challenges that are of critical concern to the archival profession. In order to be considered as a “strategic issue,” each had to pass muster as having “greatest impact on the association’s membership” and being “within the association’s capacity to act upon effectively.” Each issue statement was “reduced to single-sentence statements that define an arc of tension between two variables.

Margaret C. Norton Reconsidered

Margaret C. Norton (1891-1984) served as the first state archivist of Illinois (1922-1957). As a founding member of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), she served as its first vice president, as a council member, as president, and as editor of American Archivist. The common perception has been that Norton aligned her views with Hilary Jenkinson and European theorists in opposing the American historical manuscripts tradition and the dominant role of historians. A closer examination of her career and her unpublished writings, however, challenges this interpretation. An appreciation for Margaret Norton as a pragmatic archivist dedicated to the needs of public officials enables us to see her as a bold and consistent advocate for the significance of records in administration of state government. Norton adopted European archival principles such as provenance and the moral defense of archives, but she adapted them to the requirements of modem American records. She pleaded for recognition of archives as legal records, but she also recognized their secondary importance for historical research. Rather than pulling the profession apart into separate camps of historian-archivists and archivist-administrators or of practitioners and theorists, Norton’s legacy should remind archivists of their twin responsibilities for archives: to maintain both their legal and administrative integrity and their usefulness for historical research

Embracing the Power of Archives

In my dream I am entering a temple. Its ornate facade and tall spires give me hope. I will find enlightenment here. I push open the massive door and enter. The door clangs shut behind me. I am in a dimly lit room with high windows that prevent the sunlight from reaching me. Despite the heat outside it is cool here. A security guard approaches. The temple has become a prison. The guard tells me to surrender my pens and put my briefcase in a locker. I sit at a table. Guards and security cameras watch me constantly to prevent escape or theft. I realize that I am hungry. A young woman hands me a menu. The prison is now a restaurant. What do you want? the waitress asks. The menu she hands me does not list food items, only the names of food creators-General Mills, Vlasic Foods International, Kraft Foods, Hormel. May I suggest something local? She pulls down a menu for Touch of the Bayou, Inc. It lists a series of categories, including the Bayou Magic brand. Bring me some Bayou Magic, please, I politely request. Soon a cart arrives laden with several boxes. My food must be inside. I open one box at a time- correspondence, reports, financial ledgers. In the last box are recipes. Gumbo. Crawfish étouffé, Jambalaya. The waitress recommends Gumbo. She brings me a box filled with okra, cayenne peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and other primary sources of nutrition. After all this, I still have to cook my own meal. Changing images of the archives, as sites of power. The temple reflects the power of authority and veneration. The prison wields the power of control. The restaurant hols the power of interpretations and mediation. These represent the trinity of archival functions: selection, preservation, and access. The archives is a place of knowledge, memory, nourishment, and power. Archives at once protect and preserve records; legitimize and sanctify certain documents while negating and destroying others; and provide access to selected sources while controlling the researchers and conditions under which they may examine the archival record. As Eric Ketelaar has state, both architecturally and procedurally, archives often resemble temples and prisons, two seemingly opposite sites of power. Archives embody these contradictions, and more

Coming Together: Unity and Diversity

As archivists we all share some essential common values and perspectives, we have many of the same aspirations, and we are united in a profession that performs an essential function in society. We are a diverse profession. We celebrate our differences and our special areas of expertise. SAA has long recognized these affinities, and has created sections, roundtables, and other groups to allow us to meet with those from similar institutions, or those who share the same functional responsibilities or particular interests. It is important for us to have these gatherings and to learn from each other

Documents and Archives in Early America

Concern for documents and archival records in America began with religious motives and concern for colonists\u27 rights. By the late 18th century historians increasingly relied on original documents to establish facts and objective truth. Beginning with the Revolution historical documents served patriotic and nationalistic purposes, such as veneration of heroes. Efforts to preserve irreplaceable documents resulted in two separate but closely linked traditions- multiplying the copies through documentary editing and publication, and establishing repositories to protect original documents. This marked the beginning of archival consciousness in America, led by private historical societies. Archives served the needs of the social elite and confirmed their power

SAA and the World of Archives

At a time when America’s role in world affairs has increasingly been questioned by many people in the international community, it is heartening to see the positive impact that American archivists are having within our broader profession. This realization came to me most clearly while I attended the 15th quadrennial congress of the International Council on Archives in Vienna, August 23–28, 2004

Archival Stories

When my mother moved to a retirement home a few years ago I helped her decide what to save among the 17 cartons of family papers stored in the attic. It was the first time that she could clearly understand my professional expertise. She began telling her friends that every family should have an archivist. For me this story shows the importance of being able to explain the roles of archivists and the value of archives in society

Redefining Archival Identity: Meeting User Needs in the Information Society

In order to avoid becoming irrelevant in the modern information society, archivists must redefine their professional identity and role in society, learn new planning and marketing skills, and establish the importance of archives in meeting user needs. Responding to initiatives launched by the SAA Task Force on Archives and Society, the author argues that archivists should adopt a more user-friendly approach to marketing their services. Marketing differs from public relations and selling products by focusing on customers and their needs. Altering the profession\u27s image requires that individual archivists redefine their own self-image, attitudes, and procedures

Why I Am an Archivist

I knew that Uriah Parmelee had died long ago, but reading the report of his death still made me slump back in my chair. For two days in the spring of 1975 I had been sitting in the reference room at the Duke University Manuscripts Department, reading his Civil War letters. From Parmelee’s enthusiasm as an 1861 Union volunteer, to his disgust with Lincoln’s slowness to embrace emancipation as a war measure, I had followed his military career and political awakening. I admired his commitment to ending slavery and had begun to think of him as a kindred soul. When he wrote to his mother two weeks before Appomattox, he assured her that he was “in perfect health.” But the next letter in the file, in a different handwriting, described Parmelee’s death at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865. With this unexpected news I felt as if I had lost a friend

Strategies for Survival

One of my favorite Mark Twain quotes is: “Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” The same might be said for the challenges that the archival profession faces. We are buffeted by the storms of limited resources, inadequate staffing, public misunderstanding, and administrative neglect. Our contributions to society and to our own institutions are often unrecognized or unappreciated, and yet we are expected to perform miracles for researchers and administrators in locating information and records at a moment’s notice