One of the things that bothered me when I started here some years ago was
that over 16 decades, we had managed to save documents concerning so many
peripheral aspects of the institution while, in large part, neglecting
that which was central to our mission as a school.  Perhaps it's because
one tends to take the academic program for granted that it's easy to
forget that had we not been teaching English and Chemistry, there would be
no reason for all that other wonderful archival stuff -- faculty meeting
minutes, theater programs, student newspapers, century-old box scores --
to exist at all.  Documenting what was taught and how we taught it strikes
me as essential.

I urge you to save at least a representative selection of textbooks.  Not
only that, but solicit class work, notes, etc. from students, faculty, and
alumni.  They'll provide some perspective for that bound set of Speeches
by the Dean.

Rick Teller '70
Archivist and Librarian
The Williston Northampton School
19 Payson Avenue
Easthampton, MA 01027
(413) 529-3288
[log in to unmask]

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org.
For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to [log in to unmask]

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>