Well said, Dana. I am a student in the School of Information at University
of Michigan studying both Library & Information Science and Archives &
Records Management. I can't say I keep up with this list, but the subject
lines in today's emails intrigued me and I was shocked to read the message
that started this thread. I would loathe to be part of a profession whose
members believed themselves inherently worthy of a higher salary than their
librarian counterparts. Of course there can be significant differences in
expertise between individual professionals, but I am thrilled to be a part
of a graduate program that allows an education in both fields, especially
seeing how the two intersect in the Special Collections library where I
work. I hope I have not been naive to assume that archivists and librarians
think of each other as comrades in information-based careers, both
struggling to defend themselves against disappointing (and disappearing!)
salaries.

-jeni l. spamer

On 6/14/06, Dana Miller <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I have to agree with Krista and Martha that arguing about what we are
> called is irrelevant compared to the importance of what we do.  I honestly
> couldn't care less where my title falls so long as I get to do cultural
> and historical work.  Preserving and providing access to local and national
> memory isn't such a shabby day job; in fact, I dare say we perform a vital,
> if relatively unknown, function in society.
>
> But let's be realistic: calling an archivist a librarian does not bring
> the salaries down.  In fact, when I went to grad school a couple years
> ago- for a dual masters degree in archives management and history- the
> running joke was that archivists had more education but made less money.
> Whether that's true or not, it *is* totally appalling that there are job ads
> out there requiring an MLS or a subject PhD and tossing out pitiful annual
> salaries like $30,000.  It's certainly not as rewarding, but you can make
> more money managing a Starbucks.  Could employers who offer such meager
> wages really understand what an archivist is and what services they
> perform?
>
> That we work in a somewhat pink-collar profession- by which I mean
> archives, which I view as often falling under the libraries umbrella, an
> historically pink umbrella- is a major factor in keeping the salaries
> down.  That we have not yet embraced technology and made it work its best
> magic for us also keeps the salaries down.  Finally, that in the mainstream
> culture most people don't know what archivists do or that many of us have
> advanced degrees further keeps the salaries down.
>
> To change the public's "so what" attitude and to raise our median
> salaries above subsistence-level incomes, we'd have to do a kind of
> proactive public outreach and political advocacy that this profession is
> unaccustomed to and has until recently been essentially opposed to.  We'd
> have to decide for ourselves once and for all that what we do matters and
> why, and then we'd have to shout it to the world until they heard us, and we
> just can't do that.  Oh wait- yes we can.  This is 2006, afterall.  Let the
> ban on self-esteem be henceforth lifted in the archives.  If we want better
> salaries and more recognition we have to fight for them, people.  (Do I hear
> a new section starting for professional advocacy?)
>
> Cheers!
>
> Dana Miller
> Technical Services Archivist
> UNLV Special Collections
> Las Vegas, NV
>
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>

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
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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
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Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <[log in to unmask]>