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 > > 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] 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]> > > 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]>