Thanks to Mark Patrick for directing members of the list to a phenomenal special collection, to the Detroit Public Library that houses and supports it, and to the work of a highly dedicated staff of librarians and archivists who care for and make all of its resources accessible to a wide range of users. Everyone stand up and take a bow! http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/Special_Collections/special_collections.htm http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/Main_Library/Main_Library.htm By their very nature, however, nearly ALL archives are closed to the general public. Simply put, this is because rare documents don't take kindly to handling by many people -- regardless of their socio-economic class. Hence archives generally require that researchers who would like to access a particular collection must prove both their credentials and their purposes. I seriously doubt, for example, that everyone who asks for "Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer among the Indians" (contained in the Detroit Public Library's Samuel Clemens Collection, which is part of the Burton Historical Collection that Mark Patrick referred to), will be given the original manuscript. Of course, it is NOT always true that every special collection severely restricts access to its wealth of historic resources, but it IS the case in the overwhelming majority of archives. And the reputations of archivist whose work so frequently goes unnoticed may suffer as a result, along with the salaries they are paid. Pax Universalis, ms --- Mark Patrick <[log in to unmask]> wrote: The presumption in the post attached below is that all archives are not heavily used by the "masses". I have managed two heavily used archives--the National Automotive History Collection and the Burton Historical Collection, both at Detroit Public Library. We get many thousands of user inquiries each year and are very proud of it. Outreach is an important component of our service and we are always looking for ways to market what we hold to the public. Use accredits us and even though some may not know to officially call us archivists, my observation is that users intuitively understand what we do in our collections and nearly all appreciate us. Proof is that our millages are overwhelmingly passed by voters-- people I personally would not refer to as the "masses". Mark Patrick "Scott, Kim" <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: Archives & Archivists <[log in to unmask]> 06/19/2006 01:53 PM CST Please respond to "Scott, Kim" To: [log in to unmask] cc: bcc: Subject: Pax Archivus Ok, ok….so you know my Latin isn’t up to snuff either…. We probably, as a profession, ought to spend more time selling people on the value of the work we do, rather than trying to sell each other on the value of our education (or our educational program, if we are fishing for students). The bottom line is that the service we provide is used by so few people when compared to those other professions, like doctors, lawyers, and (gasp) librarians. Since our customer base is so small, we have a larger responsibility of convincing the masses who will never darken our doors that it is a good idea to keep paying us. Kim Allen Scott MontanaStateUniversity, Bozeman 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 ARCHIVESTo 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]> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com 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]>