Hi Alison - 

I, too, heard the spot on NPR, and actually was delighted by it. On a
couple of levels - I've so often thought over the years that what I do
is often literally history detective work... 

Further I've described what I do as such to several of the people who
ask what I do and have no idea what an archivist is or does - of course
at that point I give a bit more context, too...

I love that I get to truly follow leads and track things down - it
doesn't take anything away at all from my title as an archivist - it
only enhances it.

Alison Stankrauff
Archivist and Assistant Librarian
Franklin D. Schurz Library
Indiana University South Bend
P.O. Box 7111
South Bend, Indiana  46634
(574) 520-4392
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-----Original Message-----
From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Alison Langmead
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2006 2:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: History Detective?

Judging from the librarian/archivist job title discussion, I know that =

this may be be a contested topic, but...for anyone who listened to the =

Morning Edition report on Mary Beth Corrigan, archivist at PNC/Riggs
Bank=
 
(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5503791), I wonde=
r 
who else was somewhat insulted by the fact that, when Mary Beth
introduce=
d 
herself as "the archivist for PNC/Riggs Bank," the reporter's voice-over
=

comes back with, "But she is selling herself short; Mary Beth Corrigan
is=
 
a 'history detective.'"

A "history detective?" Perhaps I'm being oversensitive here, but isn't =

that a little condescending? She's an archivist for heaven's sake, which
=

is so much _more_ than that epithet suggests.

Sigh. Should I just be glad that archivists are being praised in the
pres=
s?

Alison

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