Michele’s Comments (group member since Dec 06, 2011)

Michele’s comments from the Arrangement and Description: Archivists At Large group.

Terrific book published a year or so ago by SAA, Archival Virtue: Relationship, Obligation, and the Just Archives made me think more deeply and consciously about the work we do every day. I came away from it much inspired :) Anyone else read it? Have thoughts on it?

Just finished Cloud Cuckoo Land -- so much love for books, manuscript, stories, libraries! I give it many thumbs up.

“But books, like people, die. They die in fires or floods or in the mouths of worms or at the whims of tyrants. If they are not safeguarded, they go out of the world. And when a book goes out of the world, the memory dies a second death.”

Is there any interest in doing a group read? If so, please weigh in!

Anyone out there?

Just bought The Library of the Unwritten. Looking forward to it!

I got a birthday package with these two, can't wait to dive in!

Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts
Archive Everything: Mapping the Everyday

The Society of American Archivists 2015 conference featured a session on literature through the archival lens. One of the attendees has compiled a goodreads list of books mentioned by presenters and/or attendees here.

Really interesting article in the latest issue of American Archivist on the presence and use of archival material in Dracula. Full text is online:

“Complete and in Order”: Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the Archival Profession

Now of course I'm thinking about other books one could do this with...

Wondering if anyone has tackled the reading list for the Academy of Certified Archivists exam. Anyone have thoughts on it?

What book(s) would you suggest for someone who says they're interested in special collections or archives as a profession?

Oh yes, one can't go wrong with more Jane Austen!

Hi Erica, welcome. Funny how many of us have come to "archivists" as a second (or third, or fourth, or whatever) career, isn't it?

Kathy wrote: "I personally like the Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley (sequel to Parnasus on Wheels)..."

Oh, I love that one!!

EC wrote: "...Larry Correia's Monster Hunter's International series ..."

Neat! I don't know that one, will have to check it out. Be sure to add it to the group bookshelf :)

Barbara wrote: "I am a metadata librarian for JSTOR/Ithaka; it's not exactly "archival work" per se since JSTOR is more a digital repository than an archive, but my background is in archives and record management ..."

Ah, the eternal question of what is and isn't an archive ;) There are a number of books on the group bookshelf that involve digital or electronic archives.

Cindy wrote: "I'm looking forward to hearing what books are out there that relate to archives, I only know of a few..."

Hi Cindy, welcome! Be sure to check the group bookshelf and if the ones you know of aren't on there, feel free to add them. You can include something in the "why this book" field to explain what's archive-y about it.

My first thought was Lucien, from the Library of Dream (Neil Gaiman/The Sandman, Vol. 3: Dream Country), but he's really a librarian rather than an archivist. Then again, all the manuscript are unpublished, so maybe he does qualify! Then there's Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler): she wasn't a professional archivist, she just collected massive amounts of material for her own reference, but I do love her for her idiosyncratic filing system.

Jenny wrote: "...Association for Gravestone Studies..."

Have to ask, what is that? Sounds interesting.

Looks like we have a bunch of new members -- yay! Welcome, everybody. Feel free to make a short post here to introduce yourself and maybe tell us a bit about you, if you like. Or feel free to lurk quietly in the stacks...

Welcome, Jenny - feel free to add books from your list to the Group Shelf! I'll have to check out the two you mention, I've never heard of them :)