April flowers
Enlightening and depressing stories about archives, libraries, and other topics
Hello all!
There have been some interesting stories I’ve seen on LinkedIn and Twitter which I thought I’d share with you all, whether you work in libraries, archives, or elsewhere:
A twitter moment I put together focusing on those people challenging Robert Caro’s viewpoint of digitization of archival records titled “The question of digitization and Robert Caro.”
David S. Ferriero (archivist of the United States), Carla Hayden (librarian of Congress) and David J. Skorton (secretary of the Smithsonian Institution) wrote a joint op-ed in USA Today about protecting U.S. heritage.
The success of library advocates by the end of National Library Week as highlighted by the ALA’s magazine, American Libraries.
The increasing use of social media by libraries to pull in users
The importance of cemetery preservation according to professionals
A post by a librarian about displays showcased by library staff, connected to the five laws of librarianship outlined by Ranganathan. This post is more pictures than written words, but is still important nonetheless.
LA Times op-ed by librarian Amanda Oliver related to Emilio Estavez’s new film, The Public, titled “Working as a librarian gave me post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms,” one of the more interesting articles I’ve seen all week.
Sofia Leung’s post, which was promoted by Library Journal and led to backlash from reactionary individuals, about whiteness permeating library collections, which can by extension be connected to other institutions. Regardless of your viewpoint on her post, she makes some interesting arguments, opening up discussion on the topic. Also see my Twitter moment on the topic.
The abandonment of archives by news organizations, which are becoming more cavalier and negligent about the maintenance of their records. Yikes!
A PRI article about how archivists are diligently working to digitize slavery records before the history itself is lost
Additionally, I would appreciate it if you purchased my e-book, Tales of the Maryland Extra Regiment which has a recommended price of $2.00, but is still pay-as-you-want. So if you want to pay $1.00 or less that’s also acceptable. If you’d like, you can also follow me on Instagram as well, if you are not currently following. If you are a new professional in the archives field, like myself, I’d recommend joining in for tomorrow’s “Self Care for Students and New Professionals” discussion at 8 PM Eastern Time.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!
- Burkely