Archives, libraries, fiction, and the COVID-19 crisis
This week's newsletter will cover library and archives topics and note a new fictional narrative my friend put together, and much more. Enjoy!
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day even with the continuing COVID-19, as restrictions are being eased. Related to that I wrote a letter which was published by the Maryland Historical Society for their “Letters from the Homefront” series! So, check that out if you have the chance.
A few days ago, my friend published a fictional story with a specific scene in archives, where the villains found a nest of computers connected a mainframe, constituting a digital archives that backed up old information, including “reams of papers, books, and other physical documents” littering the shelves, organized by subject and category. My friend noted that they set the stage for these villains using the archival records to defeat their foes. As I’ve said in past newsletters, having archives as a part of fictional stories is important. That is exactly what my friend is trying to do in every single one of their stories and I applaud them for that.
That brings me to some vital stories. Once again, Hack Library School had some great articles, focusing on the pandemic, not-for-credit internships, trust and safety, grieving, and the “new normal.” The article about why libraries don’t need permission and can use fair use effectively is an important read as are articles about small free libraries, and how libraries will “re-invent” themselves in response to the COVID-19 crisis. There were also some stories like the importance of deriving value from archival collections in the time of COVID-19 and if it matters where you go to school for your MLIS. A few other articles focused on topics such as salaries in the archival field and the release of the new RDA guidelines, used to archival finding aids and descriptions.
An honorable mention can be given to articles about Amazon rivals thriving during the pandemic and questioning if cursive writing is lost to the “Millennial” generation. I would say that while some in my generation are not good at cursive writing, I think back to the white paper by the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation about the importance of handwriting.
That’s all for this week! Hope you have a great rest of the week!
- Burkely