Reel archivists, libraries, and COVID-19
This week's newsletter will continue reviews of archives and libraries in popular culture while highlighting new developments in the archives and library fields. Enjoy!
Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a great week despite COVID-19 and some of the U.S. on lockdown. Without further ado, let me get on with the newsletter!
Hot off the presses is an article on the blog of the Students and New Archives Professionals (SNAP), a section of the SAA. It focuses on reel archivists, those in the movies more specifically, in the movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? I also mentioned, briefly, archives themes in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and the National Treasure franchise, which I wrote about last month on my blog, along with noting an underground archives in an animated series. I wanted to make this piece into the beginning of a series on the SNAP blog, but that was, sadly, rejected. That means this will be a stand-alone piece. In any case, the call to action at the end should be kept in mind for all, especially when looking at films and other media:
While this is only one film in the vast panoply of those created by Hollywood which feature either librarians or archivists, often more of the former than the latter, it is important for archivists to retain a critical eye so that we can help promote accurate portrayals of our profession in the future. This will involve pointing out inaccuracies in Hollywood films and other media in order to improve popular perception of the archives field so that individuals don’t have misguided views of what the profession is about. What form this critical eye takes is up to individual archivists and archival institutions.
I’ve already done a bit of this, myself, with a recent post covering a newspaper archivist in an ongoing animated series.
This brings me to my next post, which is also a review of popular culture. Specifically, it focuses on fictional libraries in shows such as Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, Bravest Warriors (small mention), and DC Super Hero Girls. In all of these cases, no librarians are present, which seems to be a pattern from the animations I’ve watched so far. It is an unfortunate trend that should be remedied.
With that, let me continue onward with some news from the past week. The biggest story, in the library and archives world, I would say, is the Internet Archive launching a National Emergency Library, making books available digitally, removing waitlists. Of course, publishers and their sycophants freaked out declaring this is “piracy,” even though public libraries are closed across the country because of COVID-19. I know there has been a good deal of controversy about this, but I tend to side with the Internet Archive over the publishers and others grumbling about supposed copyright violations, due to the situation we find ourselves in as a country. Also, those that run the Internet Archive (IA) are keenly aware of copyright and the laws surrounding it, as anyone who runs a site like IA, or those that try to make content available online for free. In essence, I’m saying that I trust their judgment.
Now, there are some other important stories in the past week, like NARA donating protective gear, archivists chatting about “luck” in archives, and providing a resource list for documenting community responses to COVID-19. Additionally, there was a perspective on how precarious labor practices in the archives profession can be changed to be more sustainable (and stable), the importance of working toward equity, and NARA asking for help in digitizing War of 1812 pensions and bounty land warrant applications. The latter are vital in genealogical research. Also, David Ferriero’s letter to the archival community about the challenges NARA is facing to work in the COVID-19 environment is worth a read.
That brings us to some wonderful news in the library community. Hack Library School had articles about institutional failure and guides to COVID-19. The Library of Congress noted that their Ask a Librarian service will continue to be open, regardless of COVID-19, as it is already an online service. The American Libraries magazine, a publication of the ALA, released an article about how to sanitize collections to limit the spread of COVID-19 and the ALA welcomed the new terms of service of LinkedIn Learning, with less information collected than in the past.
That’s all for this week! Hope you all have a great rest of your week.
- Burkely