OK, I'll bite. Love this discussion. Mary's comments are so accurate. As many of you know, I teach Records and Information Management at a couple of universities. Part of the content in these classes is the nexus of RIM and Archives. A significant percentage of my students are working on their Archives certificate. My course is a requisite for that certificate at Emporia State University.
We explore the differences and similarities of the professions, and there are many of both. A number of you have focused on this in your comments. What I find interesting, or alarming, is how few are the opportunities for archivist positions that pay appropriate to the level of education and experience. My students are well aware of this.
And when it comes to passion for one's profession, I do not find any group more dedicated than the Archivists. See, I'm a Records geek, and I'm saying the Archivists are even more passionate. But it hurts me when I see so many who struggle to find an opportunity that presents what they so much want to achieve and contribute.
This is one reason my course is connected to the Archives certificate. Are there opportunities in the RIM world that present themselves to someone who really embraces archiving? I believe such positions exist. Most of my students have, or are acquiring, the building blocks of RIM in their MLIS degree. They get what we do in RIM. So how does this become opportunity for archives?
How many of us in RIM have, or should have, created archives in our own organizations because there was no one else to get it done? Sure, that may not seem to have the social impact of running an archive for significant historical issues, but it might create knowledge that would not otherwise exist. And this is the nexus; bringing those great skill sets to the RIM/Information Governance environment while creating an archive where one never existed. I hope even a few of my students move into the RIM/IG career track, make us better for it, and succeed in establishing archives of information that would otherwise slip through the collective fingers of our profession.
You have seen my students joining the Listserv over the years and I thank you for welcoming them on board. It is discussions like these that make me look brilliant for such a requirement. Thanks, as always, for your amazing leadership and contribution to the profession(s).
David B. Steward
Director of Records
HUSCH BLACKWELL LLP
4801 Main Street, Suite 1000
Kansas City, MO 64112-2551
Direct: 816.983.8860
Fax: 816.983.8080
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