Interesting thread on what is "historical."  Leads me to ask a question
about such designations.  After attending the Breakfast Reception and
Independence Day Reading Ceremony at the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) this week, I blogged about invisible labor in the
context of archives and records management and a speech Howard Zinn gave at
the Society of American Archivists conference in 1970.
https://archivalexplorations.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/voices/  This follows
up on my prior post, "Their Names," which looks at Contrabands and U.S.
Colored Troops buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

You'll see in my Independence Day "Voices" post pictures of two NARA
employees who work on the records side of the house:  Laurence Brewer,
Chief Records Officer (with whom I sat during the ceremony) and Janet
Kennelly, who works for him at the records center in Suitland, Maryland.  I
include a photo I took last year, when I introduced Janet to AOTUS David S.
Ferriero.

Among the issues I cover from my perspective in the post is the scheduling
of audiovisual records.  While traditional identification of items of long
term value by business units often focuses on officials of high rank,
historical commemorations and books (written by agency historians or
outside researchers) work best if there is a wider spectrum of historical
images.

I know experientially how that can play out, what makes scheduling for
historical intent work well and what does not. But I'm interested in how
records managers generally adjut in scheduling images, when dealing with
officials (mission staff or mission support staff, including the
photographers) who may not read much history or visit GLAMs (Galleries,
Libraries, Archives, Museums).  And because they are not curators or
historians, may have little experience with or acculturation in what adds
visual appeal to an exhibit )a good way of connecting present employees to
the past). Or accurately conveys visually the work of an organization.
 (This is not a problem at NARA, of course).

Depending on how RM works in any given place (and it can vary greatly), the
records staff may have opportunities to educate officials as they act as
"agents for the future" in saving "cultural heritage." Or they may have to
operate in a more limited fashion at the other end of the spectrum, in a
climate where there is a smaller comfort zone of perceived need for such
outreach.

Would welcome any stories you have to share about "saving history" for
internal and external future users (and not just Feds), and how you move
officials beyond an initial "my office won't need that" to "what serves us
as an organization in the future," to the extent you feel able!

Maarja
@ArchivesMaarja
Blog:  https://archivalexplorations.wordpress.com/
Washington, DC

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