Thanks much for the thoughtful threads last month about RIM Month
activities, including reminders of "duty to preserve" and linking building
history to existing records.  RIM Month is April, Archives Month is
October.  But we have unofficial opportunities throughout the year to share
internally and externally glimpses at how we do our work.  How we handle
(and if we are able) those ad hoc opportunities is highly individual, in
some cases affected more by where we work more so than in others.

I wrote about that in the context of a recent commentary about civic
responsibility in online information sharing and discourse.  My post,
"Empowerment," focuses on records related and records dependent professions
and includes a section on semantics and cultural issues in RIM, archives,
and history.  (I include a side observation that records management is a
separate profession from archivist.  That is in response to the confusion
I've occasionally observed among some academic historians I know, about
what records managers and archivists do in their work across the records
life cycle.)

I use as an example how words such as "authenticity" and "trustworthiness"
may differ in context when used for records in various professions.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__archivalexplorations.wordpress.com_2018_03_26_empowerment_&d=DwIBaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=BPc3XdTPTJz1vk0HSbQHs-JCjSEFaryuwRlQWv9AMQU&s=EZ9XnN5At7FoZZ4Ib9vN-Xy41Ucrb3pRHSd4_-q9UxE&e=
or short link
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__bit.ly_2JfWwoT&d=DwIBaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=BPc3XdTPTJz1vk0HSbQHs-JCjSEFaryuwRlQWv9AMQU&s=Faf-ENT8Vk0kWFqk6k-WBs2YXs2qfVRl-5OfhPykXFg&e=

I also touch on news literacy and information asymmetry reflected in some
of my experiences a decade ago in an online history forum.  Because my
career has been spent at two nonpartisan Federal agencies, one of which I
looked at in my earlier message today about CRS Reports, I was and still am
limited in the extent to which I am willing to correct some of the
assertions in information others share online. (I rarely see third parties
write about government records or archives issues in a way that resonates
with me.  Often, the limitations are experiential or cultural--the writers
haven't worked directly at the often complex nexus of
RM/Archives/History--rather than intentional.).

Silence doesn't imply assent, of course, in reading Twitter or in using
other online space.  Out of respect for the two agencies at which I've
worked, over the years and decades, I've avoided in participating in
situations and threads likely to devolve into highly partisan or political
rhetoric and pesonal attacks on Federal officials, rather than nonpartisan,
cultuorally-aware, comprehensive and holistic solution-oriented examination
of systemic issues.

And, of course, on Twitter, I avoid responding to assertions in accounts
used by people to disparage others politically in discussing public policy,
especially on records or archives issues.  To the extent I address related
issues, I try to do so in a standalone fashion, at my own blog or on
Twitter, there for anyone to consider (or not) as they wish.  Conveying
values and metamessages is just as important as discussing procedures. I link
in my post to a recent Sunshine Week presentation on records access and
transparency.

The glass half full version response to the public discourse op ed on which
I based my blog post about archives, RIM, and history is that we have
wonderful online opportunities.  Not just in designated months, but
throughout the year, to represent our professions, associations, to some
extent our employers, and, of course, ourselves! In that context, thanks
again for the thoughtful look at RIM Month in the March threads here, as
you prepared for April activities in ways that will resonate within your
individual places of employment.  Very much enjoyed the knowledge sharing
while reading those beautifully customized messages

Maarja
[log in to unmask]
Washington, DC
@ArchivesMaarja
Blog:  Archival Explorations
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__archivalexplorations.wordpress.com_&d=DwIBaQ&c=pZJPUDQ3SB9JplYbifm4nt2lEVG5pWx2KikqINpWlZM&r=b5NZPQUb9_r2rQ3Zd74ATT3aSs9yKyRnJLOhqJvd7fE&m=BPc3XdTPTJz1vk0HSbQHs-JCjSEFaryuwRlQWv9AMQU&s=4IKucZsFGnJasKTppz_O96Yz6jDJtXEE6mdE2A3SE0A&e=

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