Here at American Honda Motor Company, Inc., we do not have an archivist.
We need one.  Other than the flap over the Archivist of the United States
nominee, during which archivists were quoted as condemning for his lack of
archival job experience, my other experiences with archivists with Cathy
Westfeldt, CRM, of NARA, and Phil Brigandi, Orange County's Archivist.

Cathy Westfeldt organized Orange County ARMA's CRM Seminar for the past two
years, and also spoke on Organizing Shared Electronic Files.  She promotes
education and technology.  She let us see the Nixon papers, (in boxes in a
secure area), and taking us on tours of the local NARA in the ziggurat.
Besides all that, she's a cool person.

We just met Phil Brigandi this year when we needed a tour.  Although he has
published and spoken for years, he's a young guy.  He showed us the ancient
technology - newspapers, file cards and a typewriter, the assessor's
information on microfilm which is holding up better than the later
information on later technology, up to today's digital filings.  I look
forward to featuring the Orange County Archives in a couple of articles in
our newsletter - maybe something on conserving business records and ways
the Orange County Archives can assist local businesses and vice-versa.  (He
doesn't know this yet.)  Already he's in conversation with the records
manager of one of the earliest land-owning families in the county, who he
met at the tour.

Meeting individuals blows away stereotypes.

Lorinda Kasten-Lowerre
Records Management Analyst, Senior
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Torrance, California, USA
Member  ARMA, The Association for Information Management Professionals
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