And I start with this…..
Since my decision to become an archivist, people have asked me what it is I’m actually studying. And after completing half of my degree, I still don’t know what to answer. I feel slightly embarrassed by this, because I literally can’t do my own profession justice.
So the situation usually goes like this:
I meet a person at a casual social setting—be it at a bar, restaurant, friend’s house party, etc. We exchange pleasantries… “Hi my name is….?” “How do you know so and so?” and whatever….
And then it happens… “So what are you going to school for?” Crap. Not again.
I give my blanket response which is, “Well I’m going to school for Library and Information Science.”
This situation goes one of two ways.
The first of which is the one I prefer, sadly. “oh cool my aunt/sister/cousin/boyfriend did/is doing that.” And then they drop it. And move on. This does not happen often.
The second outcome is far more awkward and happens a lot more often. A blank stare and “what do you do with that?”
Sigh….
“I’m going to school to be a librarian.” Usually that satisfies people but I get a few intrepid individuals who probe further.
“Oh, like what kind?”
“I want to be an Archivist.”
Another blank stare…. “What does an archivist do/What do you want to do?”
And here is where it gets messy. I always find myself using jargon causing this uncomfortable gap that I just don’t know how to seal.
Some answers I have given:
- "I arrange and describe unique materials"—Yes, I have actually given this TEXTBOOK and TERRIBLE answer.
- "I want to work with born-digital materials/electronic records. I find them fascinating"—this usually makes people change the subject…. :o(
- "It’s a special type of librarian that works with rare materials"….Again not the BEST answer.
- "Clean out dead famous people’s attics/basements and make it available to researchers"—this one gets a chuckle although it’s not completely true.
- "I organize people’s papers so researchers can use them"—which I think is good but not a complete answer. But it’s the best I’ve come up with so far.
I’m sure you guys have come across the same situation. Please share your best answer and enlighten me and others who have the same question.
Peace,
Am
Prescript - When things are cross-posted on multiple sites I never know where to reply.
ReplyDeletePrescript 2 - I am not an archivist.
I've recently had cause to introduce myself to a number of people, or reintroduce myself in the case of reunion. There are times where I was able to take a long time with it, and have really interesting conversations with people about the future of information, mostly with intelligent-sounding foreigners. There are also times at reunion where I simply wanted to say what I did, and then get the hell away from this person. Like with any sort of pitch, it helps to tailor your response to the situation.
For quick exits, I have an elevator pitch: "I am studying (/going) to be a librarian. If I get everything I want, I'll be working in a privately funded library in a year." That's easy enough to modify. Just say where you want to work, or alternatively, what type of collection with which you want to work.
For long conversations, I want to provide an opening. The one I like so far: "I am studying (/going) to be a librarian. But if I get everything I want, my job title won't be librarian." This usually leads them to ask what it will be, at which point I explain:
"There are lot of jobs that use library skills that aren't in traditional libraries."
I think you could use something similar to that above statement. It gets people to think about their assumptions of what a librarian does, without making a big deal of the fact that they have assumptions. It's also fairly open, and can transition the talk into a slightly different topic. Potentially, to a slightly less personal topic, such as the future of information. It's very open to stylization, but it does engage people.