Of archivists and other termites

Abstract

Archivists have long sought greater public awareness and understanding of archives, believing that this would lead to increased support. Generally, though, demonstrations of archival competence have not yielded adequate resources. In our focus on scholarly users and executive resource allocators we have ignored natural allies whose urge to remember is expressed through historic preservation, antique collecting, genealogy, and reading history and biography. Borrowing perspectives from biology and philosophy can help us in our quest and give us another sense of the meaning and value in our work. We must broaden our perspective to see our work as serving a universal human need to connect among people and across time through acts of memory.