Articles
Author: Patrick M. Quinn (Northwestern University)
To paraphrase John Donne: No archivist is an island; we are all influenced by the swirl of social forces all around us. Our job is to interpret, understand and anticipate those forces so that we might have some control over them, both as human beings and as archivists. Archivists, like auto workers or carpenters, or for that matter, most workers, have a tendency to internalize their work experiences. Work by its very nature engenders and fosters parochial and provincial attitudes and outlooks. Not looking beyond the confines of his or her archives, the archivist is concerned primarily with the day to day requirements of the job. Just as it is difficult for the auto worker to transcend the confines of tightening the same nut with monotonous regularity and visualize his or her role in the entire production process, or a carpenter to place the house she or he is building in the context of providing decent housing for the people of a nation, archivists, too, have necessarily found it difficult to conceptualize the historical and societal framework of their role.
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How to Cite: Quinn, P. M. (1977) “Archivists and Historians: The Times They Are A-Changin'”, Archival Issues. 2(2).