HIST319 - Intro to Public History - Dr. Burg

This is the most important role of an archivist!!!!!

An archive is not a storage closet. It is a place where information is organized and preserved to be shared.

Restricted records are kept from the public for ethical and/or legal reasons. Examples include: copyright, privacy issues (student or personnel records), or donor agreements. Most archivists will not accept a collection if it cannot be shared with the public.

Restricted records are usually a small portion of any archives (excluding the National Archives of course), and YES, the university archives has a small percentage of restricted folders.

An archivist should have a strong, broad knowledge of what information can be found in the archive and should be an expert in locating that information.

An archivist will NOT know the contents of every piece of paper found in the archive.

An archivist is always learning something new about their institution from archival records.