 |
 |
Before this point becomes too one-sided, I feel I must point out I have never had a problem with being seen to fit into the 'professional' slot, and I cannot remember having much difficulty telling people what I do, with the exception of builders. Maybe working in a university - and previously for the HMC - helps. When people make a judgement on our status, it is not just 'archivist' they are reacting to but organisaton, job title, and keywords which trigger associations, such as 'county' (archivist) or 'consultant' or 'lecturer'. Since record-keeping is ubiquitous, and the meaning of 'archives' so broad and all-embracing (almost as broad as 'building'), this isn't really surprising. It comes back to the debate about Chartered status; maybe those wishing to underline their professionalism should change their job title to incorporate some professional keyword. 'Local Government Archivist', perhaps, like University Archivist... On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 11:21:23 -0000 "Stephenson,M" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Oh dear. > > For the first time ever I was asked at the weekend to countersign a passport - I hope this doesn't mean my friend's week of over-indulgence in Gran Canaria hasn't been put in jeopardy. > > I find that a lot of people just don't believe me when I tell them that Archivism (is there a proper word for this?) is a profession. Normally after ten minutes of droning on about how professional the profession is they grudgingly agree. > > Regards > Matthew > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Fred Whichelo [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > > Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 9:36 PM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: Archivist-is it a profession? > > > > I know that this is an old football but I thought that you might find it amusing... > > > > My neighbour needed to have a witness signature to her daughter's passport application and asked me to sign my name and write down the standard replies- address, postcode and name of profession. > > > > I put down archivist/housewife > > > > My neighbour has just come back to tell me that the particular passport office has queried whether an archivist is a professional job and now requires details of my academic qualifications. > > > > I fear we have a long, long way to go!!!!! > > > > Gillian Whichelo ---------------------- Ian JF Mortimer, BA MA FRHistS ILTM Archivist, University Library Part-time Lecturer, Dept of History University of Exeter Office: [log in to unmask] Home: [log in to unmask]