I thought Marianne LaBatto's presentation on the Special Collections archive was fascinating, as it dovetailed nicely with some of the issues we discussed in class re: archives and the Modernist Journals Project. In particular, I was struck by the fact that the Special Collections archive functions as an organ of institutional memory for the College. The collection of print ephemera -- tickets, flyers, student literary magazines and newspapers, yearbooks, and faculty or alumni manuscripts and print drafts -- seemed to have value in that these items "pay tribute" to the history of Brooklyn College and its effect on local, regional, and even national culture. It was very telling in that regard when Marianne was asked by one of us (very astutely) why Alan Dershowitz chose to give his papers to Brooklyn College instead of Harvard: her answer, "he credits Brooklyn College for his career." So the archive seems to perform a role in furthering the institution's ideology.
As discussed in class, an archive is a site for the storage and production of knowledge, and its institutional politics will always somehow affect the knowledge produced from its holdings. Marianne's advice to do your secondary research before going to the archive for primary research was very sound indeed. However, I was struck by her statement that the archive staff does not do any interpretation for you. Their job, she says, is to collect, arrange, describe, preserve, and make available items that are precious or of "enduring value." I think that the actions of bibliographical / archival description, arrangement, and production of access mechanisms do involve some interpretation of the materials. In particular, their method of categorizing the Dershowitz papers down to the folder level involves an intimate knowledge of the material in order to schematize its organization and to produce the accompanying research guide. Also, what does it mean that a researcher will sometimes only be allowed to view a smaller selection of the items requested? As well, the fact that the archive can only keep a certain number of items of "enduring value" that requires a "certain amount of prophecy" in decision-making speaks to the amount of interpretation and institutional politics involved.
At any rate, I'm curious to know what were your thoughts on the presentation. Also, since most of our archival reading is digital, what was your experience in handling the physical artifacts? Do you have a sense of what is lost and gained in the digitization process?
Archival Research Presentation
Hi Prof. Drouin,
I was impressed by the vast amount of objects in the BC archives, and I was reminded of a site I visit managed by the archivists at the Royal Bethlehem Hospital of London in the UK:
http://www.bethlemheritage.org.uk/archive/web/brha.htm.
The site is rich with information that goes back to the 17th century, with scanned images of the actual registers listing the names and details of patients admitted to the "Bedlam" Hospital in London. Some of the descriptions are routine--"melancholia" is a term that is thrown around quite heavily, and there are numerous patients admitted who endured (obvious) severe depression after financial setbacks and the loss of a close family member. The picture that emerges is that of a society trying to cope with debilitating mental illness using 12th century logic and techniques. The site is fascinating in its historical value, but it can also be a useful tool in determining what is and is not worth digitizing for the public's consumption.
If you have a chance to glance at the site at some point, I'd like to hear your take on the way the materials are presented and digitized. I think it's important to keep these kinds of records on display simply as a reminder of the archaic approach that still, sadly, permeates the treatment and perception of mental illness. One good example of this intolerance is the recent video of a woman left to die on the floor of a busy waiting area in a mental hospital right here in Brooklyn. We wonder how this could possibly have happened, and yet we have lost the ability to empathize with those whose suffering is visible only to themselves. These archives help shed new meaning on the myriad reasons why we allow these kinds of senseless deaths to take place. We can learn from these archives how best to approach the enigmatic world of profound mental disease--Best,
Maribel Vega
Presentation
Hi Prof.,
The presentation was very educational and informative. I did not know that Brooklyn College had such an archive. I learned more about the functions of a library archive and how it works. I think digitization makes research information more accessible, but it takes away the physical interaction that one would have with original documents. Original documents that are contained in an archive are artifacts, but digitization is only a copy of the original. Digitization does help to make the research process much easier though.
Archive Presentation
The archive presentation was very informative. I can now appreciate the need to have our valuable writings digitized since they will be better preserved under that system. With digitization the researchers will save on time for they will no longer have to spend long periods of time delving into old materials in archives far from home. The archive can be in the comfort of their own homes.
I was impressed with the fact that Brooklyn College has preserved the works of its students and these include some interesting flyers and magazines. I hope I'll be able to examine some of these materials more closely.
Charlene Nicholson