The Archivist and Accessioning

Aside from my tiresome rant against the rising tide of print disposal and the shortened attention span of the millennials, my covers sometimes display aspects of daily life for old school archivists like myself. In my twenty-seven years in the profession I have found a growing trend among those who hold collections of manuscripts and books to overvalue their worth. This is odd, since all the signs around us are pointing to a world where print has no value at all, and where books donated to libraries are simply put directly into book sales or chucked into recycling bins. Perhaps the misconception of donors regarding the value of their materials is due to the influence of high profile auctions, or television programs like Antiques Roadshow, where astronomical prices are set on rarities. This puts pressure on archivists like myself to tread a careful line between convincing the donor their material has worth for research, but little value on the open market. Negotiating can be a very tricky business, and so I present . . .