The Age of Unenlightenment

They work tirelessly to digitize the heritage of mankind, tag it with “metadata,” and make it available to the entire globe without charge through open access. It sounds like a boon to the human race, a team of superheroes who selflessly work to elevate our collective consciousness and bring an enlightenment to society unmatched since the seventeenth century awakening of our forefathers (and mothers). Yes, the Information Scientist is truly the savior of our species, and their work will not stop until all have reached an understanding of the universe akin to the gods.

Age of Enlightenment? No, we here at True Archives know that this is the dawn of the Dark Ages; a strange world without print, and without memory. The Information Scientists have been busy stirring up their witches brew since the dawn of the internet in the 1980s, but where, pray tell, are the masses of smarter people for all their efforts? Instead of using this electronic tool ostensibly built for edification, we have millions who use it for nothing more than idle browsing for merchandise or inane chatter. Most of the slack-jawed electronic addicts who no longer have to use any brain power to memorize phone numbers, or even directions to the nearest liquor store, are hardly using that spare cranial space to improve our collective lot. Worst of all, with the ongoing effort to digitize everything and destroy its analog counterpart, the Information Scientist is simultaneously promoting a google-brained generation that will no longer know how to read extended blocks of text, nor have the resources to even regain that skill in the future. Unless, of course, archivists step in to save those books.

Behold the Information Scientist and his minions! See them for what they are! Rage against the gathering gloom! Do not go softly into that dark night! See them for what they are! (Wait a minute. Didn't I just say that? I can't remember...)