First of all, I'd like to begin by telling you that I am an archivist. While I appreciate your defense of the physical archival space and personal assistance of reference archivists, I am disappointed in your (to my mind) one-dimensional portrayal of archival research and the archives profession. Yes, the digitization of collections does raise issues, but your essay failed to touch them. I understand that you are a researcher and your perspective is quite different from mine. But the concerns you highlighted are deceptive at best, apocalyptic at worst: loss of a "spiritual" research experience and the neglect of physical spaces and their reference archivists.
Perhaps I'm overreacting to your essay just a little bit, but I'm tired of people chuckling when I tell them what I do for a living. I know you're not one of those people, because you value the work we do. But what do I hear?
"Guess you won't have a job in the future, huh? Not with everything online."
"Aren't libraries/archives going away? Everything is online!"
I understand that you're defending the value of the (physical) archive space. And you made a compelling emotional argument. But there is more to archives, archivists, and archival research than an emotional connection with the materials. Those reference archivists that are willing to chat with you over tea? They are just as willing to chat with virtual visitors via phone, email, or maybe even instant message. Because their assistance is not dependent on physical presence. I rather thought that one of the comments on your essay naming you one of the elite was rather harsh, but it is true that not every researcher has the means to travel. A reference archivist does not sit at the desk and desperately wait for a researcher to appear at their door so that they may pour out their institutional wisdom because not all researchers can come through their door. Moreover, a reference archivist is a busy person! In a small shop, they might do more than reference, and even if they didn't they have instructional services, possibly exhibits, and mediation between the public and technical services to handle. Their duties won't dry up if there are less physical visitors.
Now, let's discuss the archival research experience. You describe a tingling sensation that you received while holding one of Benjamin Franklin's papers. Cool! I'm happy for you! I think archivists love to see researchers fall in love with the materials they steward. That is an amazing connection to feel. But that is not the real value of archival research. You know this. It's a side product. The more important possible loss when researching online as opposed to in-person is the loss of context. Perhaps you stumbled upon one letter when searching for "Civil War, grief, widow." The primary resource may be amazing, enlightening even! However, that letter in which a woman discusses the loss of her husband in the War is only one piece of the puzzle so to speak. Some researchers might look further than that letter, but others won't. Now, in the physical archive, you'd only find that letter after seeing the ones around it: thus, context. That is the possible loss to be concerned about in the era of digitization. That's not to say that archivists can't face that challenge and try to mitigate that loss. It is, though, more important than the tingling sensation in my opinion.
Finally, you did acknowledge the great benefits that making materials available online brings. That's what I do for a living. I put information online. So thank you for noting the importance of that product for remote researchers. What you may have failed to realize, though, is that the duty of any archive is to collect, preserve, and provide access. Traditionally, providing access has meant having an open research room with available reference staff. I don't think that will change. Our mandate to provide access, however, has shifted to include digitizing collections so that they may be found via the internet. We would be more likely to LOSE if we neglected that mandate.
I appreciate your passionate defense of the physical archive space and the accompanying reference archivists. It's important to encourage a physical visit to the archives. In future, I'd like to see less apocalyptic worries in the face of digitization.
What sublime experiences will researchers miss if they simply view the documents online? What will be lost if the archives, with their passionate staffs, morph into unvisited repositories?
Sir, our repositories will not be unvisited though our space is changing. Our staffs will still be passionate though the medium of interactions is widening. Don't go down the road of my least favorite conversationalists and predict the end of archives and the archival experience because of the internet. If anything, this is what the internet is meant for: the dissemination of information. It is yet another tool in the archival box to collect, preserve, and provide access to our unique collections.
To see Walter Isaacson's essay, click he. re