Traditionally, archivists don't go looking for items to fill their shelves. But occasionally, they're in the unique position to shape history by determining what has merit for preservation -- and that may include items that other archives have yet to recognize as having merit. Evetts is doing original cataloging of these journals; a survey of WorldCat (a searchable online database of library collections) shows that Auraria is the only library in the world with such a collection. Evetts has already had to pull the publications to help a student with research -- an international student who was assigned to write about some point of cultural contrast.
Should it be left completely up to archivists to try to predict whether certain contemporary materials will have historical merit, given the space limitations in archives? There is a good case for the relevance of publications in the medical marijuana subject heading, but who should ultimately decide if they get a place in the archives while other things must be "deaccessioned"?
For more from Auraria Library's Archives and Special Collections department, check out last week's column on Ed White and Allen Ginsberg.
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