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Well, it's my bloody birthday. At some time today (I would have to check my birth certificate), 43 years ago, I completed my expulsion from my mothers womb. It's been all downhill from there. :)
I started the new job on Wednesday. I am still pondering whether to post a regular blow-by-blow description of what "A Day in the Life of an Archivist" is like. On the one hand, I believe that it will be interesting to other people who have made a career as archivists, as well as for students and others who are considering such a career. The day-by-day work of a "Lone Arranger" (the casual term archivists use for one who is the only person responsible for archival collections) is extremely different from that of a professional who works in a big operation (like a state or national archives). It would also be somewhat therapeutic for me to blow off some steam. On the "con" side ... I have some concerns about the level of detail that I can provide in such narratives. I do not want to write something that would jeapordize my future career opportunities, nor do I want to bring shame or bad publicity to the institution where I'm working. I certainly don't want to embarrass anyone with whom I work (staff, volunteer, or patron). However, if I'm self-editing to put a "positive spin" on everything, the educational and cathartic benefits of such a regular column are diluted or lost [although sometimes it helps to put things into perspective].
It has been recommended to me, and is something that I have considered, to use the access-control facilities of LJ
to restrict access only to a select group of friends. However, that dilutes the value of retaining such a journal, in particular because it would be of greatest interest to people who are not on my friends list (e.g., members of the
group, or people who don't use LJ or have an
OpenId identity available to them. Another possibility would be to create another identity and to be careful to maintain plausible deniability about who is doing the writing and about what institutions or localities involved. There are significant layers of political machination involved in the tiny organization I've joined, and the local and state government that is intertwined with the organization. I'm open to comments on this. I don't delude myself about how many people read my journal or whether anyone cares about what I have to say. However, I also don't delude myself about the fact that anyone who knows how to use Google can probably follow the trail of breadcrumbs back to who I am and where I work. Given how much it seems to me that otherwise intelligent and goodhearted people seem to overreact and misinterpret things that are intended to be harmless and turn them into a major issue, I'm not sure whether it's safe to write anything on the Internet any more. Look at how the ignoranti in the press beat up on
WikiPedia
this week about how conflicting information about Ken Lay's death appeared while the rumors were floating around.
On a happier note, Germany is now kicking Portugal's ass 2-0 in the "Loser's Match" for third place. Oops! Make that 3-0!
I can't decide if I want to go somewhere really special for dinner tonight. :(Current Mood: onomatopoeic? |
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ferthalangur's journal