Conversations With the Archivist of the United States
David Ferriero, AOTUS
Responsible for the records of the government with about 2% becoming archived.
Typical Day: Just into the 5th month of the job. Still have a steep learning curve. Trying to get a sense of the staff and their needs. National Archives ranks second from the bottom in employee satisfaction. Will spend time trying to change this.
He is the highest ranking librarian in the administration, and the only librarian in the administration.
Q: Why is it important for a librarian to be the AOTUS?
A: Got a call from the Whitehouse wanting him to become the archivist and he didn't immediately respond. President was looking for someone who thinks outside the box, someone who is into technology, and willing to be a forward thinker. David wanted to take this job to make a difference.
Obama has charged him with two extraordinary initiatives
1. Declassification of Documents
Have an enormous backlog of classified documents going back to WWII. The intent is to open up the records by declassifying of them. What it involves is a major review of the documents by the agencies that classified them. There are 2400 different classification guides and the classification guides are supposed to be reviewed every five years. Over 50% of the classification systems have not been reviewed in the last nine years. Need to revamp the classification system so it is more stream lined. Intend to incorporate technology to do this.
2. Open Government Initiative - Transparency and collaboration
Means that government agencies need to have good record management so that open government can be obtained. Two groups that have never met, will meet to discuss this, the CIO Council and the Records Managers to discuss how to better manage records. Every agency has been authorized to go off and build their own electronic record systems, or put them on their shelves, etc. It is the archivist that has to try and corral the records and digest them. He is hoping that they can create one record management system.
Is currently looking at opening up the archives the way it has never been opened up before. This will allow those that have never had access to the archives before. This includes expanding website, especially targeting K-12 aged kids, new exhibits, and really working with public schools to get kids excited about history, and also their country.
In response to a comment about low morale from workers in the archives, David says that he understands a lot of the jobs within the archives are mundane. There are ways of enriching the job and there are ways to make the worker realize how important the job is so that they have a sense of ownership and also feel important which they are. Is really going to all the staff to talk to them and learn what they want and what their feelings are.
The guards of the archives have actually never toured the archives.
In the digital age we save everything, but preserve little. We are not saving what we should be especially when it comes to electronic records. On the federal side e-mail is not recognized as a record. Which means we are not saving, we are losing records.
Thinking about the divide between digital and print, there is something aesthetic about print on page. While he still uses Wikipedia, Google, and he does own a Kindle, he still prefers holding and reading a book.
The greatest burden and challenges that he faces is the electronic records. The greatest joy is a balance between getting to know the staff and the collection. Still in awe of the collection that is in the Archives.
His message to librarians today - push your supervisors, look for opportunities to get involved, get your ideas out there. One of his best hires has taught him so much, when it comes to packaging and distributing information and where the library should be and what it should be to the users.
***This was a great keynote speaker done in the form of an interview. I have learned some great things and realized that the Archives, while housing some of the most important documents related to U.S. History is really just like any other library. They have the same struggles and the same hopes.***
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