Last week I had the privilege to attend the 47th Annual Rare Book and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Preconference in Austin, Texas. I was able to attend thanks to a scholarship from RBMS funded through an IMLS grant. For those of you not familiar with RBMS, it is a section of the larger Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), itself a division of the American Libraries Association (ALA).
My interest in attending was spurred by the theme of this year’s Preconference: “Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the Twenty-First Century: Intersecting Missions, Converging Futures?” I was especially intrigued by the question mark in the title and interested in finding out what the questions were in the RBMS community. I mostly attended the sessions on LAM convergence/divergence and it seems to me that there is still work to be done in each community gaining a deeper understanding not only of what we do, but why we do it. We can all trace our roots back to common institutional ancestors, but in the intervening century we have all developed particular views and professional practices that are important to us. Beyond the issues of integrating collections information in new digital environments or adapting cataloging practices across the from across the fence, we need to continue conversations about what our core values as professionals are. I’m not just talking about between communities, but also within our own communities. New and changing environments should encourage us all to reflect on the choices our fore-bearers made in defining what we are as professionals.
I also participated in some of the discussions that RBMS is having about core competencies for RBMS professionals. Several representatives from Museum Studies programs also attended and offered their views from perspectives. AAM’s Committee on Professional Training seems to be the place for similar conversations in the museum community. A comparison of our opinions about the what the next generation of professionals needs is a revealing way to understand some of the differences in our professional practice. I’m still processing some of this and will have more to come in the future.
So, how does this answer the question of whether our futures are converging? Here I look to my colleagues who also received scholarships. For many of us, professional convergence is already happening. We’re museum professionals working in libraries, librarians working in museums, or the many of us working in institutions that already hold collections that cross the distinct boundaries that are identified. For us, it’s all a little blurry, especially in the digital realm. Funders, like IMLS, encourage collaborations between different types of collecting institutions. The question is not whether convergence is happening, but how we make it happen. I think there is still great value in the individual professional identities that we’ve all adopted. A diversity of perspectives and approaches lends strength across the cultural heritage sector. However, a core competencies for all of us is the ability to work effectively across professional boundaries to better achieve the core missions we share.
On a lighter note, if all y’all haven’t been to Austin, it is a fabulous venue for a conference. A special thanks to the local arrangement committee who made us all feel at home. They were well organized and made our stay an enjoyable one (even if they couldn’t teach me to to two-step at the Broken Spoke).
A few other tidbits gleaned from the conference:
Johanna Drucker presented Artist’s Books Online project site that allows researchers and artists to included detailed descriptions of these materials for scholarly study. She reminds us that while we discuss our needs in the LAM community, the needs of researchers, scholars and other audiences.
Lawrence Pijeaux presented the outreach activities of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute through the collaborative project Teacher’s Domain .
The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center was host to many RBMS sessions. Their new exhibit galleries and educational programs exemplify the opportunities for convergent practices.
