Stalking
It is all too easy as an archivist to become consumed with the subject of your cataloguing work.
I am not genuinely stalking Melvyn Bragg - but sometimes it feels like it is happening by pure accident. Maybe it is just that I am spending eight hours a week exploring the life and work of someone I rarely thought about before starting this project.
I have unrivalled access to material that has in most parts remained private until being donated to the University. I am learning about this literary collection in a way that no one else will ever see, even the researcher. Maybe it is just that my exploration of it has a different purpose to that of the researcher - my job is the preparatory work of exposing it for potential research. There will inevitably be parts of the material that remain confidential because of sensitive subject matter; Melvyn will be asked to make that decision. The donor has to have confidence in the archivist and Special Collections staff that these wishes be upheld and sensitive material not divulged.
As an archivist you become an accidental expert in a subject because of the collections you catalogue - inevitably these connections seep into your personal life. Even on a week away from work Melvyn does not leave my consciousness. His prominence in public life has not suddenly increased as a result of my work, but he is suddenly everywhere I look. Watching reruns of The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer - a satirical sketch of "Melvyn Bragg" riding a bike! Turn on the BBC news - camera focused in on Melvyn Bragg in the House of Lords. Finally - the icing on the cake - away from home in a cafe in Wells, Somerset, only to find a literary festival is taking place - and I sit in a chair with a cushion covered in his image!
I know I am not alone in these odd stalking behaviours (go on, admit it, archivists!). Maybe in some way it helps the cataloguing process along, giving it momentum. And I am sure researchers would attest that it is the conversations they have with the archivist (the accidental expert) that enhance their exploration of a collection, creating connections between different materials that they would not necessarily glean from a traditional catalogue. So, my problem for today - how do I strike the balance between overwhelming researchers with odd snippets of knowledge and making catalogues work for them...?
