Week 12: Preserving Culture
Nicholson Baker: Double Fold
Baker writes in a very biting, very accusatorial tone of voice, but drawing on his story-telling expertise as a fiction novelist, creates a flowing narrative. It’s captivating and engrossing, and at more than one time, my mouth dropped open from what I was reading. Very interesting overall, and I think that comes mostly from his pointed attack on librarians, which is a fresh perspective to say the least. In particular, he criticizes the administrative leadership of Verner Clapp and his LOC Council on Library Resources. I was surprised to learn that a lot of his appointees had no training in the Library Science field, but rather came from government agencies like the CIA where they developed technology for military and national defense purpose. [As an aside, government officials are still grossly abusing power by appointing cronies to positions they are obviously unqualified for. See this article for a modern example: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/06/bush_cites_authority_to_bypass_fema_law/.] These members of the Council, like Warren Weaver, Philip Morse, and Merrill Flood to name but a few examples, possessed a shared knowledge of rich scientific and mathematical fields; however, this background does not allow for the pursuit of a more humanistic mission of library institutions. They developed technology more in the interests of militaristic developments and used library materials for experimenting rather than developing technology appropriate to preserving materials and information for posterity. This resulted in the loss of original information and printed sources by the millions, as Baker reiterates repeatedly, and left large, irreparable gaps in our nation’s library collections.
Though libraries exist in communities across the US, many people are not aware of the internal struggle librarians endure to preserve collections or even more generally, the library itself. Until I began my MLS program, I had no idea of all the issues and concerns facing libraries, and I would consider myself an active, pro-library, enthusiastic reader and learner. I think Baker does a remarkable job bringing this public ignorance to our attention. One poignant example is his experience in the LOC’s conservation lab and the subsequent differentiation between “conservation” and “preservation”. I found his supplementary explanation of the politics surrounding these two fields logical to anyone with some understanding of how the political machine operates, and yet quite unsettling. I would think the common person who goes about their daily life, working and trying to make ends meet, would not bother to involve themselves in these issues, and so a lot of people are simply unaware of the situation. I know I was.
Baker writes in a very biting, very accusatorial tone of voice, but drawing on his story-telling expertise as a fiction novelist, creates a flowing narrative. It’s captivating and engrossing, and at more than one time, my mouth dropped open from what I was reading. Very interesting overall, and I think that comes mostly from his pointed attack on librarians, which is a fresh perspective to say the least. In particular, he criticizes the administrative leadership of Verner Clapp and his LOC Council on Library Resources. I was surprised to learn that a lot of his appointees had no training in the Library Science field, but rather came from government agencies like the CIA where they developed technology for military and national defense purpose. [As an aside, government officials are still grossly abusing power by appointing cronies to positions they are obviously unqualified for. See this article for a modern example: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/10/06/bush_cites_authority_to_bypass_fema_law/.] These members of the Council, like Warren Weaver, Philip Morse, and Merrill Flood to name but a few examples, possessed a shared knowledge of rich scientific and mathematical fields; however, this background does not allow for the pursuit of a more humanistic mission of library institutions. They developed technology more in the interests of militaristic developments and used library materials for experimenting rather than developing technology appropriate to preserving materials and information for posterity. This resulted in the loss of original information and printed sources by the millions, as Baker reiterates repeatedly, and left large, irreparable gaps in our nation’s library collections.
Though libraries exist in communities across the US, many people are not aware of the internal struggle librarians endure to preserve collections or even more generally, the library itself. Until I began my MLS program, I had no idea of all the issues and concerns facing libraries, and I would consider myself an active, pro-library, enthusiastic reader and learner. I think Baker does a remarkable job bringing this public ignorance to our attention. One poignant example is his experience in the LOC’s conservation lab and the subsequent differentiation between “conservation” and “preservation”. I found his supplementary explanation of the politics surrounding these two fields logical to anyone with some understanding of how the political machine operates, and yet quite unsettling. I would think the common person who goes about their daily life, working and trying to make ends meet, would not bother to involve themselves in these issues, and so a lot of people are simply unaware of the situation. I know I was.
posted by lwinkle at 10:40 AM
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