Archivists, You Are What People Think You Keep

The value of archives (records) to society defines the value of archival enterprise. When a columnist compares archivists to a fictional person who takes ultimate professional delight in studying feces, it is time to look at the ways that archivists describe the material with which they work. The author criticizes the current glossary definition of archives and offers significantly different definitions, both formal and informal, that archivists can use to improve the public's perception of the value of archives.