I’m guessing many of you saw this video about why you shouldn’t go to library school. So did Amy and I. But we decided it didn’t apply to archivists very well, so we made our own video. Thanks, Amy!
(Hey archives n00bs: the reality of being an archivist is somewhere between what the grad school admissions people will tell you and this video. Please talk to a real live archivist before you decide that this is the field for you!)
Updated August 2013: Xtranormal is dead, but here’s a link to download the video.
Derangement and Description 
November 19, 2010 at 9:52 am |
Yessss! I can’t wait to sleep in my car this August in Chicago!
But seriously, this is good.
Too good!
[In I-graduate-in-5-months-panic here!]
November 19, 2010 at 10:23 am |
I think you are right: the reality is between the glossy brochure version of the profession and the perspective of the video but you are spot on for a lot of this. So many fantastic lines in this. Great job.
November 19, 2010 at 10:54 am |
This is priceless. Archival mentoring at its de-motivational best. I laughed, I cried, I laughed so hard I cried.
November 19, 2010 at 12:22 pm |
I keep trying to watch the video, but the link is broken!
November 19, 2010 at 12:40 pm |
very, very, nice. And really so, so, true. I especially liked the end — It smells like Vinegar…..
November 19, 2010 at 2:46 pm |
Bravo! You covered many important points from mandatory unpaid internships to low salaries for contract projects to high costing professional conferences. Thanks for doing it!
November 19, 2010 at 4:22 pm |
You are brilliant. Sometimes truest things are the funniest!!!!
November 19, 2010 at 4:22 pm |
This video certainly applies to the academic archivist’s life. Except the teddy bears. We don’t allow pets.
November 19, 2010 at 4:49 pm |
“The stuff of history is infested with mold” That is my favorite line of the day. It should be on a t-shirt.
November 20, 2010 at 7:47 am |
I’ve been in the profession 30 years and I have to say that all that you say seems to be spot on for the younger people now, though wasn’t true at all when I got into the profession. Video is very, very funny. Thanks for doing this!
November 20, 2010 at 8:19 am |
Ha! I watch this as I wait for people scramble for funding to renew my expiring contract and search for laundry soap that will get mouse pooh, insect leavings and mold out of my clothes. Still laughing.
November 20, 2010 at 10:20 am |
Wow that’s so close to home. Funny, yet terribly sad at the same time. Um, thanks?
November 21, 2010 at 8:20 am |
Funny video, but so very sadly true. I wonder what I would have done had I seen this before going down the Archival path so beautifully described here.
November 21, 2010 at 7:05 pm |
You’re amazing, Rebecca. I cried and laughed until I wasn’t sure which I was doing.
November 22, 2010 at 5:45 pm |
You hit the ball out of the park!
Red Rot! Red Rot! Rah! Rah! Rah!
November 22, 2010 at 6:35 pm |
[…] cynical. By Derangement and Description, Rebecca Goldman and Amy […]
November 23, 2010 at 9:54 am |
Brava! Hilarious. I love the “aspiring to own a washer and dryer by your mid-40s.”
November 23, 2010 at 7:33 pm |
I love your work, R.! I definitely learned some of these truths the hard way, and am finishing out my studies without any further archival courses.
As a grad school mentor told me, “You can always love old materials, but not necessarily work with them everyday.”
And red rod can come out of khakis!
November 24, 2010 at 1:43 pm |
Hilarious! This should be required viewing in all archives classes!
November 26, 2010 at 7:57 am |
Love it! Love it! Been sending it to just about everybody in the Finnish archival community! Regards from Finland! I am 58 – I still do not have that washer, working as university archivist AND with manuscripts…
April 23, 2011 at 11:49 pm |
Gosh..I was thinking about going to school to be an archivist and now this has me a little nervous. Would you suggest an alternative route? I really did sound like that one naive bear. I hope you have a moment to answer me..Thanks!
January 4, 2012 at 4:47 am |
WOW, SMELLS LIKE VINEGAR, SO TRUE ITS SAD
May 22, 2012 at 11:45 pm |
Brilliant! Hits so many truths. Thanks for creating this.
June 1, 2012 at 6:25 pm |
My boss just showed me this today. So true it is both hilarious and painful! Had to reblog at http://archivistinprocess.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/why-you-shouldnt-become-an-archivist/
Can’t wait to read more comics!
March 9, 2013 at 9:47 pm |
I just found this video. Hilarious. So true! I am going to have to reblog it for all my fellow students in grad school.
August 28, 2013 at 11:08 am |
[…] Why You Shouldn’t Become an Archivist […]
August 18, 2017 at 1:35 pm |
Why was this video taken down? Any links to it still around?
August 30, 2017 at 9:07 pm |
Yes! Check the link at the end of the post.
October 16, 2018 at 11:12 am |
Now the link at the end of the post is dead too! Anywhere else I can find it?
June 11, 2019 at 5:04 pm |
Please please please?! I’d even pay you for a copy! I love it so much and NEED to share it with my coworkers who are new to the profession.