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by David Mattison, British Columbia Archives
Archives and archivists, along with librarians, suffer from an image problem. Not that we're ungrateful for recognition. But associating archives with dust, mold, darkness - well, ok, we'll give them the low light levels - or just plain sterility and stagnation is simple fiction. And archivists are real people, not dour, labcoated technocrats with pen protectors, glasses or hair tied back in a bun.
So rather than bemoan our fictional state as the underclass of information managers and having long been fascinated by the romanticized depiction of archivists in novels, movies and cartoons, I set about last year to begin documenting the fictional world of archives through a Web site. The actual catalyst was a series of messages on the ARCHIVES mailing list on various films and books featuring archivists. Peter Gillis' article "Of Plots, Secrets, Burrowers and Moles: Archives in Espionage Fiction" (Archivaria no. 9, Winter 1979-80) captivated me when I first read it and my Web site is in part repayment for that excellent contribution to the characterization of archives.
The Fictional World of Archives is currently divided into three main sections:
1. Novels & Stories Featuring Archives and Manuscript Repositories
2. Films And TV Programs
3. "Pasta Prologue": Archival Humor
A fourth section that will list fictional archivists is as yet undeveloped.
There are also links to search engines and to Marsha McCurley's "Bibliomysteries" which includes references to archives and archivists featured in mysteries.
And just in case a visitor really wants to visit or learn about real-world archives, there are links to two Web directories of archives.
As my own reading habits include much science fiction, those novels predominate. SF authors also quite often treat archives very positively and use them as critical plot elements.
The Fictional World of Archives is in part userdriven, so contributions are encouraged. Each novel, film or TV program is written up as a separate HTML document in a particular format. Whenever possible, particularly with films and TV programs, links to other sites, especially The Intemet Movies Database, are included.
The site is hosted by Leon Miller of Tulane University, New Orleans.
The Web address for The Fictional World of Archives is http://www.victoria.tc.ca/~mattison/ficarch/index.htm
Go by for a visit and make a contribution.
David Mattison is a reference archivist with the BC Archives and has been affiliated with archival work for nearly 20 years.
Reprinted from the AABC Newsletter, Spring 1997, Vol. 7, No. 2.
© 1997 Archives Association of British Columbia