Broad Horizons: Opportunities for Archivists

Abstract

Like all my predecessors, I suppose, I have reviewed the history of our Society as revealed in the American Archivist. And I have been struck by the frequency with which the same subjects recur. As the French say, $a change, plus c'est la meme chose. New officers and Council members try to be original, but very often what they propose has been thought of or tried or done before, sometimes several times before. Let us take, for example, some of the subjects with which it has been my fortune to be associated. attempt to establish the position of executive director has been a major goal and the subject of several special attempts going back to the early days of the Society. attempt to develop a comprehensive publications program has been advocated several times in the past. membership development committee has had a number of predecessors. realization that municipal archives is an area requiring special attention has come periodically to the attention of the Society. Even regional associations are not entirely new. There were regional groups of members in Washington and on the Pacific coast as early as the 1930's. We frequently discover that committees are not as active and productive as they might be, a recurring theme in the annual reports of our secretaries. Try as we do for originality in the programs of our annual meetings, we nevertheless find that the same subjects recur year after year. Even the attitude of most of our members seems to change little with the passage of time. As long ago as 1941 the secretary observed that most members seemed to feel that the Society existed to have annual meetings and publish a journal. next year he continued, The Society has always been able to find a Council to lead it and an Editor competent