I'm quoting a posting here from the The Archives & Archivists (A&A) List that just came through. I believe it speaks volumes about the perspective from our sister field, record management. I also think that what's posted below is ultimately correct, as though as that may be to swallow. [log in to unmask] wrote: The biggest difference between archives jobs and records management jobs is the reason they exist in the first place. That affects the market. Jobs that have a legal, regulatory or compliance related basis are always going to be more plentiful than ones that don't. Corporations and private and public sector organizations need to manage their records for business or legal or regulatory reasons (or all three). Knowledge (what happened and why), archives, history? Ah, that's another matter. Needed and valued in some places, downright scary and sneered at in others. I've actually heard people (not in my organization) say "who needs any of that". And, of course, the market for books is tiny. I would guess that some organizations that in times of fat budgets might have a legal staff, records managers, an archivist and a historian would in lean times keep the first two, letting them handle some archival issues, and let go the last two. Of course, there are archivists who have some RM type duties and some RMs who have some archival duties. End quote. This perspective should also explain a bit why certain fields, with regulatory and compliance issues have data which is properly collected, stored and migrated. Sadly, creative assets do not come with legal ramifications for improper collection & storage, or non existant preservation efforts. We do however have the benefit of following the lead of industries which are properly handling data and digital assets. Don Andes Director of Archives EMI Music - -------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from EMI This e-mail including any attachments is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you have received it in error please advise the sender immediately by return email and then delete it from your system. The unauthorised use, distribution, copying or alteration of this email is strictly forbidden. If you need assistance please contact us on +44 20 7795 7000. This email is from a unit or subsidiary of EMI Group plc. Registered Office: 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5SW Registered in England No 229231. - --------------------------------------------------------------------