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     This is part of the new GIG economy. That's where everyone is a 
contractor, and entities doing the hiring do not pay benefits. It's a 
consultancy world. Not too different than Adjunct professorships.
     Lots of grants are pretty much static, i.e., short term and limited 
$$ at best. Once the money is spent, there may not be money to continue.
     One such project is at Columbus College, where they have a retired 
archivist volunteer doing much of the cataloging. I've had three of 
these (paid) projects since retirement; payment pretty much covers 
expenses.
     Many of these grants, depended upon by libraries and museums, may 
go away if Trump and the Republicans have their way with the budget 
request.

Paul T. Jackson
Trescott Research
Steilacoom, WA 98388

On 3/23/2017 10:39 AM, Nathan Coy wrote:
> As an avid watcher of the job market in the A/V preservation world and the
> library field at large I am curious on thoughts about why A/V centric jobs
> seem to be primarily term positions while many other fields of library work
> aren't. If there truly is no shortage of work to be done in the same way
> there is no shortage of work to be done in cataloging, why then are
> significantly more (and more professional level) jobs that are permanent in
> the cataloging field as opposed to A/V preservation work? Is this
> attributed to lack of advocacy on part of professional organizations?
> Managers involved in financial decision making? Organizations able to get
> grant money for A/V and thus creating a cycle of term funding and hoping
> from project to project and institution to institution? I am genuinely
> curious about perspectives from individuals working in several different
> capacities. It seems this is a problem in the archival field (as I
> understand it an issue raised at the SAA convention somewhat recently about
> generational advocacy) in general, but is even more acutely present in A/V
> specific work as can be attested to through a survey of job advertisements.
> If this is the case, is promoting the field as a profession while not
> supporting it organizationally problematic?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Nathan Coy
>
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