Asymmetry in the Archives 1

Historians and biologists have a great deal in common. They both study change over time, looking for patterns. But our methods are different because our evidence is different. Historians study the dead; biologists, if they like, can study the living. Biologists can observe organisms and they can also produce their own evidence by conducting experiments. Historians can study only what remains of the dead, what's been left behind in the trash heap that is history. They're stuck with what's been collected. Archives are scattershot and happenstance and incredibly frustrating. And, lately, archives are changing. When you think of the word "archive," you're just as likely to think about a folder on your computer, on your desktop, and that, more and more, is how libraries think of archives, too. The author wants to talk a little bit about that change. But first she wants to talk about some ways in which she had used and thought about archives in her own work.