A Survey Of Archivists Of The U.S. Senate

Abstract

This article investigates the daily practices of Senate archivists and discusses the range of their activities, with particular attention to the similarities and differences among archivists in a senator’s office versus those working for a committee. Archivists on Capitol Hill are present during the creation of records and all perform certain primary functions such as records management and inventory maintenance, but the great diversity in the services they provide, depending on the particular needs of their office, renders the creation of a general job description quite difficult. The authors surveyed archivists in the Senate about their job duties, titles, education, and experience. The survey showed broad commonalities among the standard range of professional activities, as well as considerable diversity of responsibilities as a reflection of the individual careers of the lawmakers they serve.