Sometimes I wonder what's going to happen to our field when this recession is over. As it stands today, its generally accepted that the problem comes from several circumstances coming together at one point in time and space. We're experiencing a poor economy, funds are limited and when funds get limited, archives and libraries are the first to get the axe. Its already happened all over the place. The doors have closed, the records shipped off site, and the budget will no longer turn its gaze towards finding a curator to provide access, preservation, acquisition or any other procedures. For those that haven't yet closed, its only a matter of time.

There are still countless archival collections out there that are being run by a mighty staff of one - and that mighty singular intelligent identity has been fighting to maintain their mighty, underfunded projects for many years. When the time comes that this mighty singularity finally retires (because let's face it, who's jumping at the chance to retire in a recession?), the hosting organization will sense the loss at its greatest in the form of no longer having to listen to strong, articulated and compelling arguments as to why the funding must continue to be allocated for this particular resource of unique documents or unique collection of published material. And when they no longer have to face that argument, they will decide its best for everyone to close the doors and save some money.

There are a lot of qualified professionals in our field that are out of work. Many conversations I've had end with "one day, they'll retire and then we'll get our chance." I wonder how wrong that statement is. I wonder what will happen to all of these records and publications. In the next 3 years the economy will swing back upwards (we hope) and kudos to those of us who are employed when it does. But if we're all employed in the manner we expect because its the manner that has been handed down from the last living, intelligent, singular archivist or librarian - I'll eat my shoe.

What happens to all of these research materials when the budgets are finally cut? More importantly, how does this impact the future of research? There are those of us already discussing the Digital Dark Age, but what about the Analog Dark Age - the period when vast quantities of information were lost unto the knowing world not because of technological failure, but because of society's lack of dedication of the concept of memory, accountability, lineage? How will historians look back upon our time in 100 years? In 500? How will they quantify what's lost and the impact it has on what they will consider contemporary research?