Have you or your loved one been bitten by paper mites recently? Been wearing too many cardigans? Gone down too many obscure rabbit holes? Or (worst of all) applied for an MLIS? Then you might be interested in what the heck an archivist is anyway. Why would anyone want to do this? What do archivists even do?

Maybe you've only ever pictured archivists as some hermit in a dusty room full of old stuff and not your nephew, or maybe you're three months into your MLIS, overwhelmed with theory, and just want an identity to cling to. Or maybe you're exploring and just curious. No matter the situation, this site is here to break it all down for you.

Allow me to introduce: "Stack Masters: The Reference Guide to Archivists"

To help explain what an archivist is and why they matter, I have created a guide on the pantheon of tutelary saints and gods which oversee the archival field. Each one represents a different side of our work: preserving the past, organizing knowledge, anticipating future needs, and making sure people of all backgrounds have access to all of it. Think of this site as your guide to the personalities and principles behind the people who make sure we aren't all lost in the shuffle.

So, click around, meet some metaphorical deities, and learn why archivists are the coolest people you didn't know you needed.

Archivists have been around for as long as humans have been creating records. Ancient civilizations—think Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Greeks—relied on archivists (though they didn’t call them that) to keep track of things like trade transactions, royal decrees, religious documents, and cultural texts. Fast-forward a few millennia, and archives became essential to monarchies, religious institutions, and governments, preserving everything from treaties to tax records. Essentially, archivists have always been the ultimate keepers of receipts—only their work involved a lot more clay tablets and parchment than group chat drama.

In the modern era, archivists still do the work of organizing and protecting records, but their roles have expanded to include digitization, data preservation, and advocacy for accessibility and inclusivity. From national archives to university collections to community-based projects to feminist zines on Neocities, archivists are behind the scenes making sure everything from your grandma’s oral history to blockbuster film scripts has a safe and accessible home. :)

While the focus of this guide is on older representations of archivists, seeing the good, bad, and ugly representations of archivists prevalent in modern-day pop culture can also be informative. If anything, they can tell us what the general public recognizes as archival work.

Please check out these two great sites which survey this topic: