*I’m not a certified archivist, but here are Some Thoughts: https://twitter.com/ncph/status/1329111185757794304

1.) You got “create one big archive” money?
The immense amount of time and labor it takes to do something like this is expensive. Who are we hiring? Who’s writing and constantly maintaining the scripts and workflows? Where are we storing this information? Where will it live?

Sure, lots of institutions have access to funding and labor, but in this economy? It was difficult even in the Before Times. I’m thinking of small and rural municipal archives where they give you a flashlight and send you down into a haunted basement to do research.

2.) Although there are all the certifications and trainings and continuing education courses out there, there is no standard when it comes to *learning* to be an archivist. There’s theory and best practices, but everyone has their own method.

3.) Each archive has its own system (if they do indeed have one). Making all those systems connect is a gargantuan task. It’s hard enough to migrate a system (lots of places are moving from Archivists’ Toolkit to ArchivesSpace rn) but to integrate others?

Additionally, those systems serve specific purposes and populations.

4.) Old guard and donor headassery. Interpret that how you will.

With all this in mind, this isn’t an impossible task, especially if it’ll help people access information needed to help them live their everyday lives and conduct research more efficiently. But we’d have to make a plan and prepare not to see it happen in our lifetimes. #archives

@brimwats