TABLOID Reporter: Dave? Dave?
Dave: What the--? I'm sorry, but I really have no time for this. I have to catch my bus.
TABLOID: A few questions for the scandal sheets...enquiring minds want to know...
Dave: I normally don't talk to tabloids...
TABLOID: Whatever...You recently launched a third--yes, a third--blog. The question everyone wants answers to know is: Are you out of your mind? Three blogs? How are you gonna handle the pressure?
Dave: Out of my mind? No, of course not. Each blog serves a particular purpose. Arch.i.vi.us, for example, pretty much runs on its own. Not much intervention on my behalf. Just a few tweaks now and then. Thankfully, the blog remains a very good resource. I find something interesting there every day because the content it aggregates is always fresh and relevant.
TABLOID: Horrendous shameless plug. Now what about The DIGITAL Archive? Will your cornerstone blog be tossed to curb like your long line of ex-wives?
Dave: I cannot believe I am hearing you say these things. No, The DIGITAL Archive will remain online as long as its writer has something noteworthy to share.
But at the moment, what I am most proud of is my latest blog venture called Archives*Open, a blog that focuses on how archivists are using technology, particularly Web 2.0, to further enhance and improve public access to and understanding of archival material.
I hope to cultivate a collaborative team spirit with this blog, whereby other archivists can submit their Web 2.0 archival projects that they have recently launched or--and here's a big scoop!--they can submit their own thoughts and comments on Web 2.0 and Archives.
TABLOID: Major scoop! Archivists can also submit their opinions on Web 2.0 and Archives?
Dave: Yes, that's a new plan in order to make Archives*Open a more community-oriented, collaborative space. I welcome input. How would archivists use Web 2.0 in their archives? What Web 2.0 technologies, tools, or ethics would they want to implement, and why? I think it could generate some interesting discussions.
TABLOID: Wait a minute! Wait. One. Minute! Archivists and Web 2.0? You've got to be kidding me?! I bet half of them don't know what Web 2.0 is and the other half who do know want nothing of it!
Dave: I refuse to sink to such levels of cynicism. I know archivists are cautious professionals, analyzing the situation before committing themselves or their limited resources. That's smart. I mean, heck, I think we as a community are still figuring things out in regards to Web 2.0. This is all new stuff! But exciting new stuff, stuff that could change things for the better.
I believe Web 2.0 is a win-win situation, if we are willing to take a few calculated risks. Web 2.0 is not only about technology, it's also about thinking differently, looking at things differently. For Archives*Open, it's about thinking differently about access to archival materials. It's all about giving access to the masses in innovative ways!
TABLOID: Ugh! You have to work on your marketing skills. Listen. I'm still not convinced. I think this Web 2.0 is essentially a fad, like Facebook and Twitter.
Dave: Platforms, like the ones you mentioned, will indeed change or disappear and re-appear with a different look. But the key is what they fulfill: They fulfill the innate human desire to communicate, connect, and build communities. Didn't Seth Godin write a book called Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, about people's desire to form and join a movement, an idea--something along those lines?
TABLOID: OK, Socrates! You're losing me here!
Dave: Nevermind.
TABLOID: So Archives*Open is open. That's wonderful news. Great. So much for if it bleeds, it leads.
Dave: Is the interview over then? Are we done?
TABLOID: One last question!
Dave: No more, please. Out of my way.
TABLOID: Dave! Dave!
Dave: Yes! Yes! I'm right here!
TABLOID: Is it true you dumped Jessica Alba for Jessica Biel? And what's with your obsession with Jessicas anyway?? Hey! Come back! You can't run away...you can out run me but you can't out run the paparazzi!
From time to time, I interview myself. I conducted a self-interview a few months ago which went quite well. It was a sit-down interview, one-on-one with myself across a table on a dimly-lit set with questions and answers in the spirit of an investigative Mike Wallace or a probing Charlie Rose interview.
This latest self-interview, however, was different. I don't know what happened to the previously dignified journalist; he was gone, replaced by some kind of uncooth tabloid reporter, the type who snakes around your favourite watering hole, waiting for you to spill some saucy bit of gossip.
But since I do not drink, I was accosted right outside the The DIGITAL Archive office. Confused and unprepared, walking while talking, I had to react as best as I could when his mic sprung up in my face.
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