Importance and responsibility attached with the profession of an Archivist

An Archivist is a professional who is responsible for the collection, arrangement, and preservation of historically important data/material of any field may it be of books or manuscripts, photos/letters of the persons of important personality of past, photos of good work in the cinema, or of gala events like celebrations of independence, victory, pacts etc of past. It may also include official documents, photographs, maps, audio-visual material and any other information-bearing media that contains valuable historical information of individuals, companies, government departments and other organizations. They are those skilled professional that can handle these things in proper manner and procure them from the vast collection when ever required in the future. Importance of Archivist as profession has gained ground in the recent past when the things have started changing at a rapid pace. There was a time when once introduced a thing has long life in the public but with the advent of the technology the things are changing at very fast pace. Thus to have the records of changing thing generated the need of these professionals. They are responsible for keeping the track of the fast phasing out things for the next generations to have a look at the phases of the developments of their time. An Archivist is responsible to preserve the picture of the past for the next generations to compare present to past.
Archivist is now considered as rewarding and challenging career for those who have a flair and keen desire to know preserve our past treasures.
As the work of an archivist can affect the present and future of the generations to come thus a great importance is attached with the job of an archivist.

So to perform his duties up to hundred percent perfection one should be hard working and dedicated. The job of an Archivist demands intensive foresight and inside depth of the field one is working in. For this one should have the capacity to work hard with commitment, open mind and honesty. Thus to do his work most effectively he requires special knowledge and training which can be acquired by going through a particular kind of studies and required training. To be an Archivist one has to follow the below given path.

Eligibility to be an Archivist

1. Educational Qualification
Basic qualification to get admission in courses related to Archivist is 10+2.

2. Age
No specific age requirement is there.

Process to be an Archivist
To be an Archivist one has to follow the below given steps:-

Step 1
To become an Archivist, one needs to have A graduate or postgraduate degree in one of more of the areas like history, art history, anthropology, archaeology, Latin, English literature, public administration, politics, law or economics.
Or
A postgraduate degree in Library and Information Studies; Museum, Gallery and Archives Management and Information Management is essential to get into this field.
Knowledge of different databases is desirable to be a good professional.

Step 2
After undergoing any one or more of the above mentioned course one can either go for the higher studies (Phd. After completion of Post graduation Only)or opt. for the job in various private and public sector organization involved in this field..

Scope and remunerations of these professionals
Area of Scope
There is a great scope for the qualified archivist in various public and private organizations. An archivist can be a Film Archivist, Reference Archivist, Photographic Archivist, Appraisal Archivist, Manuscript Librarian etc. A degree holder in these field can work in the units of various private or corporate organization handling any kind of data. However if one wants to join some government organization he has to take up examinations conducted by Union Public Service commission or Staff Selection Commission. In government sector the successful candidates in the tests are absorbed in Defense services, museums, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, cultural centers and historical division of the Ministry of External Affairs to name a few. Besides all these opportunities in our own country the Archivist have great scope abroad for jobs as well as research in various colleges and universities offering for it with well furnished research programmes.

Remunerations
Because of the global demand of the Archivists and supply being far less than the demand these professional can bargain for hefty pay packages from their employers. To start with on an average one can get up to Rs 15,000 per month. Whereas experienced and qualified professionals can demand higher salary packages.