Are Archives Relevant?

When people talk about archives and historical research, they always seem to use words like old, musty, dusty, decay, brittle, and similar terms.  I think some users expect me to be wearing a cowl and skulking about the catacombs...excuse me, basement stacks...with my candle-lit lantern!   

But this past week has shown again the relevance of archives and what we do.   The newspaper highlighted the issue of urban farming and the question of raising chickens in city limits...an issue that is really an offshoot of the old "victory gardens" issue and home-grown food reminiscent of the Great Depression and doing more with less.
First thing that morning we had a researcher looking at the Pensacola City Ordinances -- the 1950, 1959, and 1968 editions -- for what the old laws said about chickens.   Before zoning and the coming of suburbia, the laws and regulations were less stringent, and we need to know what they were and what they said to help us draft 21st century legislation.

Similarly the Sunday newspaper announced in an Op-Ed feature of the restoring the name of Rosamond Johnson to the signage and dedication of Johnson Beach.   This archivist spent several days looking through newspapers after the Gulf Islands acquired Johnson Beach from the County Commission as a researcher wanted to find when the original sign went up.  I didn't find it, but that's what happens in the archives....sometimes you find it, sometimes you don't, and sometimes you find something else that inspires and enthuses your spirit. 

Are archives relevant .....heck yes!