Value Proposition for Establishing
Archives or Other Historical Programs in Your Organization
by Glenn Bugos
PART II - Getting Started on Corporate History
The best history is very local. It might be conveyed in one
picture of the first storefront, a well-timed anecdote from a
boss, holding a path-breaking prototype in your hand. History
may grow too dilute as it tries to address too wide an audience.
For corporations, the best history should be molded, by professionals,
to match the interests of corporate leaders. Defining what is
a moment of significance is at the heart of the professional
practice of history.
The best history also unfolds slowly. It improves as accumulated
research is reconsidered, as comments are returned, and as the
narrative is rearranged so emerging themes bear greater significance.
History that is rushed to press often sacrifices significant
ideas to the dazzling details. The best corporate history programs
have invested years, if not dollars, in honing their abilities.
Anticipating all the questions the future might ask about the
past is at the heart of professional practice of archivists.
Seed money—a modest amount from the chairman’s discretionary
fund--is often the best way to start into the history of an IT
company. Seed funds can help a young historian approaching a
corporation with a new historical question, or encourage a retiree
to finally put pen to paper. Seed funds can launch a few key
oral histories so a corporation can find its voice. Seed funds
can help save historical resources on the brink of destruction,
and prepare them for a good home. Seed funds can help demystify
the history process to corporate executives, match the right
historian to corporate needs, and encourage innovative ways of
presenting a story. Seed funds enable a first draft of history,
encouraging others to aspire to a final word.
The path of least resistance in IT corporate history is the
cookie-cutter, especially when budgets and schedules look tight.
There are a number of immediately recognizable media for presenting
any story—a picture book, a newsletter article, a lobby
exhibit—but focusing on the deliverable makes the journey
less satisfying.
History is not a product, but a process. Much as a history teacher
engages a classroom in a semester-long conversation about what
is significant in the past, the corporate historian also should
enter into a persistent dialogue with the corporation. History
is a way of thinking as though time mattered, of defining which
elements of the past truly constrain your present, and of constantly
redefining what has been significant to you and your organization.
Many companies remain passive about the value of their past.
The only historical record they may leave are SEC filings or
documents produced from discovery during litigation. Or they
let journalists shape the discussion about what was important
to them.
Apart from the historian, the person most responsible for defining
a firm’s story, grasping its big picture, and crafting
its place in history, is the chairman of the board. A history
effort might be managed by the public affairs, legal or library
departments. Most of the information might come from founders
or old timers; most of the reading might be done by ambitious
young employees. But corporate history can only be effective
with active interest from the CEO and chairperson.
The Information Technology Historical Society encourages you
to get the conversation started. We stand ready to help track
your projects, find people to help, and an audience interested
in your progress. We will provide a platform from which you can
try to frame your stories. We look forward to hearing about where
the conversation takes you.
PART I - The Value Proposition for Corporate
History
PART
III - Models of Corporate Activity in IT History
|
