Archivists have their day in the sunSay no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay At first glance, the job of an archivist seems so mundane and boring that no one pays much attention to it. However, archivists play a vital role in society, as was highlighted by a recent news story announcing the opening of an inquiry into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. I do not discuss this news to boost my own ego or that of others. my colleagues, but only to make the general public understand that, while archivists often tend to be taken for granted, our work has immense value to society. The Hillsborough disaster is one of the worst disasters in the history of British sport, in which more than 95 lives were lost and dozens were injured. The opening of an investigation into this disaster was only possible thanks to the tireless work of a group of archivists whose task was to catalog and make available over 450,000 documents relating to that tragic accident. The work of these archivists, along with that of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, has uncovered terrible truths that had been hidden for decades. As I read the report presented by the panel, I was ashamed to realize how ignorant I was about what actually happened. happened during this disaster. The general thought that was ingrained in our heads since childhood was that the Liverpool fans themselves were responsible for the disaster that had befallen them. If I had grown up in the northern part of town, I'm sure I wouldn't have been so ignorant, but living in the south, I was shielded from the truth and sometimes even subjected to the deliberate misinformation available in the media at the time. Thanks to the work of the archivists, the Independent Group for the first time had access to unaltered and unmodified original documents, whereas previously the only documents available were those that had been heavily edited with a particular bias in mind. While it is true that almost all written documents have some inherent biases based on the writer's views or beliefs, these biases are usually subconscious and very different from a deliberate attempt to delete or edit the documents in such a way as to cast defamation on the public . actions of only one party, without paying attention to the bigger picture. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Given the important role archivists play in society, it is imperative that we maintain high ethical standards: we always report the facts as they are and are not bribed or intimidated into supporting a particular version of events. While it is not unusual to take this type of ethical standard for archivists for granted, there is always the remote possibility that someone could tamper with records for financial or political gain. This may seem far-fetched, but I'm sure there are examples of archivists who have behaved badly in this way!