It’s Already Been Broughten, or the story of one librarian’s journey to the 1st Annual Bilderberg Challenge

On May 30th, 2007, an historic call to arms was issued via the SI listserv:

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[BRING IT] softball -- archivists vs librarians (BRING IT)
For literally hundreds of millions of years, tension has been brewing between archivists and librarians...
Well stop your shushing, put down your acid free folders, and get ready because forever is about to be decided:
THE 1ST ANNUAL BILDERBERG SOFTBALL CHALLENGE
When: Saturday, June 7, 2008, 1 pm
Where: Burns Park Softball Diamonds (look it up or follow the information scent)
Who: Archivists vs. Librarians
What: A duel on the diamond - standard softball rules - bragging rights at stake - in a word, BRING IT!
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This email, issued by Maureen and Bill, ARCHIVISTS AT LARGE, started a revolution in the SI community. No longer was the listserv dominated by a handful of HCI enthusiasts. It was time for the traditional information professionals to take the stage, and take it we did, rocking the status quo.

This challenge marked my entrée into the world of SI-all email communications and sparked a fever in my heart that could only be cured by MORE SOFTBALL.

On 06/07/08 at approximately 1:23 pm, the 1st Annual Bilderberg Challenge began, a softball showdown between archivists and librarians. The archivists, hosts and home team, were decked out in black. The librarians wore white. There was tension in the air and a storm was brewing. Everyone in attendance recognized an epic battle was underway.

Photo Credit: Dawn B.

As a proponent of librarianship and former captain of the Oberlin varsity softball team, I knew it was my duty to unite LIS students and allies to overcome ARM’s attempts to undermine us. We dominated from the moment we stepped on the field; the Bilderberg Trophy was at stake and we could taste victory with every pitch.

With our reputation on the line, we put the archivists’ trash talking to the test, and they crumbled under the weight of our heavy bats and profound fielding prowess.

The final score:
Librarians 16, Archivists 7.

Archivists, I have but one thing to say for my profession: IT’S ALREADY BEEN BROUGHTEN.

[If you're curious, Wikipedia has more on the Bilderberg Group. For Quaker porn, please visit Maureen's blog at: http://patriarchive.wordpress.com]