Unseen Edith Wharton play found hidden in Texas archive, The Guardian

Can we talk a bit about the invisible labor of archivists? This “hidden” Wharton play had been part of the Ransom Center’s finding aid for years. Some archivist meticulously noted its existence and authorship when the material was acquired and processed. Items in archives are not “discovered” by researchers nor are items “hidden” until that point (except in the case of misplaced items).

I don’t mean to denigrate the work of these particular researchers, I only think we need to reconsider the language we use to describe the work of bringing knowledge into the public sphere.