Let's Hear It for the Pack Rats!

I was in the airport returing from my vacation and I overheard an interesting conversation. A woman was trying to loan her friend a video (VHS) tape of her wedding to watch. The friend laughed and told her that she no longer had a VCR, she donated it years ago and now she could only view DVD's. The first woman said she is a pack rat and saves everything. She even had some old 45's. Wow, how quickly things become obsolete. I realized that I no longer own a VCR either and I have a whole box of VHS tapes in the attic that I wouldn't be able to see. I know I could (and should) have them transfered to DVD, but I never seem to get around to it. I wish my grandparents had taken the time to transfer their reel movies to another format. This made me think about archivers and how useful pack rats could be to them. Sometimes things change very quickly and before you realize it they are gone. I am sure archivist are thankful for the pack rats of our society. It gives them one more opportunity to find and perserve items before they are gone forever. Are you a pack rat? Don't worry about the clutter, you could actually be providing a valuable service!