Confessions of an Archivist

Abstract

What life have you if you have not life together? There is no life that is not in community T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) ‘The Rock’ Retirement after more than 30 years in archives has allowed me the time not only for retrospection but also to assess personal attitudes, failures and successes without the ever-present pressures of responsibility and the need to deliver on this-or-that routine service or perceived important initiative. It is akin to standing on a mountain, enjoying the panoramic view and looking at the scene below with an often fresh and sometimes sobering or exhilarating perspective. As I look across the landscape I can appreciate the richness and the sheer variety of what constitutes archives in the early years of the twenty-first century. During my working life much remained unchanged, and quite properly so. These are the reference points that constitute the foundations of the archival discipline. One simple example is the whole concept of provenance. Other points have appeared with rapidity and risen to ever greater prominence. An obvious instance of this phenomenon is the growth of information technology and the myriad of challenges for archives associated with it. One reference point—new and rapid in its growth—has fascinated me for some years now. The emergence of community archives addresses important issues at the heart of what is usually referred to as ‘a rapidly changing society’, not least by equipping archives and archivists to assist and support the sharing and preservation of the myriad experiences contributing to that society. It is a development with a proven capacity both to attract non-archivists into working with archive practitioners and to provide archives with a potentially invaluable role within a complex, flexible and fascinating society. The Community Archives Development Group (now renamed the Community Archives and Heritage Group) is properly at the forefront of advocacy of community archives. Therefore, it has an important role to play in the whole discipline of archives and in raising awareness of that discipline among those who otherwise might regard archives as something for others. The invitation to speak at the Group conference seemed to offer a platform for pleasant reminiscence (a sort of ‘Thirty years before the mast’). I soon realised that something more challenging and (I trust) more interesting was required: nothing less than a confession set within the context of a divided society such as that in Northern Ireland. It provided an ideal opportunity to face up to some uncomfortable truths about my career in archives and the attitude I displayed over the years.