Electronic Archives: Integrity and Access in the Network Environment

Abstract

Computer networking presents opportunities to enhance access to archival records and to preserve rich, detailed documentation of human interaction and communication. This article discusses conceptual, technical, and economic challenges to access and preservation of electronic archives in the evolving network environment. The author argues that respect for the evidentiary nature of archival records cannot be sacrificed for the sake of enhanced access to the contents of archival materials. She encourages archivists to reconsider why, when, and for whom archival records are kept and to find a balance between the utilitarian and the cultural value of archives. This article was prepared originally for the Second International Conference on Scholarship and Technology in the Humanities: Networking and the European Cultural Heritage. The original version appears in Networking in the Humanities: Proceedings of the Second Conference on Scholarship and Technology in the Humanities held at Elvetham Hall, Hampshire, UK, April 1994, edited by Stephanie Kenna and Seamus Ross (Kent: Bowker-Saur, March 1995). The author thanks David Bearman, Terry Cook, Charles Dollar, Bob Frost, John McDonald, and Lisa Weber for comments on earlier versions of the paper. She also thanks the British Library Board for permission to republish the article, and Stephanie Kenna and Seamus Ross for their assistance.