Embracing Change in a Time of Transition

Abstract

Writing is an act of community, as American Archivist editor Amy Cooper Cary recently stated.2 As the journal's new reviews editors, we are excited to join the community of archives workers, scholars, editors, and enthusiasts who bring this publication to life.3 We follow in the footsteps of Bethany Anderson, our immediate predecessor, and the many others who have worked to elevate and expand archival scholarship over the years—we know we have big shoes to fill! We are grateful for the guidance and mentorship that Bethany, Amy, and the entire Editorial Board have provided as we transition into this role, and we look forward to continuing to work with and learn from the American Archivist community moving forward.This is an exciting time for American Archivist. The journal's transition to an all-digital publication offers us the freedom to experiment with the traditional review format. We will begin promoting our content across all our platforms to keep readers better informed of trends in the field. While the journal will continue to center on professional literature, the Reviews Portal will also feature new reviews of archives-related digital exhibits, platforms, tools, handbooks, best practices documentation, pop culture representations, and much more.4 Additionally, we have begun exploring alternative formats, including question-and-answer-style reviews, that incorporate the voices of numerous archives scholars and workers. We are also excited to join SAA's podcast Archives in Context as producers and to collaborate with the production team to deliver and promote a wider spectrum of reviews.5As we announce these changes, it is fitting that the three reviews featured in this issue also deal with change: change in the way we think about archives interrupting dominant power structures and liberating the oppressed, change in the way we use archival documentation to contextualize museum objects and understand historical narratives, and change in the way we think about ourselves and our work in the context of relationships and community. Archives are more than physical storehouses for historical collections: they exist at the crossroads between past, present, and future. They have the potential to assist in building a more just and equitable society if we, as archivists and memory workers, are willing to reorient ourselves within a framework of self-reflection, humility, engagement, and access for all.In our first piece, Brian M. Watson reviews Michelle Caswell's Urgent Archives: Enacting Liberatory Memory Work, which urges us to rethink traditional Western archival theories and practices that harm marginalized communities and interrupt ongoing cycles of hetero-patriarchy and white supremacy. Sarah Demb's review of Artefacts, Archives, and Documentation in the Relational Museum by Mike Jones models how we can apply the themes Watson highlights in Urgent Archives to museum cataloging and collections management. Finally, Ted Lee's review of Archival Virtue: Relationship, Obligation, and the Just Archives by Scott Cline broadens the conversation to archival ethics and outlines a framework for archival spiritualism that both encourages personal transformation and challenges current archival practices.It is clear from the publications reviewed in this issue that the future of archives is not a static one. Archivists are being called upon not only to care for historical materials but also to take an active and ethical role in creating a more representative and inclusive present. As reviews editors, we hear this call and commit to breaking down barriers to participation in the reviews process so we may better represent the diversity of background, thought, and experience in our field. We hope you will join us, and we look forward to engaging with you.(Published between January 2021 and January 2022)