Archival Practice Research Articles

Memory and amnesia in the archival practices of national library and information associations

National library and information associations are in essence meta-memory organizations. Yet the efforts of associations to secure their own history and protect their corporate memory for the future, especially in terms of safeguarding their internal archives, appear patchy. The ideas of the French historian Pierre Nora are examined, particularly his concept of lieux de mémoire (“sites of memory”), alongside associated concepts of invented tradition and heritage, which can be seen to intersect with the memorializing proclivities of national associations. Evidence is presented from a modest 2008 study of the archival policies of national library and information associations worldwide, reported by IFLA’s Library History Section. It is important to revisit this study because little publicity was given to it at the time; also, it provides a context for a recent case study undertaken by the author of the archival practices of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.

Polyphony

This special issue explores the concept of polyphony in writing art history, using it as a methodological lens to examine diverse voices, along with their intricate interactions and contradictions, archival practices, and the collective creation of knowledge. Ranging from dialogic and experimental approaches to academic styles in writing, the authors embrace a spectrum of narratives in their writing to challenge canonical art history. Exploration of themes such as otherness, cross-cultural encounters, and relational aesthetics are also central, enriching the discourse with varied perspectives. Relational approaches to art history writing exemplify efforts in some of the articles to transcend conventional academic boundaries, offering writing nearby artistic practices and merging written with oral narratives. The issue also examines the role of archives, reflecting on racial and gender-based power dynamics and the concepts of living archive and archival rewriting. Several articles explore the implications of this approach, highlighting the need for a multi-dimensional narrative that acknowledges the complexities of the interactions between local and global discourses, transnational, transcultural, and diasporic identities. In summary, this special issue invites the reader to reconsider the traditional frameworks of art history and to embrace a more inclusive, resonant, and interconnected understanding of the field.

Archival Silences and Avenues to Address Them: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT Why do certain groups lack scholarship representing their histories? My curiosity led me to archives and then to archival silences. Thematically organized, this literature review on archival silences begins by identifying and characterizing archival silences. Defining characteristics include that archival power influences the creation of archival silences, archival silences are inevitable, and these silences impact, though not exclusively, marginalized communities. From a working understanding and definition, section two provides a general starting point with which to address archival silences, including identification, adjustment of archival practices and community inclusion, and creation of alternative archives. The article concludes by offering avenues for further study based on the literature review's limitations.

Sorting paper: The archival labour of digitising land records in Kenya

AbstractNairobi's land digitisation programme presents continuous challenges to the Kenyan state's aspirations of reforming land administration. By drawing upon insights from archival sciences and digital geographies, this paper argues that digitisation of Kenya's land administration records presents us with an opportunity to pay attention to how information flows from paper to digital systems, and the nature of human condition that makes it possible. Based on research of land digitisation initiatives in Nairobi and its peripheral counties, this paper explores first, how digitisation initiates a large‐scale state exercise of sorting paper in the land records departments that constitutes the archival apparatus of the state; and second, how the archival labour of state officials in this process is at the same time significant, invisible and devalued. Through interviews of state officials in county and state departments, we argue that the digitisation process is far more complex and messier than the rhetoric of seamless transition to automated land administration in Kenya. Digitisation involves a slow embodied labour in sorting paper by state officials who have little power in shaping the design of the platform that they are expected to use. The devaluation of the archival labour of state officials who are not professionally trained in ‘archival practice’ and are seemingly voiceless in the production of national land information platforms leads to subversion and non‐cooperation with the platform itself. The paper concludes that an expansive lens of seeing digital platforms through the tools and technologies of archiving practices enables us to understand why platforms fail, why and how paper increases value within digital systems and how archival labour is central to the politics of digitisation and platformisation in the future.

Toward a Taxonomy of the Unpublished

Abstract Unpublished texts come in many forms: rejected submissions, lost manuscripts, unfinished, sometimes fabled, books. Our present moment, in which archival practices have made unpublished material widely accessible and the internet has frayed the binary un/published distinction, offers a perspective from which to view the unpublished within US literary history. Attending to the various circumstances in which writing went unpublished draws out the contingencies and inequities of publication and the transgressive allure of writing that, in one way or another, was not supposed to be read. F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s lost short stories gain value from at first being rejected; Claude McKay’s novel was lost to the structural racism that thwarted the careers of mid–twentieth-century Black writers; and Eileen Myles’ various lost poems and notebooks suggest, perhaps, a casualization of attitudes toward getting work published. An awareness of the unpublished structures and illuminates our engagement with published writing.It is now possible to see the rigid un/published binary in its historical moment. . . . From this vantage, writers and practices that broke from that binary stand out, as do the time-bound value systems that reinforced it.

Centering dialog and care in digital Indigenous knowledge stewardship: Of relationality, responsibility, and respect

AbstractThe question of how to appropriately care for and share Indigenous knowledges is central to cultural heritage documentation and, contemporary archival praxes and discourses. Transforming the standards of Indigenous knowledge management (IKM) necessitates confronting the legacies of colonial control and Indigenous expurgation that settler colonial galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) have contributed to (intentionally or not). Writing of and within the Māori context in New Zealand, we argue that a renewed orientation toward dialogic collaboration between institutions and Indigenous communities is crucial for revitalizing archival practices and partnerships in ways that center Indigenous values. Moreover, we purport that aligning institutional practices with Indigenous values is insufficient if Indigenous communities are neither made to feel welcome within archival spaces nor empowered to utilize them. As such, we identify the notions of relationality, responsibility, and respect as vital in supporting this ethical transformation of Indigenous knowledge stewardship both in New Zealand and in other Indigenous contexts. We propose that current efforts to reshape IKM praxes in culturally responsible and responsive ways can be meaningfully expanded through dialogic engagement, and an ethics of care.

Development of Open Education Resources to Teach Oral History: Perspectives of a Sports Heritage-Engaged Scholarship Initiative in Gauteng, South Africa

Gaps exist in archival practices, and developments are in progress to decolonise and transform archives by supplementing existing archival collections with oral history accounts. This is a recent development in the archival field, requiring archivists and records managers to become aware of how oral history collections should be undertaken to preserve testimonies related to socio-economic, sociopolitical, and cultural events not yet captured by South African public archivists. An open educational resource (OER) was developed in 2022 as part of an engaged scholarship initiative to instruct archivists on oral history research techniques and how to apply research ethics when undertaking such projects. The research paradigm for this study was a postmodernist qualitative study. Action-based research was used in the research design. Action research is a flexible methodology uniquely suited to research and support change. It integrates social research with exploratory actions to promote development. Action research outcomes are both practical and theoretical. The knowledge it generates directly and continuously impacts the changing practices of the participants. Data from participants were collected through recorded project workshops and meetings. The content for the OER was developed from observing online videos showcasing oral history interviews, consulting literature on OER development, and discussions with archivists and heritage collectors at the South African National Film, Video and Sound Archives, the South African National Parks Board, and the Gauteng Provincial Archives. The OER was developed to enable collaboration to ensure that the oral narratives of postcolonial Africa, particularly post-apartheid South Africa, are not lost but captured by the public archives’ services for the benefit of South Africans and other interested stakeholders.

Reassembling digital archives—strategies for counter-archiving

Archives have long been a key concern of academic debates about truth, memory, recording and power and are important sites for social sciences and humanities research. This has been the case for traditional archives, but these debates have accelerated with the digital transformation of archives. The proliferation of digital tools and the fast-growing increase in digital materials have created very large digitised and born-digital archives. This article investigates how new digital archives continue existing archival practices while at the same time discontinuing them. We present novel methodologies and tools for changing memory and power relations in digital archives through new ways of reassembling marginalised, non-canonical entities in digital archives. Reassembling digital archives can take advantage of the materiality and the algorithmic processuality of digital collections and reshape them to inscribe lost voices and previously ignored differences. Digital archives are not fixed and are changed with new research and political questions and are only identified through new questions. The article presents six distinct techniques and strategies to reassemble digital archives and renders these according to three different types of new digital archives. We consider both the extension of archives towards evidence that is otherwise thrown away as well as the provision of new intensive, non-discriminatory viewpoints on existing collections.

Bohemia at the Pacific seabed: Archiving the future of deep-sea mining with the Interoceanmetal Joint Organization.

This article uses historical and ethnographic methods to examine the primarily East-Central European Interoceanmetal Joint Organization (IOM). I ask how and why the IOM has survived as an institution since its inception in 1987, working especially with the personal archive of Vratislav Kubišta. Kubišta was a metallurgist and former Deputy Director General at IOM who after retirement sought to develop a local deep-sea mining museum. This is a story about the work that archives do, but even more about how institutions maintain archives. I draw on recent work in the history and anthropology of time and archival practice to situate IOM's history and Kubišta's collection in narratives of ruin, the unbuilt, and the experience of multiple temporalities within spaces of resource speculation and anticipation. I suggest that IOM's history highlights the contingencies of resources in the temporality of indefinite pause, their attendant data, and scientific labor and life under the shifting political, economic, and scientific circumstances of the ongoing not-yet. In broadening the history of what is once more a hotly contested potential resource, this account speaks to the claims of contemporary would-be seabed miners, who frequently frame the practice in terms of innovation, urgency, and novelty.

Developing a framework for heterotopias as discursive playgrounds: a comparative analysis of non-immersive and immersive technologies

The discursive space represents the reordering of knowledge gained through accumulation. In the digital age, multimedia has become the language of information, and the space for archival practices is provided by non-immersive technologies, resulting in the disappearance of several layers from discursive activities. Heterotopias are unique, multilayered epistemic contexts that connect other systems through the exchange of information. This paper describes a process to create a framework for Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, and personal computer environments based on heterotopias to provide absent layers. This study provides virtual museum space as an informational terrain that contains a “world within worlds” and presents place production as a layer of heterotopia and the subject of discourse. Automation for the individual multimedia content is provided via various sorting and grouping algorithms, and procedural content generation algorithms such as Binary Space Partitioning, Cellular Automata, Growth Algorithm, and Procedural Room Generation. Versions of the framework were comparatively evaluated through a user study involving 30 participants, considering factors such as usability, technology acceptance, and presence. The results of the study show that the framework can serve diverse contexts to construct multilayered digital habitats and is flexible for integration into professional and daily life practices.

“A Nation is Ill Served by a History which is Not Genuine:” The Past, Present, and Future of the Records of the Department of Indian Affairs

The records of the Department of Indian Affairs, commonly known as RG10, are among the most important primary sources in researching the intercultural history of Canadian colonialism. In reflecting on the history and future of RG10, we start from the TRC’s Calls to Action 69 and 70, which maintain that Indigenous Peoples should exert greater control over access to and management of archives in which they have an interest. This is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Joinet Orentlicher Principles, Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution and the First Nations Information Governance Centre’s Principles of Ownership, Control, Access and Possession (OCAP®). Additionally, we advocate for Indigenous control of RG10 because these records are fundamentally different from other government records. RG10 is imbued with institutionalized violence through the government’s efforts to undermine Indigenous Peoples and their cultures, languages, and spiritualities. This makes RG10 a source of misinformation about and harm to Indigenous nations, communities, families, and individuals, in addition to being, often, a unique and irreplaceable source for histories of Canadian colonialism and for personal, family, community and national Indigenous histories. We consider the ways in which past and present archiving of RG10 has created further harms and complications, and how changes in archival practices may affect the future of historical research and writing.

The Archival Phase in Feminist Organizations: Methodological Suggestions

The article is based on a series of interviews (61) and a multi-sited ethnography conducted during 2019–2021 which traced archival records of 20 feminist organizations in Israel: local women’s peace organizations (FPAs) and Rape Crisis Centres (RCCs). We describe the study and the complex methodological concerns and meta-questions relating to the study of feminist community archives in relation to content (types of testimonials or records), method of organization (archival practices like cataloging or digitization) and activists’ perspectives concerning future preservation and access. In order to overcome these challenges, we suggest six methodological principles which may apply to the study of civil society organizations that were established between the 1970s–1990s: the importance of identifying researchers’ positionality vis a-vis the archive; the politics of knowledge and intersectional identities; avoiding judgment of informal archival practices; identifying who sets the rules; silence and self-silencing; and recognition of invisible labor.

Ethics And Deontology in Archival Practice: Uses and Epistemological Issues

Ethics and professional conduct have become central concerns in the archival profession, as well as in heritage-related fields, for several years. The integrity of cultural artifacts and the respect for the rights and dignity of individuals are of paramount importance. These principles are governed by a professional archival framework and specific codes of conduct that archivists must adhere to. This paper delves into ethical and deontological considerations within the context of an archivist's role. It explores how these considerations impact every stage of the archival process, from acquisition to giving access to documents for users. To offer a comprehensive understanding of the various layers of ethical management in the archival field, we have developed a holistic diagram encompassing all the elements that shape a professional's actions throughout the archive processing journey. Part of these elements belong to the professional framework and another part of them is linked to the subjectivity factors specific to the archivist. This model takes into account, in particular, the dynamics between various stakeholders in the system, including the relationships between archivists and creators of archives, as well as the relationships between archivists and users of archives. These relationships further underscore the societal role of the archivist.

Private Practices, Promiscuous Archives

Abstract: This essay mobilizes critical archival studies and Tonia Sutherland’s notion of “the carceral archive” in dialogue with Asian American feminist praxis to propose the framework of promiscuous archives, which seeks to harness the power and resources of archives towards unconventional, liberatory aims directed by community need. I draw principally from the concrete archival practices employed by the “Private Practices: AAPI Artist and Sex Worker Collection” at the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive to ask: What can abolitionist knowledge practices look like? What can archives learn from sex workers? Weaving critique of carceral narratives around sex workers with interrogation of the logics of capture and surveillance that direct archival practice, the essay presents promiscuity as an exploratory strategy of collaboration, proliferation, and usurpation that radically expands the porosity of archives, challenging the temporality, affective charge, and social role of archival repositories.

Bibliometric analysis of archival science: insights and implications

This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of archival science by examining 3,105 articles from nine core English-language journals. These journals were selected based on the ERA2010 journal evaluation report and the Social Sciences Citation Index. The analysis explores research trends, geographic distribution, multidisciplinary nature, and key researchers in archival science over the past decade. The findings highlight the significant contributions from countries like the United States, Australia, and South Africa. Information Science and Library Science dominate the field, with notable links to computer science, business, and public administration. Key researchers and their collaborative networks are visualized, revealing influential figures and strong collaboration clusters. This study underscores the global and interdisciplinary nature of archival science, offering valuable insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to enhance archival practices and policies, and emphasizing the field’s role in cultural heritage preservation and information management.

Relational and person-centred approaches to archival practice and education

In 2013 Terry Cook identified four paradigms that have shaped archival theory and praxis over the last 150 years: evidence, cultural memory, societal engagement and identity and community. More recently, Jennifer Douglas, Mya Ballin, and Sadaf Ahmadbeigi (2021) have identified a fifth emerging paradigm, Person-Centred Archival Theory and Praxis. Person-centred approaches to archival science shifts the discussion from a focus on records to a focus on “the people that create, keep, use and/or are represented in records.” This paper argues that a person-centred approach to archival theory and praxis must acknowledge the deep emotional impact of working with records, record keeping and the people who create and use archives.

Systematic Literature Review of Art Archive Management in Indonesia

Several studies on the management of art archives in Indonesia have been carried out in line with the discourse, awareness, and practice of art archiving which have also become increasingly visible in the last one and a half decades. Seeing these developments, this study aims to explore studies of actors, processes, and conditions for managing art archives that have been running in Indonesia, using the Systematic Literature Review method. The results show that archiving actors can be categorized into government institutions, non-governmental organizations, as well as individual and community initiatives. The archive management processes studied cover a series of stages from upstream to downstream, or focus on certain stages such as acquisition, preservation, and dissemination. In the process, several obstacles were encountered; high utilization of digital technology and internet; and emphasized the importance of collaboration, creativity, and public involvement and interaction in the art archive itself. Based on the results of the discussion, it can be said that there is a need for further research on art archives in order to help improve the quality of their management.

Unsettling Borders of Archives: Activating the Audiovisual Heritage of the Turkish Community in the Netherlands

This article explores issues with archival preservation and access in the case of the audiovisual heritage of migrant communities, which defies hegemonic categories of nation, race, ethnicity, language. As such, although these communities are somewhat present in archives, they are marginalised and remain absent, silent, and dormant. Through two case studies of audiovisual representations of Turkish migrants from Dutch public archives, the article tackles possible ways to unravel such hegemonic categories, thereby reflecting the multiplicities and instabilities of migrant archival objects. It explores the pivotal role of community engagement for more inclusive archival practices that undermine its constitutive limits –– to work with archives against the archives.

Peran Personal Digital Archiving Dalam Preservasi Arsip Orkes Keroncong Surya Mataram Yogyakarta

The current state of the physical release of the Orkes Keroncong Surya Mataram tape, with limited quantity and inadequate archival practices, require an urgent digitization and management initiative. The objective of this activity is to ensure that the succeeding generations inherit a comprehensive understanding of keroncong music from the Orkes Keroncong Surya Mataram. This research seeks to comprehend the process of digitizing and managing the audio digital archive of the Orkes Keroncong Surya Mataram, employing the principles of personal digital archiving for preservation. A qualitative research with utilizing a case study approach was employed to identify the process of digitizing physical assets such as tape tapes, Orkes Keroncong Surya Mataram tapes, and managing digital archives as preservation efforts. This involved selecting a social situation, employing data collection techniques, and undertaking data analysis processes. The findings of this study reveal that there are 44 songs across four tape cassettes in optimal condition for digitization. The digitization process is executed through three stages: preparation, implementation, and archiving. Once digitized, the 44 songs are managed based on the principles of personal digital archiving. In conclusion, personal digital archiving plays a crucial role in preserving and managing information pertaining to the intra-aesthetic value of keroncong music, serving as a valuable source of knowledge and future research data. Based on the research findings, digital archivists personally extend recommendations to individuals, groups, and the general public, emphasizing the importance of proper and wise archival care. The use of technology and the internet facilitates easier implementation and access to the results of personal digital archiving efforts.

Walt Whitman’s Trunk

Whitman is often thought of as a chaotic creator, leaving behind an ocean of messy manuscripts, flimsy scraps, scribbled notes, and endless clippings. Nonetheless, this essay argues, storage of his manuscripts and previously printed work was a pressing concern for Whitman in his early and mid-career, occupying his mind even during major life crises. Importantly, he wasn’t concerned merely with preserving a bibliographic record but with maintaining a resource for future work. Whitman developed a means of accessing his past writings in a mobile form — a trunk as both an actual object and symbol — as he relocated frequently from place to place. This article presents newly identified, almost word for word, borrowings in the 1860–1861 “Brooklyniana” series, taken from his 1849–1850 “Traveling Bachelor” series. It connects these new findings to recently identified reviews from the late 1840s appearing almost verbatim in Whitman-edited papers hundreds of miles apart. Framing the “trunk” as both a historical, physical storage medium and an icon of archival practice on the move, “Whitman’s Trunk” proposes a new reading of Whitman as a meticulous record keeper and careful practitioner of nineteenth-century copy & paste authorship.