Archival Study Research Articles

From passive subjects to active agents: enabling child-centred recordkeeping in social care contexts

ABSTRACT This paper describes the findings and implications of interdisciplinary exploratory research conducted by social work and recordkeeping informatics researchers in Australia and the UK. It sought to identify the practices, systems, education and technologies that can foster rights-based, child-centred recordkeeping practices in child protection contexts, exploring the transformation and advocacy work that could be achieved in child protection case note recording and recordkeeping practices and systems through interdisciplinary collaborations. Drawing from qualitative interviews, focus groups and surveys with Social Work students, Social Work educators and practice educators, and with practitioners working in children’s social care (in England) and the child protection services system (in Australia), we identify how practitioners are prepared for keeping records that reflect children’s voices and experiences, and identify emerging best practices and persistent challenges. Focusing on the intersection of child rights, archival ethics, and participatory approaches, this paper adds to the discourse on critical archival studies concerning children and calls for an interdisciplinary approach to reimagine future possibilities for participatory and child-centred practice in which children are not just passive subjects but active collaborators in the recordkeeping process.

Strategic positioning and asymmetric cost behavior

PurposeThis paper explores if the firm’s strategic orientation can be associated with differences in cost behavior activity.Design/methodology/approachUsing Compustat data from 1979 to 2012, the archival study examines if there are differences between differentiation and cost leadership strategies on the firm’s cost stickiness.FindingsThe main finding provides evidence that firms pursuing a differentiation strategy exhibit greater cost stickiness, on average, as compared to firms pursuing a cost leadership strategy. This relationship is moderated by the optimistic or pessimistic expectations of managers for future sales.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on cost management by explaining how strategic positioning affects firms’ cost behavior using the framework of asymmetric cost behavior. The study encompasses both product and period costs and documents the impact on earnings.

Disentangling audiences' reactions to creative content and creative packaging

AbstractResearch SummaryThis research addresses the tension of audiences often rejecting creative products despite creativity being foundational to organizational success. To better understand this issue, we take an abductive approach to disentangle the effects of creative content (how creative the core concept is) and creative packaging (how creatively the core concept is presented and visualized) while accounting for audiences' different expertise levels. Across two archival studies and a pre‐registered experiment, we find that both experts and general audiences react positively to creative content. However, reactions to creative packaging display greater variability: on average, experts react positively whereas general audiences react negatively. We find no interaction between the two variables. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for the literature.Managerial SummaryWhile creativity is foundational to organizational success, audiences often reject creative products. Across two archival studies and an experiment, we show how the effect of creativity on different audience's reception can be better understood when disentangling creative content (how creative the core concept is) from creative packaging (how creatively the core concept is presented and visualized). Our results suggest that companies should (a) invest more resources in developing products high in creative content—products that break current norms and are different from others—and (b) acknowledge that heavy investments into novel and visually groundbreaking packaging lend diminishing returns, particularly for general audiences: for the same level of quality a traditional (vs. creative) packaging yields more advantages.

“When Is a School Not a School?” Dr. Carrie Weaver Smith, Child Prisons, and the Limits of Reform in Progressive Era Texas

This archival study explores the life and work of Dr. Carrie Weaver Smith (1885–1942), a Progressive Era social worker and prison warden. Specifically, I explore the first phase of her career as a House Physician at the Virginia K. Johnson Home in Dallas, Texas (1911–1915) and as the first Superintendent of the Texas State Training School for Girls in Gainesville, Texas (1916–1925). Using archival research, I detail three conflicts that defined Dr. Smith’s superintendency: her fight to reclassify a youth prison as a school, her challenges to a Ku Klux Klan-dominated legislature, and her refusal to cede authority to a State Board of Control. Together, these conflicts led the Board to terminate Dr. Smith’s position, an outcome that would replay twice more before she retired from prisonwork. I argue that when most reformers made significant concessions, compromising their visions to maintain state funding and political allyship, Dr. Smith stood out for her record of refusal. And yet, like other reformers, she left Texas with the capacity to imprison more women and girls than ever before.

The extinction inventories of convents in 1834

In 1834, by Decree of 30 May and as part of the general ecclesiastical reform undertaken by Joaquim António de Aguiar, Minister and Secretary of State, and carried out by the Commission for the General Reform of the Clergy (1833-1837), all convents, monasteries, colleges, hospices and religious houses of all religious orders were extinguished, with the female houses remaining subject to their respective bishops until the death of the last nun, the date of their definitive closure. The process of extinction of religious houses involved the drawing up of hundreds of inventories currently in the Torre do Tombo National Archive. This wealth of information makes it possible to carry out countless archival, history, and art history studies associated with economic and sociological studies. In this study, we intend to focus on the inventories of the Santo André de Rendufe monastery and the Convent of Christ in Tomar. The fact that both institutions have a Benedictine character (in the first case, black monks and in the second, friars of the Order of Christ) but are located in different places in the kingdom will allow us to make comparisons, propose hypotheses and draw conclusions that may help us to understand better how the above-mentioned processes of extinction of religious houses and the collection of their archives and documentary collections were conducted.

Nature portrayed in images in Dutch Brazil: Tracing the sources of the plant woodcuts in the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae (1648).

By the mid-seventeenth century, images of natural elements that originated in Dutch Brazil circulated in Europe. These were often included in art collections (the Libri Picturati) and natural history treatises (the Historia Naturalis Brasiliae and the India Utriesque re Naturale et Medica, 1658). The plant woodcut images in these books constituted (icono) type specimens and played a significant role in disseminating scientific botanical knowledge. We present a systematic analysis of their origins by cross-referencing the visual and textual sources related to Dutch Brazil. To do so, we used our previous botanical identifications of the portrayed plants, published sources, and digital archival material. The plant woodcuts accounted for 529 images, which corresponded to 426 taxa. We created a PDF booklet to visualize the (dis-) similarities of the woodcuts with the Libri Picturati and other visual sources. Substantial differences in the visual-making methodology exist between the two treatises (1648, 1658). In the first book, most of the images were available from Dutch Brazil and carved into the woodcuts, while most of these woodcuts were reused in the second one. The Indigenous Tupi-based plant names accompanying the images were crucial when arranging the sources, and portraying as much botanical information as possible was commonly the goal. Freshly picked, living plants, dried branches, fruits, and seeds were used to represent the megadiverse Brazilian flora, even when these belonged to species originating from other regions. Despite not being recognized for their contribution, Indigenous Brazilians and enslaved Africans were essential in the visual knowledge-making processes that later resulted in these natural history collections. As several sources remain lost and many histories yet untold, further archival studies and collaborative projects are pertinent to reveal the missing pieces of this conundrum.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and earnings management: A structured literature review with a focus on contextual factors

AbstractThe link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and earnings management represents an attractive empirical research topic in recent years. In view of the heterogeneous research results, the purpose of this structured literature review is to analyze the contextual factors of this complex relationship. We selected 107 quantitative peer‐reviewed archival studies on that topic and explain a possible positive and negative link between CSR and earnings management by the moral licensing hypothesis (principal agent theory) and the moral track hypothesis (stakeholder theory). We focus on firm‐ and country‐related moderator effects as contextual factors. Country‐specific studies are separated in developed (Anglo‐American and Continental European settings) and developing countries (African and Asian settings), code and case law regimes as well as the degree of shareholder protection and legal enforcement. In line with stakeholder theory, we stress that most of the included studies found a negative impact of CSR on earnings management with a focus on CSR performance and accruals‐based earnings management. Other measures, for example, CSR reporting, sub‐pillars of CSR performance, and real earnings management, are inconclusive due to reduced research activity. We do not find any structural changes between developed and developing countries, case and code law regimes, and regarding the strength of shareholder protection and legal enforcement. However, there are clear indications that corporate and country governance strengthens (weakens) the negative (positive) influence of CSR on earnings management. We stress major limitations of prior research and formulate useful recommendations for future research.

Economic segregation is associated with reduced concerns about economic inequality

Economic segregation is the geographical separation of people with different economic means. In this paper, we employ an archival study of attitudes in regions with varying degrees of economic segregation and a series of experimental studies measuring reactions to hypothetical levels of segregation to examine how segregation affects concerns about inequality. Combining correlational and experimental methods and examining attitudes about economic inequality in both the United States and South Africa, we show that when individuals of different means are segregated from each other, people are less likely to engage in economic comparisons and are therefore less concerned by inequality. Moreover, we find that this is true even when people are exposed to (and are aware of) the same levels of inequality, suggesting that segregation in and of itself affects attitudes about inequality. Our findings highlight the importance of economic segregation in shaping public attitudes about organizational and societal economic inequality.

Theoretical and Practical Elements of the Educational Component “Management of Information, Library and Archival Studies” in Forming Future Managers’ Professional Competences

The aim of the article is to study theoretical and practical elements of the educational component “Management of Information, Library and Archival Studies” in grounding general and special competences of applicants for the Master’s degree in speciality 029 “Information, Library and Archival Studies.” Research methods: the article uses both general scientific and special research methods. The method of analysis and synthesis contributes to studying the theoretical foundation of the theme; systemic, structural and functional ones allow to determine the structure of the educational component and the peculiarities of its teaching. The prognostic method makes it possible to outline the ways of improving organisational foundations of the theoretical and practical training of the Master’s degree students. The scientific novelty consists in substantiating the interrelationship of the theoretical and practical elements of the educational component “Management of Information, Library and Archival Studies” in forming general and special competences of the Mmaster’s degree sudents as future managers of the sphere. Main conclusions. The theoretical and practical elements of the educational component presented in this article contribute to the formation of general and special competencies of future sphere managers, particularly, the ability to motivate people and move towards a common goal, promote the formation of an effective sphere management system; organise the work and manage information and analytical structural departments at enterprises, organisations and institutions. The programme results of mastering the educational component include the ability to form strategies for system organisation, modernisation, to increase the efficiency of management in the sphere, to use applied socio-communicative technologies in order to organise effective communication at the professional, scientific and social levels. Thus, the educational component is necessary in grounding the competencies of future professional managers. Nowadays, the work is underway to improve the content and technology of teaching the educational component, which will contribute to higher quality training of students for the Master’s degree in speciality 029 “Information, Library and Archival Studies.”

Compliance Level of Adopting and Approving Harmonised National Standards in Information Sciences: Current State and Prospects

The aim of the article is to study the level of acceptance and approval, to reveal the status and outline the prospects for harmonising national standards in accordance with international normative documents in the field of information sciences, library, publishing and archival studies. Reresearch methods. The offered research grounds on a set of general scientific methods. In the course of studying the professional literature of scientific articles for the set goal and solving the tasks, the methods of analysis and synthesis, generalisation and systematisation, the method of grouping national standards according to the code designations of the National Standard 004: 2020 of the “Ukrainian Classifier of Regulatory Documents” are used, which make it possible to draw conclusions about the methods and the level of accepted and approved harmonised standards in information sciences. The scientific novelty of the article consists in revealing the level of adopting and approving harmonised national standards in information, library, publishing and archival studies in accordance with international regulatory documents, which ensures a high-quality level of development of standardisation in Ukraine. Main conclusions. The first adopted and approved national standards in information, library, publishing and archival studies as harmonised with international norms, requirements, rules and regulatory provisions according to the degree of compliance are mostly identical or modified, some of them are not equivalent to international regulatory documents. During the last decade the Ukrainian information community development the degree of adoption and harmonisation of national standards in relation to international normative documents has increased to 100 %, which makes it possible to improve information support, optimise the fund of normative documents, scientific and terminological base, analytical and synthetic processing of scientific and technical information, documentary, informational, library, publishing and archival studies. As a rule, harmonisation and implementation of international standards in the information sphere is a priority task for ensuring a qualitatively new level of standardisation development in Ukraine.

Sites of Modern Industrial Heritage in Egypt and Iran

The countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have only recently discovered their modern industrial heritage as an object of conservation and future development. Through an in-depth analysis of four industrial sites in Egypt and Iran, testifying to a designated modern era, this article documents the complex historical process of industrialization and its political and economic background. Building on fieldwork, archive studies, workshops, and interviews, the article explores how built structures of modern industrial sites signify the multi-facetted, symbiotic, and exploitative international exchange behind the modernization of economies in the region. In the face of many obstacles to the conservation of this heritage, ranging from incomplete listings and ineffectual policies to high development pressures on urban land, this article aims to transcend the current Eurocentrism in industrial heritage research and practice, and encourage regional claims on this significant heritage.

Archives beyond the Human

Abstract This article reflects on what it might mean to think about archives “beyond” the human, specifically in relation to animals and their archives. Interdisciplinary and disciplinary “animal turns” have brought animals into social science and humanities spaces—as both subjects and collaborators. In archival research and studies, encounters with animals, and more broadly nonhumans, both complicate and extend contemporary debates: on how we research in the archives, on ethics and politics, and even on what constitutes an archive. Drawing from three different case studies from its author's research with historical animals—in a traditional archive, in the digital archive, and in a speculative archive—the article reflects on some of these contemporary debates to ask how we might meaningfully extend archives beyond the human.

Conceptualizing Records: Community Archives Describing Themselves

ABSTRACT The concept of records is foundational to archival studies, yet empirical research on how members and volunteers of community and grassroots archives conceptualize records remains limited. To understand how members and volunteers of community archives conceptualize records, this study asks how members and volunteers of the Black Bottom Archives (BBA), the Detroit Sound Conservancy (DSC), the Faulkner Morgan Archive (FMA), the Hula Preservation Society (HPS), and The History Project (THP) conceptualize records and how these conceptualizations inform their programs and practices. Based on ten semistructured interviews with five archives in the United States, this research reveals that members and volunteers view records as multifaceted and contingent on ongoing negotiation, borrowing, and intervention for larger goals rather than strictly being tied to abstract, institutional, or professional notions of records. Such a view also points to a recursive and generative relationship between records, programs, and practices and keeping track of power and legitimacy.

Between presence and absence: signature, signature style and agency of the kalamkari makers

Does the signature of an artisan or the signature style of a collective or individual practice fully account for the agency of their makers? An in-depth investigation of this issue, drawing on the theorisation of agency and identity, is presented while interpreting three kalamkari textiles of Southeastern India: a rare eighteenth-century kalamkari featuring an inscription in Telugu and two textiles by the late Nageswara Rao and Nandam Venkateswara Rao, Andhra Pradesh. A close visual analysis of the textiles is complemented by archival studies, interviews and insights drawn from dyeing processes to examine this issue. This study reflects on the interrelations between regional, collective and individual identities of the artisans and critically assesses the significance of artisanal processes to comprehend the makers’s merit. The interdependence of signature, signature style and the narratives of the kalamkari makers are set in conversation in this exploration to foreground artisanal voices and actions.

Enhancing Energy Conservation, Visual and Thermal Comfort in Small Houses of Karachi

The significance of housing in developing cities cannot be overstated, as individuals strive to acquire and own physical assets throughout their lives, even in the case of small plots as modest as 80 square yards. In urban areas such as Karachi, smaller houses ranging from 80 to 240 square yards mostly are predominantly constructed by contractors or by owners themselves. This is to avoid additional fees charged by architects who may tailor the design to suit the context and specific requirements. Consequently, these houses tend to exhibit a similar layout, maximizing the utilization of allowable space as stipulated by the bylaws. However, this approach often leads to limited natural ventilation and daylighting, resulting in increased energy consumption for thermal and visual comfort. Hence, the current research underscores the urgency of addressing the prevailing lack of natural ventilation and daylighting in these houses. To address these concerns, it presents a comprehensive framework of passive strategies aimed at enhancing the thermal and visual comfort of occupants. Firstly, an archival study was conducted, encompassing a comprehensive literature review, which served as a foundation to understand the subject matter. Secondly, a comparative study was undertaken to examine conventional small house typical plans prevalent in Karachi. This study was followed by the formulation of proposals for improved planning. Various secondary resources were utilized to support the comparative analysis of two typical house plans in Karachi, in conjunction with the proposed passive strategies. Through the application of these strategies, occupants can benefit from improved comfort, reduced energy consumption, and heightened well-being.

Shrinking the 13D disclosure window will benefit non-activist investors

PurposeThis study aims to examine the Securities and Exchange Commission’s final rule in Modernization of Beneficial Ownership Reporting, which reduced the time for significant public company shareholders to file Schedule 13D (effective February 5, 2024). The authors corroborate prior results under the historic 10-day maximum reporting regime and provide updated academic analysis regarding how the five-day deadline between the “triggering” event, accumulating 5% of the outstanding shares and public disclosure of that event will affect abnormal returns.Design/methodology/approachThis empirical archival study uses publicly available data.FindingsThe analyses show that changing from a 10-day to a 5-day Schedule 13 disclosure window will reduce activist investors’ opportunity to profit by legally delaying the filing of Schedule 13D. These excess returns for delay exist regardless of the profitability or size of the target firm or the shareholder’s disclosed reason for filing. The authors conclude that accelerating the timing of the disclosure window is an improvement that is in the best interest of the general investing public.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the only academic study of Schedule 13D filings to include the postpandemic period. As such, the authors establish an updated “baseline projection” for expectations regarding how the Modernization final rule will impact activist investors and stock returns under a five-day reporting regime. In addition, the authors measure and test abnormal returns after considering differences between “triggering” events and filing dates of Schedule 13Ds in the sample rather than grouping all filings. This approach allows the authors to account for the time difference between the triggering event and the filing date.

Kaizen Event process factors for operational performance improvement: an archival study

Organisations practicing lean effectively show operational performance improvement through various tools, including Kaizen Events. Evidence of how measurable operational performance improvement relates to specific Kaizen Event process factors is lacking though. Building upon three organisational behaviour theories, and using the six phase-based process characteristics of Kaizen Events, we first distilled nine factors that might relate to operational performance improvement. We analysed archival documentation of 79 Kaizen Events. Four Kaizen Event factors, typically applied in specific Kaizen Event phases, were significantly related to operational performance improvement: 1) in phase one, problem definition, the group is committed to solve the problem and 2) a problem indicator must be specified; 3) in phase three, idea generation, countermeasures must be quantified in relation to the problem indicator; and 4) in phase five, implementation, the line manager champions idea implementation. A conceptual model is presented to eventually obtain even more effective Kaizen Events in the future.

Timing Is Everything: An Imprinting Framework for the Implications of Leader Emotional Expressions for Team Member Social Worth and Performance

Leader emotional expressions have profound implications for team members. Research has established that how frequently leaders express positive and negative emotional expressions shapes team member performance through conveying critical social-functional information about team member social worth. Yet, this social-functional approach to emotions has not fully considered how the timing of leader emotional expressions during a team’s lifecycle can also shape the information conveyed to individual team members about their social worth. In this paper, we integrate the social-functional approach to emotions with imprinting theory to propose that the temporal context of leader emotional expressions has performance implications for individual team members through two distinct facets of social worth: respect and status. Specifically, our imprinting framework explains how positive leader emotional expressions during the early team phase have the most beneficial performance implications through imprinting respect in individual team members. We then propose that these positive implications are amplified by more frequent than average negative leader emotional expressions during the midpoint phase. When filtered through earlier positive expressions, negative emotional expressions during the midpoint phase may signal opportunities for respect and status gains rather than respect and status losses. We find general support for our model in a pre-registered four-wave longitudinal archival study of consulting teams at a leading professional services company and a four-wave longitudinal field study at a NCAA Division 1 sports program. Our work highlights that the temporal context of leader emotional expressions is an important performance predictor through social worth.

The Rivalry Reference Effect: Referencing Rival (vs. Nonrival) Competitors in Public Brand Messages Increases Consumer Engagement

Brands often make references to competitors in their public communications. Yet not all competitors are equal—over time, certain pairs of brands may develop special rivalry relationships. This research examines whether these relationships can alter the effects of interbrand communications. Drawing on rivalry theory, the authors distinguish between brand rivalry, a special competitive relationship between brands based on a shared history, and competition, a situation where brands merely have currently opposing goals. A series of studies using complementary methods (two archival studies using large-scale Twitter data and three preregistered experiments) provide evidence for the “rivalry reference effect” across multiple brands and product categories. That is, referencing a rival (vs. a nonrival) competitor in a public brand message increases consumer engagement. The effect is mediated by increased story embeddedness, defined as the perception that the reference is embedded within an ongoing story. The authors also show positive downstream effects on purchase intentions and test two moderators: brand preference (loyal vs. neutral consumers) and message valence (negative vs. positive). This research highlights the potential appeal of brand rivalry to consumers, illustrating how and under what conditions brands can use their rivalries to their advantage.

Negotiating Ideologies: The Campaign for Gender–Balanced Boards and Commissions in Iowa

ABSTRACT This interview and archival research case study of the successful movement to adopt state laws to require gender balance on Iowa state boards and commissions (adopted in the late 1980s) and to extend the law to local boards and commissions (adopted in 2009) provides an empirical challenge to two prominent theories of ideology—interest theory, in which the powerful impose ideology, and strain theory, in which people find ideology to cope with their experiences. My study suggests that traditional ideologies are not always the most powerful. While people tend to believe in ideologies they perceive as functional for themselves, ideology is better understood through a navigation theory in which people simultaneously hold multiple complementary and contradictory ideologies, and where particular contexts and people’s interpretations of those contexts impact how different ideologies are activated, understood, prioritized, negotiated, and applied.