What is Underrepresentation and Why Does it Matter for the University of Illinois Archives

Abstract

In recent years, archives have increasingly created positions focused entirely or partially on filling in the record gaps of underrepresented groups. The University of Illinois Archives has shown some commitment to filling in these gaps since its founding in the 1960s and has recently made more intentional decisions to diversify the collections while following a careful and ethical collection development process. To ensure an ethical approach, it is critical to understand what the archival gaps are, why they exist, and what lessons can be learned from the underrepresented communities that have enriched the University of Illinois campus but have been previously excluded from the archives. For this reason, I devised an interview study with the University of Illinois archivists to learn about the ways underrepresented groups are defined and comprehend the ways each archivist intentionally pursues initiatives to help fill in the gaps.