35,233 research outputs found
On the Value of Archival History in the United States
Although there is increasing interest in American archival history, there has been no precise definition of its value. This essay is an effort to provide such a definition, arguing that the study of archival history is important for the following reasons: it addresses contemporary concerns of and issues facing the archival profession; it is an important tool to be used in self-evaluation and planning by archival programs; it can be used to develop a body of case studies that could facilitate a better understanding of the life cycle of cultural institutions such as archives; it is an excellent means of introduction for graduate students preparing to be archivists; it is a gateway through which to examine some fundamental questions about the nature of records and information; and the study of archival history provides an outlet for the scholarly interests of individual archivists
Revisiting the archival finding aid
Archivists have been creating finding aids for generations, and in the last three decades they have done this work via a succession of standardized formats. However, like many other disciplines, they have carried out such work in violation of systems analysis. Although purporting to have the users of finding aids systems first and foremost in their mind, archivists have carried out their descriptive work apart from and with little knowledge of how researchers find and use archival sources. In this article, questions are raised about the utility of archival finding aids and how they will stand the test of time. Indeed, archivists, purportedly concerned with considering how records function and will be used over time, ought to apply the same kind of analysis and thinking to their finding aids. In this article, we explore three ways archival finding aids might be examined by outsiders, namely, those concerned with museum exhibitions, design experts, and accountability advocates. Doing this should assist archivists to reevaluate their next wave of experimentation with descriptive standards and the construction of finding aids. Archivists should expand the notion of what we are representing in archival representation. © 2007 by The Haworth Press
The Failure or Future of American Archival History: A Somewhat Unorthodox View
The quality of research on American archival history has been uneven and the quantity not very impressive. This essay reviews some of the highlights of American archival history research, especially the growing interest in cultural and public history that has produced some studies of interest to scholars curious about the history of archives. The essay also focuses more on why such research still seems so far removed from the interests of most archivists. The essay will consider some hopeful signs, such as the re-emergence of records and record-keeping systems as a core area for study, for a renewed emphasis on American archival history. While much needs to be done, I am optimistic that the golden age of historical research on American archives lies ahead
Archival ethics: The truth of the matter
This essay explores the question of whether records professionals are as aware of the ethical dimensions of their work as they should be. It consider first the historical and professional context of archival ethics, then examines a recent case about business archives involving the author that suggests the need for renewed attention to professional ethics, and concludes with a discussion about how archivists might reconsider the ethical dimensions of their work
Development of RMJ: A mirror of the development of the profession and discipline of record management
The purpose of this paper is to examine critically the history of Records Management Journal on its 20th anniversary; it aims to review and analyse its evolution and its contribution in the context of the development of the profession and the discipline of records management. The paper seeks to provide the context and justification for the selection of eight articles previously published in the journal to be reprinted in this issue
We are archivists, but are we OK?
Purpose â The purpose of this paper is to show that the digital
environment of the early twenty-first century is forcing the information
sciences to revisit practices and precepts built around paper and physical
objects over centuries. The training of archivists, records managers,
librarians and museum curators has had to accommodate this new reality.
Often the response has been to superimpose a digital overlay on existing
curricula. A few have taken a radical approach by scrutinising the
fundamentals of the professions and the ontologies of the materials they
handle.
Design/methodology/approach â The article explores a wide range of the
issues exposed by this critique through critical analysis of ideas and
published literature.
Findings â The authors challenge archive and records management educators
to align their curricula with contemporary need and to recognise that
partnership with other professionals, particularly in the area of
technology, is essential.
Practical implications â The present generation owe it to future
generations of archivists and records managers to ensure that the
education that they get to prepare them for professional life is
forward-looking in the same way.
Originality/value â This paper aims to raise awareness of the educational
needs of twenty-first century archives and records professionals
Training of Data Services Professionals: Past, Present, And Future
published or submitted for publicatio
Establishing Processing Priorities: Recommendations from a 2017 Study of Practices in US Repositories
Building upon archival scholarship and previous solutions addressing backlog collections, this study seeks to identify a comprehensive, integrated, and effective strategy to establish and maintain processing priorities. This study is based on supporting research, which includes the results of a survey of archivists and the findings of five focus group discussions about processing priorities. Using these findings, the authors (a) consider whether this focus on an old problem has motivated archivists to find innovative solutions; (b) determine whether archivists are using these tools; (c) consider whether and how archivists have changed processing priority practices and policies; and (d) seek to clarify current metrics to establish overall processing priorities
Yours ever (well, maybe): Studies and signposts in letter writing
Electronic mail and other digital communications technologies seemingly threaten to end the era of handwritten and typed letters, now affectionately seen as part of snail mail. In this essay, I analyze a group of popular and scholarly studies about letter writing-including examples of pundits critiquing the use of e-mail, etiquette manuals advising why the handwritten letter still possesses value, historians and literary scholars studying the role of letters in the past and what it tells us about our present attitudes about digital communications technologies, and futurists predicting how we will function as personal archivists maintaining every document including e-mail. These are useful guideposts for archivists, providing both a sense of the present and the past in the role, value and nature of letters and their successors. They also provide insights into how such documents should be studied, expanding our gaze beyond the particular letters, to the tools used to create them and the traditions dictating their form and function. We also can discern a role for archivists, both for contributing to the literature about documents and in using these studies and commentaries, suggesting not a new disciplinary realm but opportunities for new interdisciplinary work. Examining a documentary form makes us more sensitive to both the innovations and traditions as it shifts from the analog to the digital; we can learn not to be caught up in hysteria or nostalgia about one form over another and archivists can learn about what they might expect in their labors to document society and its institutions. At one time, paper was part of an innovative technology, with roles very similar to the Internet and e-mail today. It may be that the shifts are far less revolutionary than is often assumed. Reading such works also suggests, finally, that archivists ought to rethink how they view their own knowledge and how it is constructed and used. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V
- âŠ