Critical Digital Archives: A Review from Archival Studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Itza A. Carbajal ◽  
Michelle Caswell
Keyword(s):  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Archival Theory ◽  
Digital Archives ◽  
Archival Studies ◽  
Digital History ◽  
Archival Practices

Abstract Given the blurring of boundaries between historians and archivists in the digital realm, this article urges historians to pay more attention to discussions surrounding digital records and archival practices emerging from critical archival studies. More specifically, this article identifies and summarizes seven key themes and corresponding debates about digital records in contemporary archival studies scholarship: (1) materiality, (2) appraisal, (3) context, (4) use, (5) scale, (6) relationships, and (7) sustainability. A deeper knowledge of digital archival theory and practice—how records came to be in digital archives, the infrastructures that maintain them, and the tools necessary to provide access to and context for them—is not ancillary to historical work, but provides important context to do digital history better.

Critical Feminism in the Archives

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marika Cifor ◽  
Stacy Wood
Keyword(s):  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Archival Theory ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Archival Studies ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Feminist Historiography ◽  
Contemporary Practice ◽  
Archival Work ◽  
Blind Spots

Through the use of feminist historiography this article examines some of the myriad ways in which feminist praxis has pushed against, challenged, enriched, dismantled, assimilated or otherwise affected archival theory and practice. We contend that archival theory and practice have yet to fully engage with a feminist praxis that is aimed at more than attaining better representation of women in archives. We begin this piece by tracing the ways in which archives became embedded in feminist social movements and can be understood as critical tools and modes of self-representation and self-historicization. In the second section, we consider the explicit presence of feminist theory in archival studies literature and contemporary practice, the key focal points and arguments that have challenged traditional understandings of archival work around gender. We then address, in the third section, the expansive figure of the archives in humanities and social science literature. This piece contributes significantly to thinking on the ways in which these conversations in the archival turn can, at their best, expose blind spots within the archival literature and provide us with theoretical tools to tackle what we take for granted. Finally, we offer ways in which we see critical and intersectional feminist theory can contribute to existing archival discourse and practice, critiquing concepts that have remained unquestioned such as community and organization. This piece exposes the transformational potential of feminism for archives and of archives for dismantling the heteronormative, capitalist and racist patriarchy.

Experiential Learning in Graduate Archival Education at the University of Botswana

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olefhile Mosweu
Keyword(s):  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Opportunity To Learn ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Records Management ◽  
Archival Theory ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
The Real ◽  
The University

Most curriculum components of archival graduate programmes consist of contextual knowledge, archival knowledge, complementary knowledge, practicum, and scholarly research. The practicum, now commonly known as experiential learning in the global hub, is now widely accepted in library and information studies (LIS) education as necessary and important. It is through experiential learning that, over and above the theoretical aspects of a profession, students are provided with the opportunity to learn by doing in a workplace environment. The University of Botswana’s Master’s in Archives and Records Management (MARM) programme has a six weeks experiential learning programme whose purpose is to expose prospective archivists and/or records managers to the real archival world in terms of practice as informed by archival theory. The main objective of the study was to determine the extent to which the University of Botswana’s experiential learning component exposes students to real-life archival work to put into practice theoretical aspects learnt in the classroom as intended by the university guidelines. This study adopted a qualitative research design and collected data through interviews from participants selected through purposive and snowball sampling strategies. Documentary review supplemented the interviews. The data collected were analysed thematically in line with research objectives. The study determined that experiential learning does indeed expose students to the real world of work. It thus helps to bridge the gap between archival theory and practice for students without archives and records management work experience. For those with prior archival experience, experiential learning does not add value. This study recommends that students with prior archives and records management experience should rather, as an alternative to experiential learning, undertake supervised research, and write a research essay in a chosen thematic area in archives and records management.

scholarly journals Archives and identity in the context of social media and algorithmic analytics: Towards an understanding of iArchive and predictive retention

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 3304-3322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Pötzsch
Keyword(s):  
Social Networking ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
The Political ◽  
Archival Theory ◽  
Digital Archives ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
And Control

This article reconceptualizes the archive in the context of digital media ecologies. Drawing upon archival theory and critical approaches to the political economy of the Internet, I account for new dynamics and implications afforded by digital archives. Operating at both a user-controlled explicit and a state- and corporate-owned implicit level, the digital archive at once facilitates empowerment and enables unprecedented forms of management and control. Connecting the politics and economy of digital media with issues of identity formation and curation on social networking sites, I coin the terms iArchive and predictive retention to highlight how recent technological advances both provide new means for self-expression, mobilization and resistance and afford an almost ubiquitous tracking, profiling and, indeed, moulding of emergent subjectivities.

Defining the undefinable: an analysis of definitions of community archives

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 617-634
Author(s):  
Sarah Welland ◽  
Amanda Cossham
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Archival Theory ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Community Archives ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Community Archive ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to explore definitions and notions of what a community archive is, and the tensions between different understandings of community archives. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a critical analysis of community archives definitions and understanding from researchers and practitioners across the wider heritage information sector. Findings Community archives are a growing area of interest for researchers because of the archives’ intrinsic link to the community and their provision of the evidence of it. While discussion often focuses on a paradigm of transformative purpose, existing definitions around community archives continue to be tenuous, reflecting different real or perceived types and practices and the perspective of the author and the sector they work within. Variations in definition can also occur because of differences in perspective around theory and practice, with many practitioner-based definitions intrinsically bound with the community they represent. This can result in community archives being defined as “alternative” based on mainstream practice or “political” based on theoretical purview, or “meeting the needs of community” by the community archivists themselves. Research limitations/implications The paper is conceptual and does not attempt to provide one definition that covers the perceived extent of community archives. It is part of work in progress on the nature of community archives and the impact such discourse may have on archival theory and practice. Originality/value This paper provides an overview of some of the key issues and themes impacting a definition of community archives, and in doing so works towards a broader understanding the nature of community archives. In most cases, the concept of “community” seems to provide a common definitive element and practitioner definitions focus on addressing the needs of self-defined community to a greater or lesser extent.

scholarly journals Digital Sources & Digital Archives: The Evidentiary Basis of Digital History

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Owens
Keyword(s):  
Digital Archive ◽  
Digital Archives ◽  
Digital History ◽  
Practical Advice

What happens to history when the basis of its sources and evidence becomes increasingly digital? Similarly, what happens to history when it’s archives become digital? Given how the very form of archives as institution is anchored in the management of paper documents, what does it even mean to have a “digital archive”? This essay is an attempt to identify and discuss issues in the evidentiary basis of history that arise as the materials and systems that manage those materials become digital. In looking at different kinds of sources and archives I work to suggest practical advice on the kinds of issues and questions one should ask when working to interpret, to find out what one can say, based on digital sources and digital archives.

scholarly journals A atuação dos profissionais secretariais em cenários antiarquivísticos: um panorama do PL Nº 7920/17

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-49
Author(s):  
Douglas Ribeiro de Moura ◽  
Rosalia Beber de Souza ◽  
Anna Clara Arcanjo Fonseca
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Archival Studies ◽  
Specific Training ◽  
Professional Networks ◽  
Lower House ◽  
Archival Practices

Em um momento histórico marcado pelo domínio tecnológico e pela austeridade financeira, propostas que buscam alterar as práticas arquivísticas parecem ganhar força. É o caso do Projeto de Lei n.º 7920/2017, em tramitação na Câmara dos Deputados, que prevê a eliminação de documentos originais após a digitalização certificada. Embora idealizado com as justificativas da modernização e da economia, o projeto vem recebendo críticas de especialistas por não obedecer a preceitos já consolidados no campo da arquivologia e por não ter sido tema de discussões com os órgãos que definem e regulam a política nacional de arquivos. Em meio a essa disputa, os secretários executivos, responsáveis por auxiliar nas tomadas de decisão em nível gerencial e que dependem de um amplo acesso aos arquivos institucionais para exercerem suas funções, têm uma de suas principais competências colocada em risco. O presente artigo teórico, então, buscou refletir como o Projeto de Lei n.º 7920/2017 poderá afetar o trabalho da classe secretarial, bem como tentou propor formas de ação a esse respeito, como o fortalecimento de conteúdos arquivísticos durante a graduação, a capacitação por meio de cursos, o destaque do cargo na estrutura hierárquica e o estabelecimento de redes de colaboração profissional. ABSTRACT In an era blasted by technology and financial austerity, bills that aim to change archival practices arise. Brazilian bill number 7920/2017, which is still being discussed in the Lower House, is a great example of such. It urges that physical documents should be destroyed after certified digitalization. And although this bill was conceived on claims of striking modernization and the possibility of saving money up, it defies previous rules. In response, Archival Studies specialists and archive bureaus are severely criticizing it. Executive secretaries are entangled in the middle of this scenario since they play a major part in the decision-making process and directly depend on archives to do that. How will they perform this task with no archive? Henceforth, this paper aimed to ponder how Brazilian bill number 7920/2017 might affect secretarial work. The present article also wanted to suggest possible strategies on this matter, that is, secretaries handling archives. Potential actions include highlighting Archival Studies during Secretarial Studies programs, specific training through courses, pinpointing the secretarial work, and establishing supportive professional networks. 

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