Documents in the Dynarchive: Questioning the Total Revolution of the Digital Archive

The digital archive is often described in opposition to its physical counterpart. Media theorist Wolfgang Ernst has coined the term “dynarchive” to describe the former, a phrase that neatly contrasts digital archival remixability with the statis of the physical archive and its hierarchical fond structure. The article both uses and questions this characterization by examining the archive’s physical and digital document practices in three areas: (1) Hierarchical collection description versus individual document description; (2) Original order versus relevance-based results; and (3) Archival selection practices and the illusion of completeness. Archival structure and description have been central to the authority and evidentiary value of archival documents. Yet both the market logics of the internet and criticism from historically oppressed groups have challenged these connections. Using the dynarchive as a conceptual frame, this article examines archival digitization's potential for decolonization of the archive via its fragmentation into a non-hierarchical web of interrelated documents.

Two case studies of very long-term retention

Here, we present two case studies of extremely long-term retention. In the first, Richard C. Atkinson (RCA) had learned word sequences during experiments for his dissertation. Sixty-seven years later, RCA relearned the same words either in the original order or in a scrambled order. RCA reported no conscious awareness that the words were those used in the dissertation, but his relearning was considerably better for the words in the original order. In the second case study, Denis Cousineau had searched displays of objects for the presence of a target. The targets and foils had been novel at the beginning of training, and his search rate improved markedly over about 70 sessions. After 22 years, retraining showed retention of much of this gain in rate of search, and the rate was markedly faster than search for new objects with the same structure as the trained set. We consider interpretations of these case studies for our understanding of long-term retention.

RECONFIGURAÇÃO DO ACERVO DA SEÇÃO DE MEMÓRIA E ARQUIVO DO MUSEU NACIONAL APÓS O INCÊNDIO

Este artículo analiza la reconfiguración de los archivos afectados por los representantes digitales de la colección original perdida, teniendo en cuenta el caso de la Sección memoria y archivo del Museo Nacional (SEMEAR), que sufrió incendio en septiembre de 2018. Con esta tragedia, SEED se perdió prácticamente toda la colección. Con el fin de reconstruirlo, la idea de reconfigurarlo surgió de sus representantes digitales. En vista de esto, surgió el problema de esta investigación: ¿Es posible reconfigurar colecciones siniestras de representantes digitales, desde el punto de vista de la teoría archivística clásica? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones teóricas y prácticas? Desde el punto de vista metodológico, se buscaron los principios básicos de la Archiveología en la literatura nacional e internacional. En este sentido, se contextualizan los principios del Orden y la Provenencia Originales, identificando sus características y prerrogativas. Esta investigación adopta una posición conceptual sobre el uso de representantes digitales que los caracterizan como documentos de archivo, lo que permitirá la reconfiguración de la colección. This article analyzes the reconfiguration of archives sinistered by means of digital representatives of the original collection lost, considering the case of the Memory and Archive Section of the National Museum (SEMEAR), which suffered fire in September 2018. this tragedy, SEMEAR was lost practically the entire collection. In order to rebuild it, the idea of reconfiguring it emerged from its digital representatives. In view of this, the problem of this research arose: Is it possible to reconfigure sinister collections from digital representatives, from the point of view of classical archival theory? What are the theoretical and practical implications? From the methodological point of view, the basic principles of Archiveology were sought in national and international literature. In this sense, the principles of the Original Order and Provenance are contextualized, identifying its characteristics and prerogatives. This research adopts a conceptual position on the use of digital representatives characterizing them as archiving documents, which will thus allow the reconfiguration of the collection. Este artigo analisa a reconfiguração de acervos arquivísticos sinistrados por meio de representantes digitais do acervo original perdido, considerando o caso da Seção de Memória e Arquivo do Museu Nacional (SEMEAR), que sofreu incêndio em setembro de 2018.Com essa tragédia, a SEMEAR perdeu-se praticamente todo o acervo. No intuito de reconstruí-lo, emergiu a ideia de reconfigurá-lo a partir de seus representantes digitais. Diante disso, surgiu o problema desta pesquisa: É possível reconfigurar acervos sinistrados a partir de representantes digitais, sob o ponto de vista da teoria arquivística clássica? Quais são as implicações teóricas e práticas? Do ponto de vista metodológico, buscou-se na literatura nacional e internacional os princípios basilares da Arquivologia. Nesse sentido, contextualiza-se os princípios da Ordem Original e da Proveniência, identificando suas características e prerrogativas. Esta pesquisa adota uma posição conceitual sobre o uso dos representantes digitais caracterizando-os como documentos de arquivo, o que possibilitará, dessa forma, a reconfiguração do acervo.

An Entropy Metric for Regular Grammar Classification and Learning with Recurrent Neural Networks

Recently, there has been a resurgence of formal language theory in deep learning research. However, most research focused on the more practical problems of attempting to represent symbolic knowledge by machine learning. In contrast, there has been limited research on exploring the fundamental connection between them. To obtain a better understanding of the internal structures of regular grammars and their corresponding complexity, we focus on categorizing regular grammars by using both theoretical analysis and empirical evidence. Specifically, motivated by the concentric ring representation, we relaxed the original order information and introduced an entropy metric for describing the complexity of different regular grammars. Based on the entropy metric, we categorized regular grammars into three disjoint subclasses: the polynomial, exponential and proportional classes. In addition, several classification theorems are provided for different representations of regular grammars. Our analysis was validated by examining the process of learning grammars with multiple recurrent neural networks. Our results show that as expected more complex grammars are generally more difficult to learn.

MERAYAKAN RECORDS IN CONTEXTS: LATAR DAN KANDUNGAN STANDAR DESKRIPSI ARSIP TERBARU KELUARAN INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ARCHIVES

This article aims to describe several major themes of a newly released standard by International Committee on Archives, namely Records in Contexts (RiC). More than mere comprising all four existing standards, RiC to uplift function and activity of records within their own origin contexts. Almost three decades after the publication of the first standard (General International Standard Archival Description [ISAD-G]), RiC has developed its own understanding about major archival themes such as provenance, fonds, and original order, to comply with a very recent development of rapidly changing medium by questioning the famous adagium “medium is the message” back in 1970’s and reading machines that are understood as being separated from the records itselves. Either records or archives have shifted from texts to contexts.

Institutional Metadata and the Problem of Context

The traditional archive catalogue constitutes a form of structural and descriptive metadata that long precedes the internet; and the cataloguing of photographs is just one part of a process of archival administration. The application of keywords to images contrasts with archival prose description, which is based on the visual content of the image and is predominantly context-free; a remediation of the image itself. At the heart of this lies the notion that the single photograph is itself devoid of context; it is a discrete embodiment of shutter time and there is nothing certain either side of that. Thus, one can only speculate at its context, and institutional description techniques actively avoid such speculation. Yet context in the archive is ever-present and key to the function of images as objects of information and evidence. It is built through static relationships, through the situating of photographs in accordance with the concept of original order, and it is replicated through storage systems and hierarchical catalogue entries. Such orders, hierarchies and relationships are absent within sets of images that are brought together by keyword search, including through the websites of archival institutions that struggle to reconcile archival principles and identity with network culture. Images are transported to places where contextual information is at best difficult to access, especially for those unfamiliar with archival interfaces. In contrast to the controlled stasis of archival storage and interconnected recordkeeping systems, network storage is messy, unstable and poorly described. However, we must accept that context is not a prerequisite for many users, and for them the networking of archival images denotes a freedom; a democratisation of the archive. But in a media-driven society that is becoming more and more indifferent to the evidential value of documents of any kind, the context-free image is left predisposed to exploitation.

Reconstructing a Ninth-Century Sacramentary-Lectionary from Saint-Victor

This article presents a partial reconstruction of a ninth-century sacramentary-lectionary whose leaves were used as binding material for manuscripts of the library of Saint-Victor of Paris. While most of these fragments remain in situ, some have been detached; in all twelve Saint-Victor codices that served as host volumes are identified. A presentation of the fragments, including three not reported in Bischoff’s catalogue, presents the current condition of the fragments. An investigation on their content leads to a conjecture about their original order and to a hypothesis linking their origin to the monastery of Saint-Denis, according to the liturgical use and to the comparison with other sacramentaries.

MERAYAKAN RECORDS IN CONTEXTS: LATAR DAN KANDUNGAN STANDAR DESKRIPSI ARSIP TERBARU KELUARAN INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ARCHIVES

This article aims to describe several major themes of a newly released standard by International Committee on Archives, namely Records in Contexts (RiC). More than mere comprising all four existing standards, RiC to uplift function and activity of records within their own origin contexts. Almost three decades after the publication of the first standard (General International Standard Archival Description [ISAD-G]), RiC has developed its own understanding about major archival themes such as provenance, fonds, and original order, to comply with a very recent development of rapidly changing medium by questioning the famous adagium “medium is the message” back in 1970’s and reading machines that are understood as being separated from the records itselves. Either records or archives have shifted from texts to contexts.

The Garrick Papers: Provenance, Publication, and Reception

The Garrick Papers are among the brightest literary jewels in the Forster Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This article reconstructs their provenance, along with that of significant deposits of Garrick’s correspondence held elsewhere, and examines the circumstances that led to their publication in 1831–1832. It uses unpublished manuscripts, Chancery records, and annotated sale catalogues to identify the chain of ownership between 1822, when the executors of Eva Maria Garrick (1724–1822), the actor’s widow, found them in two cabinets at her Thames-side villa at Hampton, and 1876, when they were bequeathed to the South Kensington Museum. It reveals the original order of Garrick’s epistolary archive, and his and others’ involvement in its appraisal and arrangement, the various depredations and augmentations that occurred during the fifty years that followed Eva Maria Garrick’s death, and the early critical reception and publishing history of the printed editions of Garrick’s correspondence.

Gunboat Diplomacy of a Different Kind: Robert H. Pruyn and Japan’s Purchase of U.S. Warships, 1862–1865

This article examines the handling of a contract between the Shogunate of Japan and private agents in the United States for the construction of three ships of war in 1862. Robert H. Pruyn, the U.S. minister, received the original order and down payment from the Japanese government and assigned the contract to two private citizens in Albany, New York. Over the course of the next three years, complications from the U.S. Civil War and fluctuations in the currency markets made it impossible for the U.S. builders to fulfill the order in full; the Japanese received only one ship. Historians consistently have accused Pruyn of mishandling the contract and of using the funds as investment capital for his own personal gain, but evidence shows that Pruyn was scrupulously careful with the contract and the payment, and that he averted a disastrous result which could have soured U.S.-Japan relations.