What are archives? cultural and theoretical perspectives : a reader (Ashgate, 2008)
Includes bibliographical references and index
In the UK, professional texts on archives concentrate on the how, not the why, of professional archival work. At the same time, studies of the theoretical role of the archive and the text are undertaken in other academic disciplines and there is an established forum for the discussion of related issues. This book invites the archivist to that arena of discussion and encourages archivists to step away from the practicalities of keeping archives, and to consider what it is they actually do in the cultural context of the early 21st century
THEME I: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE ARCHIVAL PARADIGM -- -- From the Archivist's Cardigan to the Very Dead Sheep : What are Archives? What are Archivists? What do They Do? / Louise Craven -- The Textuality of the Archive / Andrew Prescott -- Personal Papers : Perceptions and Practices / Caroline Williams -- -- THEME II: THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY -- -- Opening Pandora's Box : What is an Archive in the Digital Environment? / Michael Moss -- The Online Archivist : A Positive Approach to the Digital Information Age / Jane Stevenson -- -- THEME III: THE IMPACT OF COMMUNITY ARCHIVES -- -- Other Ways of Thinking, Other Ways of Being. Documenting the Margins and the Transitory : What to Preserve, How to Collect / Andrew Flinn -- Archives of Exile : Exile of Archives / Andrew Prescott -- -- THEME IV: ARCHIVAL USE AND USERS -- -- Users, Use and Context : Supporting Interaction Between Users and Digital Archives / Andrea Johnson -- Permitted Use and Users : The Fallout Shelter's Sealed Environment / Gerard P. Collis