Archives

Recordkeeping in Society

1st Edition - June 1, 2005
Authors: Sue McKemmish, Michael Piggott, Barbara Reed, Frank Upward
Language: English
Paperback ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 8 7 6 9 3 8 - 8 4 - 0
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 7 8 0 6 3 - 4 1 6 - 6

Archives: Recordkeeping in Society introduces the significance of archives and the results of local and international research in archival science. It explores the role of… Read more

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Archives: Recordkeeping in Society introduces the significance of archives and the results of local and international research in archival science. It explores the role of recordkeeping in various cultural, organisational and historical contexts. Its themes include archives as a web of recorded information: new information technologies have presented dilemmas, but also potentialities for managing of the interconnectedness of archives. Another theme is the relationship between evidence and memory in archives and in archival discourse. It also explores recordkeeping and accountability, memory, societal power and juridical power, along with an examination of issues raised by globalisation and interntionalisation.

The chapter authors are researchers, practitioners and educators from leading Australian and international recordkeeping organisations, each contributing previously unpublished research in and reflections on their field of expertise. They include Adrian Cunningham, Don Schauder, Hans Hofman, Chris Hurley, Livia Iacovino, Eric Ketelaar and Ann Pederson.

The book reflects broad Australian and international perspectives making it relevant worldwide. It will be a particularly valuable resource for students of archives and records, researchers from realted knowledge disciplines, sociology and history, practitioners wanting to reflect further on their work, and all those with an interest in archives and their role in shaping human activity and community culture.

Dedication
Figures
About this book
Chapter 1: Traces: Document, record, archive, archives
Chapter 2: Archival institutions
- Archives and human impulses: The institutionalization and pluralization of the record
- Institutional form and function since the dawn of time
- The French Revolution and the nineteenth century
- Archival institutions in twentieth-century post-colonial societies
- Archival institutions in North America
- Public records institutions in Australia
- The collecting tradition in Australia
- Business archives in Australia
- Educational and religious archives in Australia
- Archives as a place and virtual archives
- Conclusion
Chapter 3: Professing archives: A very human enterprise
- Understanding professions and professionalization
- Building a profession: The journey so far
- Recordkeeping heritage: Major strands of practice
- Traditional roles and relationships
- Electronic revolution: Catalyst for integration
- Reinvented global professional mission
- Towards a reinvented professional
- Professional associations
- Professional knowledge and education
- Looking to the future
Chapter 4: Documents
- We live in a web of documents
- Concept of genre
- Document analysis: The near and far, the side by side
- Documents and records as evidence
- Documents, information objects and metadata
- Document computing
- Conclusion
Chapter 5: Records
- Introduction
- Records and documents
- Reliable records and records as contingent objects
- Situating the document in records systems
- Case study: Registry systems
- Metadata
- Access
- Appraisal
- Conclusion: Records as static objects or dynamic objects
Chapter 6: The archive
- Introduction
- Notion of an archive
- Archive in context: Organizations and business activities
- Needs of organizations
- Archive in changing organizational structures
- Administrative traditions and practices
- Record-creating entity and records management policies
- Relationship between organization and recordkeeping system
- Individuals and families
- Perspectives on the archive and the process of archiving
- Identity of an archive: Boundaries and meaning
- Concluding remarks
Chapter 7: The archives
- Archival systems, frameworks and scalability
- Trusted systems and pluralization
- Description
- Appraisal
- Preservation
- Frameworks for public access
- Archival systems of the future
- Conclusion
Chapter 8: The records continuum
- Introduction: The storage of activity-based information
- Spacetime distancing and information management processes
- Spacetime distancing and the expanding universe
- Conclusion
Chapter 9: Recordkeeping and accountability
- Accountability of whom, for what, to whom?
- Recordkeepers as agents of accountability: What is their role?
- Recordkeepers as agents of accountability: Can they be trusted?
Chapter 10: Recordkeeping and juridical governance
- Introduction
- Archival science, recordkeeping, law and the state
- Recordkeeping and juridical systems
- Records, social relationships and legal systems
- Archives and modern government
- Ethics of recordkeeping
- Archives within globalized networked communities
- Conclusion
Chapter 11: Recordkeeping and societal power
- Power
- Records and archives
- Surveillance
- The archiving gaze
- Capturing people
- Controlling memories
- Human rights
- Refiguring archives
- The power of memories
- Records have power
- Subjects of the record
- Archivists have power
- Conclusion
Chapter 12: Archives and memory
- Archives and memory: An undoubted connection
- Overstating the connection
- A broader and more qualified articulation
- The qualifications in practice
- Forgetting and the absence of archives
- Conclusion
About the next book
Notes on contributors
Index

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Recordkeeping in Society

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Michael Piggott

Barbara Reed