Anne Gilliland is Professor and Director of the Archival Studies specialization in the Department of Information Studies, as well as Director of the Center for Information as Evidence, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). She is a faculty affiliate of UCLA's Center for Digital Humanities. She is also the Director of the Archival Education and Research Initiative (AERI), a global collaborative effort amongst academic institutions that seeks to promote state-of-the-art in scholarship in Archival Studies, broadly conceived, as well as to encourage curricular and pedagogical innovation in archival and recordkeeping education locally and worldwide. Her interests relate broadly to the history, nature, human impact, and technologies associated with archives, recordkeeping and memory, particularly in translocal and international contexts. Specifically her work addresses records, recordkeeping and archival systems and practices in support of human rights and daily life in post-conflict settings in the countries emerging out of the former Yugoslavia, and rights in records for refugees and other forcibly displaced persons; the role of community memory in promoting reconciliation in the wake of ethnic conflict; bureaucratic violence and the politics of metadata; digital recordkeeping and archival informatics; and research methods and design in archival studies. Address: www.dunrunda.co
Research in the Archival Multiverse contains 34 critical and reflective essays by scholars around... more Research in the Archival Multiverse contains 34 critical and reflective essays by scholars around the globe across a wide range of emerging research areas and interests in archival studies with the aim of providing current and future archival academics with a text addressing possible methods and theoretical frameworks that have been and might be used in archival scholarship. The book lays out questions and methods that are exemplary of the current state of archival and recordkeeping research in the archival multiverse, encompassing the pluralism of evidentiary texts, memory-keeping practices and institutions, bureaucratic and personal motivations, community perspectives and needs, and cultural and legal constructs. It is relevant also to many other fields, including those that have engaged with the Archive in its broadest sense, history, memory studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, anthropology, sociology, business administration, digital humanities, systems analysis and design, and information seeking, retrieval and use. The book seeks to review the conceptual lineage of the field, as seen through different epistemological lenses and archival traditions; to underscore that theoretical framing and conceptual clarity are important in both theoretical and applied research; to provide literary warrant for a range of methods that have been adopted or adapted in archival and recordkeeping research and to provide rigorous examples of how they have been applied; to demonstrate the diversity of settings in which the research is, or might be undertaken; and to draw attention to the kinds of challenges and dilemmas that emerge when working within a pluralised research paradigm.
This volume highlights a thought-provoking diversity of issues and approaches and draws upon seve... more This volume highlights a thought-provoking diversity of issues and approaches and draws upon several disciplines including the information sciences, archivistics, history, librarianship and digital humanities. It begs interesting questions about cultural heritage and also about humanities and social science research. For example, how are cultural heritage and historical materials viewed differently by the different professions involved with its identification, preservation, description and use? How do archives and other memory institutions reconcile humanities and social science research agendas and associated digital developments with exigencies to address very different kinds of user needs emerging out of human and civil rights concerns? Might we perhaps design new systems to better address both more effectively? One of the contributions of this book, therefore, is to illustrate some of what is distinctive among these different theoretical perspectives and traditions as well as some of the points of convergence around common interests and needs such as the identification and interpretation of historical evidence.
This monograph traces the development of descriptive systems, the creation and management of comp... more This monograph traces the development of descriptive systems, the creation and management of computer-generated records, and the curation of digital materials. With each chapter, the book addresses either the historical development or the current state of an area within archival science that information and communications technology have significantly affected to ultimately construct a picture of how archives arrived in the 21st century and to suggest where they might be going in the foreseeable future.
Traces the historical development of archival principles and practices and examines, with referen... more Traces the historical development of archival principles and practices and examines, with reference to key research and development projects, how they are currently being transferred into the digital environment to address issues that include the following: • life cycle control of high-volume, dynamic multimedia collections of born- digital and digitized materials, from creation through final disposition; • establishment and preservation of the integrity of digital materials; • identification and preservation of the evidential value of digital materials through design, description, preservation, and evaluation of information systems; • exploitation of context and hierarchy in the design and use of digital materials; • elucidation of the nature, genesis, and use of digital materials by their cre- ators; and • identification and exploitation of the interdependencies among digital materials, related nondigital materials, and their metadata. Concludes with a discussion of what is needed from the archival, library, and other information communities engaged in the development and preservation of digital resources in order to achieve the full potential of cross-community dialog and development.
Having the necessary documentation to cross borders, claim refugee status or benefits, settle els... more Having the necessary documentation to cross borders, claim refugee status or benefits, settle elsewhere or return to sites of origin may literally be a life or death matter for people who have been forcibly displaced. Government and other organizational recordkeeping offices and archives holding official records needed in adjudications regarding identity, status, citizenship, property and so forth may also play integral roles in validating those records. Drawing examples from displacement and migrant crises in the Balkans region in the 1990s and today, this paper argues that "official" archives are neither epistemologically nor structurally oriented to address the immediate needs of the forcibly displaced and other "non-citizens" who often resort to "irregular" forms and uses of records to survive. A theoretical, organizational and practical reorientation is needed that is based in supranational and transinstitutional thinking and proactive humanitarianism. This reorientation should engage at the level of affected individuals and their everyday lives and also account for "irregular" records generated or deployed in exigency or in other forms of radical agency by the forcibly displaced.
This essay proposes that the archival notion of displaced records and associated arguments about ... more This essay proposes that the archival notion of displaced records and associated arguments about their inalienable relationship to sovereign states are overly predicated upon out-moded physical- and nation states-based thinking. Networked structures and infrastructures of the twenty-first century permit records to have a simultaneous digital presence and to be variously represented and understood in any number of geographic, political, social and intellectual spaces. It argues that archival discourse about displaced records should be focused instead on records as plural and contingent co-created objects that have certain inalienable and universal characteristics and suggests several network-based mechanisms for providing pluralised access to them regardless of where they are located.
Arhivski aktivizem: pojavne oblike, lokalna uporaba Izvleček: V tem besedilu avtorja pojasnjujeta... more Arhivski aktivizem: pojavne oblike, lokalna uporaba Izvleček: V tem besedilu avtorja pojasnjujeta osnove arhivskega aktivizma začenjata z vplivnim govorom radikalnega zgodovinarja Howarda Zinna, ki trdi, da se arhivisti morajo znebiti pojma "nevtralnosti" in naj se aktivno vključijo v delo družbenega pomena. Avtorja identificirata štiri različne sklope praks, ki predstavljajo arhivski aktivizem: arhive skupnosti, družbeno zavestno delo v arhivih, ki jih financira država in ostale 'mainstream' arhive (na primer, s spodbujanjem institucionalne transparentnosti in upoštevanja); aktivizem na temelju raziskav (odkrivanje radikalnih in potisnjenih zgodovin); družbeno zavestno delo institucionalno neodvisnih arhivistov. Opisujeta več primerov lokalne praktične uporabe arhivskega aktivizma, kot je: delo knjižnice Southern California Library v južnem Los Angelesu, razvoj arhiva National Chavez Center Archives, pomoč neodvisnih arhivistov delavcem migrantom v Združenih državah ter hramba in identifikacija dokumentov z dokumentiranjem njihovega imigrantskega statusa ter zaposlitvene zgodovine ter nedavno odkritje arhivskega gradiva Protifašistične fronte ženske Jugoslavije neodvisnih raziskovalcev in njegovo feministično reinterpretacijo. Ključne besede: arhivski aktivizem, arhiv skupnosti, radikalna zgodovina, socialna pravičnost Abstract: In this essay the authors provide a summary history of archival activism, starting with the seminal 1970 speech by radical historian Howard Zinn in which he argued for archivists to rid themselves of notions of " neutrality " , and actively engage in socially meaningful work. The authors identify four different forms of archival activism: community archives; socially conscious work within government-funded and other " mainstream " archives (for example, by promoting institutional transparency and accountability); research-based activism (retracing radical or suppressed histories); and socially conscious work by institutionally-independent archivists. They describe several examples of local practical applications of archival activism, such as the work of the Southern California Library in South Los Angeles; the development of the National Chavez Center Archives; independent archivists providing assistance to migrant fieldworkers in the United States in safeguarding and identifying records documenting their immigration status and employment history; and the recent rediscovery of records of the Women's Antifascist Front of Yugoslavia by independent researchers and its feminist reinterpretation. In 1996, the General Assembly of the International Council on Archives (ICA) held in Beijing adopted the organization's first Code of Ethics (ICA, 1996). Some sections of the code contain relatively straightforward but generalized expressions of archival concerns, calling for the protection, preservation and accessibility of records as well as for transparency of practice and professional education. Other sections inform archivists about what (not) to do in order to keep their professional conduct ethically in check. The code is more problematic when its principles and associated commentaries are opaquely expressed and invoke societally structured boundaries. First is the question of meaning: what is meant by " impartiality " and " objectivity " when the code states that both of these are the measure of an archivist's professionalism? What is meant by acting " in the
Building upon recent work, this paper demonstrates how 21st century recordkeeping concerns are in... more Building upon recent work, this paper demonstrates how 21st century recordkeeping concerns are integral to societal grand challenges that have been identified by governments, think tanks, scholarly organisations and affected communities around the globe. Using the example of forced displacement and migration the paper focuses on ways in which recordkeeping is inextricably linked to both the causes and possible digital, policy and educational mechanisms for addressing certain aspects of societal grand challenges. These linkages are significantly under-explored and under-addressed in our field. The paper's principal arguments are that archives and recordkeepers have social and ethical responsibilities toward those individuals who are least empowered to engage with official records and recordkeeping practices or to maintain their own records; and that responding will require implementing archival and recordkeeping practices and policy at supra-national and meta-archival levels. The paper suggests some actions and reconceptualisations therefore, that might move us in that direction. Preamble As we ponder the effects and potentials of pervasive networking and digital production on the 21st century record, on institutions, communities and individuals, and on the archival and recordkeeping field 2 and its ideas and activities, it is both professionally and ethically insufficient to do so only from within our own institutional settings and national contexts. While I was preparing this paper for the ARANZ 2015 Conference I was also reflecting on the ways in which the field should be engaging with the compelling and very intractable issues of massive and growing forced displacement and transnational migration resulting from regional conflicts of unprecedented scale, ecological disruption and environmental disaster, and increasing global economic inequities. Such human crises can evoke emotions and provoke highly charged debates that can make some in our field, with its historically dispassionate and distanced approach based on reasoning about the need for professional neutrality, uncomfortable when called upon to engage. However I have previously argued that such "neutrality" is not only impossible, but is also based on misplaced ethical considerations, 3 and there is a growing movement within the field demanding explicit attention to the presence of affect and its effects on archival and recordkeeping professionals, on those who create or use records, and on those who imagine or long for absent records. 4 Passion is essential, and affect is inevitable when we respond to frontline aspects of our work. 5 In this spirit, therefore, I also acknowledge that
Despite a growing focus on human rights issues within the field of archival studies, education de... more Despite a growing focus on human rights issues within the field of archival studies, education designed to prepare students to be practicing archivists, scholars and educators has rarely considered how best to address these considerations as they relate to the tens of millions of individuals and communities who have experienced or who are descendants of forced diaspora. This paper reflects on the genesis, development, implementation and emergent themes of an experimental transdisciplinary course, Migrating Memories: Diaspora, Archives and Human Rights, designed to address this educational gap in archival education. In addition to relevant scholarly work, the course integrated fiction, creative non-fiction and film in order to exercise issues of memory, documentation and archiving relating to forced diaspora. This enabled the subject to be approached in the spirit of research in contemporary cultural anthropology as well as archival studies that is addressing the human dimensions and dynamics of memory and identity, in particular those that are cultural, affective and generational.
This paper argues that the roles of individual and collective imaginings about the absent or unat... more This paper argues that the roles of individual and collective imaginings about the absent or unattainable archive and its contents should be explicitly acknowledged in both archival theory and practice. We propose two new terms: impossible archival imaginaries and imagined records. These concepts offer important affective counterbalances and sometimes resistance to dominant legal, bureaucratic, historical and forensic notions of evidence that so often fall short in explaining the capacity of records and archives to motivate, inspire, anger and traumatize. The paper begins with a reflection on how imagined records have surfaced in our own work related to human rights. It then reviews some of the ways in which the concept of the imaginary has been understood by scholarship in other fields. It considers how such interpretations might contribute epistemologically to the phenomenon of impossible archival imaginaries; and it provides examples of what we argue are impossible archival imaginaries at work. The paper moves on to examine specific cases and 'archival stories' involving imagined records and contemplate how they can function societally in ways similar to actual records because of the weight of their absence or because of their aspirational nature. Drawing upon threads that run through these cases, we propose definitions of both phenomena that not only augment the current descriptive, analytical and explicatory armaments of archival theory and practice but also open up the possibility of “returning” them (Ketelaar 2015a) as theoretical contributions to the fields from which the cases were drawn.
When those accused of being high-level perpetrators of human rights abuse die before publicly yie... more When those accused of being high-level perpetrators of human rights abuse die before publicly yielding their secrets in legal and archival arenas, victims may simultaneously express relief about the perpetrator’s demise and grief that, along with it, possible crucial information about the past is lost forever. Although the accused do not usually directly admit their actions and the teasing out of what actually happened is dependent upon the complex processes of cross-examination of their testimony and of records and other forms of evidence, victims project such moments of revelation onto the public act of holding accused perpetrators to account. In their deaths, the accused become forever-from-now-on unavailable and thus unassailable evidence-in essence; they are transformed into imagined documents that can never be cross-examined. In this construction, the would-be testimony of perpetrators is given epistemological validity over that of victims, offering up the false and unfulfillable promise of establishing a singular truth. Complicating this scenario, however, is the increasingly open-ended hope offered to victims, judicial processes and historians alike by the application of new forensic methods, for example, in the examination of gravesites and human remains, and by satellite footage that are generating additional categories of evidence. Using the juridical and archival legacies of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the Yugoslav Wars as case studies, this essay argues that when perpetrators die before giving legal testimony, survivors and victims’ families construct them as unavailable documents with imaginary agency to settle competing versions of history. Such imagined documents enter into a complex landscape of human rights archives that has heretofore been exclusively focused on tangible evidence. First, this essay frames the case of Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, who died before giving his testimony in a hybrid tribunal. In the face of diverse archival documentary evidence capable of presenting a more complete and complex picture of atrocities, it contemplates why survivors and victims’ family members placed high hopes on his potential testimony, essentially constructing him as a now-dead living document. Second, it explores a parallel case, that of the death of Slobodan Milošević while being tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and argues that the notion of a dead perpetrator as imagined document has less sway when the public has the opportunity to hear the perpetrator defend himself, regardless of the perpetrator’s own admission (or denial) of culpability. Third, it proposes the notion of imaginary documents. It argues that such imaginary documents challenge dominant conceptions of the evidentiary qualities of tangible records and the archival legacies of trauma by insisting on a more dynamic and holistic view of records that takes the affect of survivors and victims’ family members into account.
This essay grows out of the author’s ongoing research examining issues of affect and agency as th... more This essay grows out of the author’s ongoing research examining issues of affect and agency as these relate to archives and recordkeeping during the post-conflict recovery and political and economic transitions occurring in countries that emerged since 1991 out of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Specifically, since archivists in the countries play a key role in securing and providing access to records that are essential to individual, community and national recovery and transition, it contemplates possible relationships between affect and individual agency relevant to understanding their personal and professional situations. The essay also provides a synopsis of selective disciplinary literature addressing aspects of affect associated with individual experiences, memory and actions in war and post-conflict contexts. In so doing, it identifies several potentially relevant strands for further qualitative investigation of affect and its relationship to agency in the context of the individual archivist: the role of narrative, the need to integrate the social and the cultural, listening for meaningful silences, the importance of social support, the affect of place, coping mechanisms, and disenchantment with the state. The essay concludes with a brief commentary on how identifying the dimensions of affect and its relationship to agency through research such as this is an important component of understanding what professional actions, ethics and practices might be most appropriate and effective in post-conflict recovery and reconciliation, not only in these countries but also in other regions that have experienced similar extensive or recurring conflicts, especially when coupled with major political and economic transitions.
Reporting on ongoing research, this paper reviews stories, drawn from recent literature as well a... more Reporting on ongoing research, this paper reviews stories, drawn from recent literature as well as gathered through ethnographic research, that people tell about records and recordkeeping during and since the Yugoslav Wars. It focuses on what these stories reveal of the agency and affect of recordkeeping in individual and community lives, particularly in Croatia. The paper concludes with a contemplation of what might be learned from such an approach for the development of recordkeeping infrastructures that can anticipate, avert or alleviate some of the ways in which records and recordkeeping continue to traumatize or target the vulnerable, and frustrate and prevent the human and societal need to “move forward,” if not “move past.”
This paper is concerned with the politics of memory and their consequences – how memory in its ta... more This paper is concerned with the politics of memory and their consequences – how memory in its tangible and intangible forms is understood, performed, and acted upon in the popular imagination, and how it influences contemporary situations and inter-community relationships. Specifically, the paper is concerned with exploring the roles that the politics of memory can play not just in promoting continued community division in the aftermath of ethnic or religious conflicts in regions with complex and layered histories, but also the inverse – in promoting reconciliation. The paper takes as its primary example the multiple co-existing yet divergent accumulating narratives about the past that contributed to the eruption and later to the sustenance of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. After a brief historical review, it examines the experiences of one contemporary case that has been held up locally and internationally as exemplary in redirecting memory politics in support of reconciliation between divided communities – that of Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s second city and the site of the first violent confrontations of the Troubles. Bearing in mind the concept of “archival reconciliation” proposed by Sue McKemmish et al. with regard to the construction of Australian Indigeneity, past, present and future, and Verne Harris’ recent discussion of “healing” with reference to the experiences of the Nelson Mandela Foundation with human rights archives and memory work in post-apartheid South Africa, the paper concludes with some reflections on the responsibilities of memory institutions, and especially of archives, to address the politics of memory, even when those politics can traverse centuries of events; and actively contribute to reconciliation and peacebuilding in the wake of physical conflict, combatting, to use Harris' words, the weariness, stress and “stuckness” that can replace energy and hope during lengthy transition and recovery processes.
Participatory archives acknowledge that multiple parties have rights, responsibilities, needs and... more Participatory archives acknowledge that multiple parties have rights, responsibilities, needs and perspectives with regard to the record. The archives consequently become a negotiated space in which these different communities share stewardship—they are created by, for and with multiple communities, according to and respectful of community values, practices, beliefs and needs. This paper discusses principles and approaches to guide the establishment of participatory archives or the re-structuring of existing archives along participatory lines to further human rights agendas in relation to identity (including language, culture and religious practices), self-determination, the exercise of cultural rights, redress and the support of reconciliation and recovery after inter-community conflict.
In this paper we reflect on our engagement in research in Australia and the states emerging out o... more In this paper we reflect on our engagement in research in Australia and the states emerging out of the former Yugoslavia relating to the role of recordkeeping and archiving in human rights and social justice contexts, and in post-conflict societies. This research has engendered a rethinking of participatory archiving as it relates to official as well as other types of records, an expanded conceptualisation of archival activism and a new concept of archival autonomy, recently defined by Evans et al. It also provides insights into the vital transformative roles that these factors individually and collectively might play in such situations. Based on our research findings, a review of relevant critical literature in archival studies, and our own immersive experiences over many years as archival and recordkeeping researchers, and as educators and practitioners, we present an integrated set of rights in records that acknowledge and respect the interests of the different agents who are involved or implicated in records and recordkeeping processes. The guiding principles for the development of the set of rights originate in deep reflection on what constitutes ethical and pluralized recordkeeping and archiving. While we may advocate for and invoke codified rights in support of transformative practice, the driving impulse to animate and prioritize 21st century recordkeeping and archival practice in human rights, social justice and post-conflict contexts has emanated from, and, we would argue, should ideally always emanate from personal, professional, institutional and national recognition of and response to ethical exigencies rather than as a result of externally-imposed rights-based directives.
This article seeks to raise consciousness within the field of archival studies in order to foster... more This article seeks to raise consciousness within the field of archival studies in order to foster a generative discussion about how descriptive practices might be expanded, approached differently, or completely rethought. It brings together crosscutting theoretical issues and provides practical examples of mediation in order to mobilize these records in support of human rights work. It first problematizes the foundational archival precept of respect des fonds and its sub-principles of original order and provenance. It then analyzes the necessary transformation of institutional policies and standards in order to foster trust and transparency and identifies structural or system wide strategies for ameliorating past abuses.
This chapter provides a brief introduction to the history of archival practices and ideas and how... more This chapter provides a brief introduction to the history of archival practices and ideas and how these came together over the past three centuries to form an internationally recognised body of theoretical principles, definitions and best practices that is central to the professional field of archival science around the globe. It places archival science in relation to the broader conceptualisations of recordkeeping and archival studies. It then introduces the concept of the archival multiverse and discusses the ways in which considerable plurality in ideas and practices has continued not only to co-exist but also to emerge, both inside and outside the profession and to challenge and expand its core notions. It argues that this plurality is one of the hallmarks of the archival multiverse and is, therefore, a critical variable that should be accounted for in conducting and presenting situated research. With reference to research being conducted as part of the Archival Education and Research Initiative (AERI), the chapter concludes with suggestions as to how such plurality of archival and recordkeeping traditions, ideas, practices and histories could be better explicated and accounted for, particularly in theoretical and applied research around the globe. It also proposes several fertile areas for research, including research supporting grand challenges identified by different institutions, nations and international bodies, as well as grand challenges facing the archival and recordkeeping field itself.
Research in the Archival Multiverse contains 34 critical and reflective essays by scholars around... more Research in the Archival Multiverse contains 34 critical and reflective essays by scholars around the globe across a wide range of emerging research areas and interests in archival studies with the aim of providing current and future archival academics with a text addressing possible methods and theoretical frameworks that have been and might be used in archival scholarship. The book lays out questions and methods that are exemplary of the current state of archival and recordkeeping research in the archival multiverse, encompassing the pluralism of evidentiary texts, memory-keeping practices and institutions, bureaucratic and personal motivations, community perspectives and needs, and cultural and legal constructs. It is relevant also to many other fields, including those that have engaged with the Archive in its broadest sense, history, memory studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, anthropology, sociology, business administration, digital humanities, systems analysis and design, and information seeking, retrieval and use. The book seeks to review the conceptual lineage of the field, as seen through different epistemological lenses and archival traditions; to underscore that theoretical framing and conceptual clarity are important in both theoretical and applied research; to provide literary warrant for a range of methods that have been adopted or adapted in archival and recordkeeping research and to provide rigorous examples of how they have been applied; to demonstrate the diversity of settings in which the research is, or might be undertaken; and to draw attention to the kinds of challenges and dilemmas that emerge when working within a pluralised research paradigm.
This volume highlights a thought-provoking diversity of issues and approaches and draws upon seve... more This volume highlights a thought-provoking diversity of issues and approaches and draws upon several disciplines including the information sciences, archivistics, history, librarianship and digital humanities. It begs interesting questions about cultural heritage and also about humanities and social science research. For example, how are cultural heritage and historical materials viewed differently by the different professions involved with its identification, preservation, description and use? How do archives and other memory institutions reconcile humanities and social science research agendas and associated digital developments with exigencies to address very different kinds of user needs emerging out of human and civil rights concerns? Might we perhaps design new systems to better address both more effectively? One of the contributions of this book, therefore, is to illustrate some of what is distinctive among these different theoretical perspectives and traditions as well as some of the points of convergence around common interests and needs such as the identification and interpretation of historical evidence.
This monograph traces the development of descriptive systems, the creation and management of comp... more This monograph traces the development of descriptive systems, the creation and management of computer-generated records, and the curation of digital materials. With each chapter, the book addresses either the historical development or the current state of an area within archival science that information and communications technology have significantly affected to ultimately construct a picture of how archives arrived in the 21st century and to suggest where they might be going in the foreseeable future.
Traces the historical development of archival principles and practices and examines, with referen... more Traces the historical development of archival principles and practices and examines, with reference to key research and development projects, how they are currently being transferred into the digital environment to address issues that include the following: • life cycle control of high-volume, dynamic multimedia collections of born- digital and digitized materials, from creation through final disposition; • establishment and preservation of the integrity of digital materials; • identification and preservation of the evidential value of digital materials through design, description, preservation, and evaluation of information systems; • exploitation of context and hierarchy in the design and use of digital materials; • elucidation of the nature, genesis, and use of digital materials by their cre- ators; and • identification and exploitation of the interdependencies among digital materials, related nondigital materials, and their metadata. Concludes with a discussion of what is needed from the archival, library, and other information communities engaged in the development and preservation of digital resources in order to achieve the full potential of cross-community dialog and development.
Having the necessary documentation to cross borders, claim refugee status or benefits, settle els... more Having the necessary documentation to cross borders, claim refugee status or benefits, settle elsewhere or return to sites of origin may literally be a life or death matter for people who have been forcibly displaced. Government and other organizational recordkeeping offices and archives holding official records needed in adjudications regarding identity, status, citizenship, property and so forth may also play integral roles in validating those records. Drawing examples from displacement and migrant crises in the Balkans region in the 1990s and today, this paper argues that "official" archives are neither epistemologically nor structurally oriented to address the immediate needs of the forcibly displaced and other "non-citizens" who often resort to "irregular" forms and uses of records to survive. A theoretical, organizational and practical reorientation is needed that is based in supranational and transinstitutional thinking and proactive humanitarianism. This reorientation should engage at the level of affected individuals and their everyday lives and also account for "irregular" records generated or deployed in exigency or in other forms of radical agency by the forcibly displaced.
This essay proposes that the archival notion of displaced records and associated arguments about ... more This essay proposes that the archival notion of displaced records and associated arguments about their inalienable relationship to sovereign states are overly predicated upon out-moded physical- and nation states-based thinking. Networked structures and infrastructures of the twenty-first century permit records to have a simultaneous digital presence and to be variously represented and understood in any number of geographic, political, social and intellectual spaces. It argues that archival discourse about displaced records should be focused instead on records as plural and contingent co-created objects that have certain inalienable and universal characteristics and suggests several network-based mechanisms for providing pluralised access to them regardless of where they are located.
Arhivski aktivizem: pojavne oblike, lokalna uporaba Izvleček: V tem besedilu avtorja pojasnjujeta... more Arhivski aktivizem: pojavne oblike, lokalna uporaba Izvleček: V tem besedilu avtorja pojasnjujeta osnove arhivskega aktivizma začenjata z vplivnim govorom radikalnega zgodovinarja Howarda Zinna, ki trdi, da se arhivisti morajo znebiti pojma "nevtralnosti" in naj se aktivno vključijo v delo družbenega pomena. Avtorja identificirata štiri različne sklope praks, ki predstavljajo arhivski aktivizem: arhive skupnosti, družbeno zavestno delo v arhivih, ki jih financira država in ostale 'mainstream' arhive (na primer, s spodbujanjem institucionalne transparentnosti in upoštevanja); aktivizem na temelju raziskav (odkrivanje radikalnih in potisnjenih zgodovin); družbeno zavestno delo institucionalno neodvisnih arhivistov. Opisujeta več primerov lokalne praktične uporabe arhivskega aktivizma, kot je: delo knjižnice Southern California Library v južnem Los Angelesu, razvoj arhiva National Chavez Center Archives, pomoč neodvisnih arhivistov delavcem migrantom v Združenih državah ter hramba in identifikacija dokumentov z dokumentiranjem njihovega imigrantskega statusa ter zaposlitvene zgodovine ter nedavno odkritje arhivskega gradiva Protifašistične fronte ženske Jugoslavije neodvisnih raziskovalcev in njegovo feministično reinterpretacijo. Ključne besede: arhivski aktivizem, arhiv skupnosti, radikalna zgodovina, socialna pravičnost Abstract: In this essay the authors provide a summary history of archival activism, starting with the seminal 1970 speech by radical historian Howard Zinn in which he argued for archivists to rid themselves of notions of " neutrality " , and actively engage in socially meaningful work. The authors identify four different forms of archival activism: community archives; socially conscious work within government-funded and other " mainstream " archives (for example, by promoting institutional transparency and accountability); research-based activism (retracing radical or suppressed histories); and socially conscious work by institutionally-independent archivists. They describe several examples of local practical applications of archival activism, such as the work of the Southern California Library in South Los Angeles; the development of the National Chavez Center Archives; independent archivists providing assistance to migrant fieldworkers in the United States in safeguarding and identifying records documenting their immigration status and employment history; and the recent rediscovery of records of the Women's Antifascist Front of Yugoslavia by independent researchers and its feminist reinterpretation. In 1996, the General Assembly of the International Council on Archives (ICA) held in Beijing adopted the organization's first Code of Ethics (ICA, 1996). Some sections of the code contain relatively straightforward but generalized expressions of archival concerns, calling for the protection, preservation and accessibility of records as well as for transparency of practice and professional education. Other sections inform archivists about what (not) to do in order to keep their professional conduct ethically in check. The code is more problematic when its principles and associated commentaries are opaquely expressed and invoke societally structured boundaries. First is the question of meaning: what is meant by " impartiality " and " objectivity " when the code states that both of these are the measure of an archivist's professionalism? What is meant by acting " in the
Building upon recent work, this paper demonstrates how 21st century recordkeeping concerns are in... more Building upon recent work, this paper demonstrates how 21st century recordkeeping concerns are integral to societal grand challenges that have been identified by governments, think tanks, scholarly organisations and affected communities around the globe. Using the example of forced displacement and migration the paper focuses on ways in which recordkeeping is inextricably linked to both the causes and possible digital, policy and educational mechanisms for addressing certain aspects of societal grand challenges. These linkages are significantly under-explored and under-addressed in our field. The paper's principal arguments are that archives and recordkeepers have social and ethical responsibilities toward those individuals who are least empowered to engage with official records and recordkeeping practices or to maintain their own records; and that responding will require implementing archival and recordkeeping practices and policy at supra-national and meta-archival levels. The paper suggests some actions and reconceptualisations therefore, that might move us in that direction. Preamble As we ponder the effects and potentials of pervasive networking and digital production on the 21st century record, on institutions, communities and individuals, and on the archival and recordkeeping field 2 and its ideas and activities, it is both professionally and ethically insufficient to do so only from within our own institutional settings and national contexts. While I was preparing this paper for the ARANZ 2015 Conference I was also reflecting on the ways in which the field should be engaging with the compelling and very intractable issues of massive and growing forced displacement and transnational migration resulting from regional conflicts of unprecedented scale, ecological disruption and environmental disaster, and increasing global economic inequities. Such human crises can evoke emotions and provoke highly charged debates that can make some in our field, with its historically dispassionate and distanced approach based on reasoning about the need for professional neutrality, uncomfortable when called upon to engage. However I have previously argued that such "neutrality" is not only impossible, but is also based on misplaced ethical considerations, 3 and there is a growing movement within the field demanding explicit attention to the presence of affect and its effects on archival and recordkeeping professionals, on those who create or use records, and on those who imagine or long for absent records. 4 Passion is essential, and affect is inevitable when we respond to frontline aspects of our work. 5 In this spirit, therefore, I also acknowledge that
Despite a growing focus on human rights issues within the field of archival studies, education de... more Despite a growing focus on human rights issues within the field of archival studies, education designed to prepare students to be practicing archivists, scholars and educators has rarely considered how best to address these considerations as they relate to the tens of millions of individuals and communities who have experienced or who are descendants of forced diaspora. This paper reflects on the genesis, development, implementation and emergent themes of an experimental transdisciplinary course, Migrating Memories: Diaspora, Archives and Human Rights, designed to address this educational gap in archival education. In addition to relevant scholarly work, the course integrated fiction, creative non-fiction and film in order to exercise issues of memory, documentation and archiving relating to forced diaspora. This enabled the subject to be approached in the spirit of research in contemporary cultural anthropology as well as archival studies that is addressing the human dimensions and dynamics of memory and identity, in particular those that are cultural, affective and generational.
This paper argues that the roles of individual and collective imaginings about the absent or unat... more This paper argues that the roles of individual and collective imaginings about the absent or unattainable archive and its contents should be explicitly acknowledged in both archival theory and practice. We propose two new terms: impossible archival imaginaries and imagined records. These concepts offer important affective counterbalances and sometimes resistance to dominant legal, bureaucratic, historical and forensic notions of evidence that so often fall short in explaining the capacity of records and archives to motivate, inspire, anger and traumatize. The paper begins with a reflection on how imagined records have surfaced in our own work related to human rights. It then reviews some of the ways in which the concept of the imaginary has been understood by scholarship in other fields. It considers how such interpretations might contribute epistemologically to the phenomenon of impossible archival imaginaries; and it provides examples of what we argue are impossible archival imaginaries at work. The paper moves on to examine specific cases and 'archival stories' involving imagined records and contemplate how they can function societally in ways similar to actual records because of the weight of their absence or because of their aspirational nature. Drawing upon threads that run through these cases, we propose definitions of both phenomena that not only augment the current descriptive, analytical and explicatory armaments of archival theory and practice but also open up the possibility of “returning” them (Ketelaar 2015a) as theoretical contributions to the fields from which the cases were drawn.
When those accused of being high-level perpetrators of human rights abuse die before publicly yie... more When those accused of being high-level perpetrators of human rights abuse die before publicly yielding their secrets in legal and archival arenas, victims may simultaneously express relief about the perpetrator’s demise and grief that, along with it, possible crucial information about the past is lost forever. Although the accused do not usually directly admit their actions and the teasing out of what actually happened is dependent upon the complex processes of cross-examination of their testimony and of records and other forms of evidence, victims project such moments of revelation onto the public act of holding accused perpetrators to account. In their deaths, the accused become forever-from-now-on unavailable and thus unassailable evidence-in essence; they are transformed into imagined documents that can never be cross-examined. In this construction, the would-be testimony of perpetrators is given epistemological validity over that of victims, offering up the false and unfulfillable promise of establishing a singular truth. Complicating this scenario, however, is the increasingly open-ended hope offered to victims, judicial processes and historians alike by the application of new forensic methods, for example, in the examination of gravesites and human remains, and by satellite footage that are generating additional categories of evidence. Using the juridical and archival legacies of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the Yugoslav Wars as case studies, this essay argues that when perpetrators die before giving legal testimony, survivors and victims’ families construct them as unavailable documents with imaginary agency to settle competing versions of history. Such imagined documents enter into a complex landscape of human rights archives that has heretofore been exclusively focused on tangible evidence. First, this essay frames the case of Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, who died before giving his testimony in a hybrid tribunal. In the face of diverse archival documentary evidence capable of presenting a more complete and complex picture of atrocities, it contemplates why survivors and victims’ family members placed high hopes on his potential testimony, essentially constructing him as a now-dead living document. Second, it explores a parallel case, that of the death of Slobodan Milošević while being tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and argues that the notion of a dead perpetrator as imagined document has less sway when the public has the opportunity to hear the perpetrator defend himself, regardless of the perpetrator’s own admission (or denial) of culpability. Third, it proposes the notion of imaginary documents. It argues that such imaginary documents challenge dominant conceptions of the evidentiary qualities of tangible records and the archival legacies of trauma by insisting on a more dynamic and holistic view of records that takes the affect of survivors and victims’ family members into account.
This essay grows out of the author’s ongoing research examining issues of affect and agency as th... more This essay grows out of the author’s ongoing research examining issues of affect and agency as these relate to archives and recordkeeping during the post-conflict recovery and political and economic transitions occurring in countries that emerged since 1991 out of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Specifically, since archivists in the countries play a key role in securing and providing access to records that are essential to individual, community and national recovery and transition, it contemplates possible relationships between affect and individual agency relevant to understanding their personal and professional situations. The essay also provides a synopsis of selective disciplinary literature addressing aspects of affect associated with individual experiences, memory and actions in war and post-conflict contexts. In so doing, it identifies several potentially relevant strands for further qualitative investigation of affect and its relationship to agency in the context of the individual archivist: the role of narrative, the need to integrate the social and the cultural, listening for meaningful silences, the importance of social support, the affect of place, coping mechanisms, and disenchantment with the state. The essay concludes with a brief commentary on how identifying the dimensions of affect and its relationship to agency through research such as this is an important component of understanding what professional actions, ethics and practices might be most appropriate and effective in post-conflict recovery and reconciliation, not only in these countries but also in other regions that have experienced similar extensive or recurring conflicts, especially when coupled with major political and economic transitions.
Reporting on ongoing research, this paper reviews stories, drawn from recent literature as well a... more Reporting on ongoing research, this paper reviews stories, drawn from recent literature as well as gathered through ethnographic research, that people tell about records and recordkeeping during and since the Yugoslav Wars. It focuses on what these stories reveal of the agency and affect of recordkeeping in individual and community lives, particularly in Croatia. The paper concludes with a contemplation of what might be learned from such an approach for the development of recordkeeping infrastructures that can anticipate, avert or alleviate some of the ways in which records and recordkeeping continue to traumatize or target the vulnerable, and frustrate and prevent the human and societal need to “move forward,” if not “move past.”
This paper is concerned with the politics of memory and their consequences – how memory in its ta... more This paper is concerned with the politics of memory and their consequences – how memory in its tangible and intangible forms is understood, performed, and acted upon in the popular imagination, and how it influences contemporary situations and inter-community relationships. Specifically, the paper is concerned with exploring the roles that the politics of memory can play not just in promoting continued community division in the aftermath of ethnic or religious conflicts in regions with complex and layered histories, but also the inverse – in promoting reconciliation. The paper takes as its primary example the multiple co-existing yet divergent accumulating narratives about the past that contributed to the eruption and later to the sustenance of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. After a brief historical review, it examines the experiences of one contemporary case that has been held up locally and internationally as exemplary in redirecting memory politics in support of reconciliation between divided communities – that of Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s second city and the site of the first violent confrontations of the Troubles. Bearing in mind the concept of “archival reconciliation” proposed by Sue McKemmish et al. with regard to the construction of Australian Indigeneity, past, present and future, and Verne Harris’ recent discussion of “healing” with reference to the experiences of the Nelson Mandela Foundation with human rights archives and memory work in post-apartheid South Africa, the paper concludes with some reflections on the responsibilities of memory institutions, and especially of archives, to address the politics of memory, even when those politics can traverse centuries of events; and actively contribute to reconciliation and peacebuilding in the wake of physical conflict, combatting, to use Harris' words, the weariness, stress and “stuckness” that can replace energy and hope during lengthy transition and recovery processes.
Participatory archives acknowledge that multiple parties have rights, responsibilities, needs and... more Participatory archives acknowledge that multiple parties have rights, responsibilities, needs and perspectives with regard to the record. The archives consequently become a negotiated space in which these different communities share stewardship—they are created by, for and with multiple communities, according to and respectful of community values, practices, beliefs and needs. This paper discusses principles and approaches to guide the establishment of participatory archives or the re-structuring of existing archives along participatory lines to further human rights agendas in relation to identity (including language, culture and religious practices), self-determination, the exercise of cultural rights, redress and the support of reconciliation and recovery after inter-community conflict.
In this paper we reflect on our engagement in research in Australia and the states emerging out o... more In this paper we reflect on our engagement in research in Australia and the states emerging out of the former Yugoslavia relating to the role of recordkeeping and archiving in human rights and social justice contexts, and in post-conflict societies. This research has engendered a rethinking of participatory archiving as it relates to official as well as other types of records, an expanded conceptualisation of archival activism and a new concept of archival autonomy, recently defined by Evans et al. It also provides insights into the vital transformative roles that these factors individually and collectively might play in such situations. Based on our research findings, a review of relevant critical literature in archival studies, and our own immersive experiences over many years as archival and recordkeeping researchers, and as educators and practitioners, we present an integrated set of rights in records that acknowledge and respect the interests of the different agents who are involved or implicated in records and recordkeeping processes. The guiding principles for the development of the set of rights originate in deep reflection on what constitutes ethical and pluralized recordkeeping and archiving. While we may advocate for and invoke codified rights in support of transformative practice, the driving impulse to animate and prioritize 21st century recordkeeping and archival practice in human rights, social justice and post-conflict contexts has emanated from, and, we would argue, should ideally always emanate from personal, professional, institutional and national recognition of and response to ethical exigencies rather than as a result of externally-imposed rights-based directives.
This article seeks to raise consciousness within the field of archival studies in order to foster... more This article seeks to raise consciousness within the field of archival studies in order to foster a generative discussion about how descriptive practices might be expanded, approached differently, or completely rethought. It brings together crosscutting theoretical issues and provides practical examples of mediation in order to mobilize these records in support of human rights work. It first problematizes the foundational archival precept of respect des fonds and its sub-principles of original order and provenance. It then analyzes the necessary transformation of institutional policies and standards in order to foster trust and transparency and identifies structural or system wide strategies for ameliorating past abuses.
This chapter provides a brief introduction to the history of archival practices and ideas and how... more This chapter provides a brief introduction to the history of archival practices and ideas and how these came together over the past three centuries to form an internationally recognised body of theoretical principles, definitions and best practices that is central to the professional field of archival science around the globe. It places archival science in relation to the broader conceptualisations of recordkeeping and archival studies. It then introduces the concept of the archival multiverse and discusses the ways in which considerable plurality in ideas and practices has continued not only to co-exist but also to emerge, both inside and outside the profession and to challenge and expand its core notions. It argues that this plurality is one of the hallmarks of the archival multiverse and is, therefore, a critical variable that should be accounted for in conducting and presenting situated research. With reference to research being conducted as part of the Archival Education and Research Initiative (AERI), the chapter concludes with suggestions as to how such plurality of archival and recordkeeping traditions, ideas, practices and histories could be better explicated and accounted for, particularly in theoretical and applied research around the globe. It also proposes several fertile areas for research, including research supporting grand challenges identified by different institutions, nations and international bodies, as well as grand challenges facing the archival and recordkeeping field itself.
The third-party identification, evaluation, long-term preservation and retrieval of networked com... more The third-party identification, evaluation, long-term preservation and retrieval of networked computer-mediated communications (CMC) such as electronic mail and social media have recently become subjects of much public debate. They also present persistent challenges for archivists. This chapter first offers a retrospective reflection on an applied research study that was conducted almost two decades ago investigating the possibilities of automating how university archivists appraise and acquire electronic mail. It describes the context of the study and the research design and methods that were employed. The latter included using bibliometrics to identify appraisal domain experts, acquiring and codifying knowledge from those experts, and the iterative development and testing of an expert appraisal system. The chapter then reflects upon what was learned from the study in terms of the utility of the methods and the aspects of this research approach that might remain useful for archival processing of documentation generated by social media such as Twitter, and email and cell phone communications today. It concludes by reflecting more broadly on how archival systems development research stands the test of time as technology evolves, institutional roles and conceptual frameworks shift, and methodological approaches gain or lose appeal.
In this chapter, the prospects for archival information retrieval (IR) as a research area within ... more In this chapter, the prospects for archival information retrieval (IR) as a research area within the archives and recordkeeping domain are reviewed with the aim of encouraging its application. IR is characterized as a body of techniques with wide applicability, but with relatively little influence, historically, on the design of systems offering intellectual access to archives and records. Significant terminological differences (and overlaps) are noted between the IR field and the data archiving, and archives and recordkeeping domains. The principal concepts and objectives of IR are summarized, and the trajectory of archival IR outlined, with a focus on myths, challenges, and recent developments. XML retrieval is identified as a primary locus for researchers in archival studies to participate in the design and development of the next generation of IR systems. It is suggested that potential advances in archival IR—such as helping users to find previously unknown and possibly “smoking gun”–type documents; establishing the meaningful absence (as opposed to the presence) of documents; and exploiting multiple types and sources of metadata—may find wider application in other domains such as litigation support systems, news retrieval, audiovisual archives, data mining, and digital asset management.
Drawing upon archival sources, this article reviews the historical background and discourse surro... more Drawing upon archival sources, this article reviews the historical background and discourse surrounding early descriptive developments at the U.S. National Archives, 1935-1941. It identifies three discursive strands and discusses their implications for archivists today: how local and national differences might temper wholesale adoption of practices employed in other settings; the initial attempt to blend bibliographic and archival approaches at the National Archives; and the conceptualization and subsequent adoption of the record group as an institutional compromise. This compromise embedded conceptual principles identified by European archivists while simultaneously addressing specific pragmatic and physical considerations presented by Federal records at the time.
Researchers and professionals in the information fields are increasingly recognizing that they sh... more Researchers and professionals in the information fields are increasingly recognizing that they should engage themselves more closely with local, marginalized and under-empowered communities in addressing a range of challenges in diverse information contexts. Education employing critical pedagogy and dialogic action can provide a fertile ground for preparing future graduates for such engagement, and break down over-simplified dichotomies between academic and
This exploratory study examined: (1) the extent to which archival appraisal theory and practices ... more This exploratory study examined: (1) the extent to which archival appraisal theory and practices that developed primarily in response to the demands of paper-based media, might be codifiable and also might need to be enhanced to meet the challenges of the digital environment; (2) how expert systems technology, interfacing with digital communications architectures, and based on archival appraisal theory and practices, might be used to implement a responsible solution for the electronic records management problems posed by electronic mail (such as high volume, inconsistency in item-level appraisal judgments, institutional security, and personal privacy); and (3) the potential for using appraisal approaches for more general information filtering in a variety of environments faced with digital information overload. Using a three-phased approach, the researcher first conducted a citation analysis of archival literature in order to identify experts in archival appraisal. Secondly, through a knowledge acquisition process involving the participation of identified experts, the researcher delineated existing archival appraisal theory and practices. Thirdly, using a codification based on this delineation, the researcher developed and tested a prototype expert system that could assist archivists in academic institutional settings with the macro-appraisal of electronic mail. The results of this research point out important structural and policy limitations to such an approach that are based around the current state of electronic mail technology and its local implementations, as well as the limitations of archival appraisal as currently expressed. The results also indicate, however, how powerful both archival appraisal and expert systems technology can be when used in combination to manage not only the information but the evidence contained on electronic mail systems. Such an approach opens up important opportunities for the expansion of archival roles in the digital age to encompass not only managing institutional risk; managing information; and identifying, preserving, and transmitting cultural heritage; but also documenting changes in social interaction due to digital technology, mining digital information assets, and harvesting knowledge.Ph.D.Communication and the ArtsInformation scienceUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/129609/2/9542845.pd
Arguing that records and other forms of evidentiary documentation are increasingly being ‘weaponi... more Arguing that records and other forms of evidentiary documentation are increasingly being ‘weaponized’ against various communities and categories of people, this essay addresses diverse calls for the recognition of personal and community rights in records and recordkeeping. After reviewing some prominent examples and the growing literature on information rights, the essay introduces a framework for human rights in and to records and recordkeeping designed to support refugees. It then examines its potential applicability in restoring internationally acknowledged human rights to US Indigenous groups seeking federal sovereignty recognition. This approach suggests where there might be potential for convergence and highlights important areas of divergence between these two different rights discourses. In both cases the authors argue that affected individuals and communities might be empowered through different, and culturally appropriate, forms of educational outreach. The essay concludes...
From the Publisher: As the World Wide Web has emerged as a major research tool across all fields ... more From the Publisher: As the World Wide Web has emerged as a major research tool across all fields of study, the concept of metadata has become a crucial topic. Metadata, which can be broadly defined as "data about data", refers to the searchable definitions used to Locate information. This issue is particularly relevant to searches on the Web, where metatags may determine the ease with which a particular Web site is located by searchers. This book defines this little-understood concept, explains its importance and potential uses in the networked environment, and describes existing metadata standards in the field of cultural heritage information.
In this essay the authors provide a summary history of archival activism, starting with the semin... more In this essay the authors provide a summary history of archival activism, starting with the seminal 1970 speech by radical historian Howard Zinn in which he argued for archivists to rid themselves of notions of “neutrality”, and actively engage in socially meaningful work. The authors identify four different forms of archival activism: community archives; socially conscious work within government-funded and other “mainstream” archives (for example, by promoting institutional transparency and accountability); research-based activism (retracing radical or suppressed histories); and socially conscious work by institutionally-independent archivists. They describe several examples of local practical applications of archival activism, such as the work of the Southern California Library in South Los Angeles; the development of the National Chavez Center Archives; independent archivists providing assistance to migrant fieldworkers in the United States in safeguarding and identifying records...
The third-party identification, evaluation, long-term preservation and retrieval of networked com... more The third-party identification, evaluation, long-term preservation and retrieval of networked computer-mediated communications (CMC) such as electronic mail and social media have recently become subjects of much public debate. They also present persistent challenges for archivists. This chapter first offers a retrospective reflection on an applied research study that was conducted almost two decades ago investigating the possibilities of automating how university archivists appraise and acquire electronic mail. It describes the context of the study and the research design and methods that were employed. The latter included using bibliometrics to identify appraisal domain experts, acquiring and codifying knowledge from those experts, and the iterative development and testing of an expert appraisal system. The chapter then reflects upon what was learned from the study in terms of the utility of the methods and the aspects of this research approach that might remain useful for archival...
Recent research has shed new insights into the critical roles that metadata can play in the creat... more Recent research has shed new insights into the critical roles that metadata can play in the creation, identification, authentication, management, preservation, and use of electronic records throughout their existence. Consideration of how best to exploit metadata to these ends, however, raises several significant issues, including the following: Different communities have differing definitions of the term “metadata. ” What should be the scope of metadata for electronic records and archival management purposes? Can metadata be divided into classes based on how, when, and why they are created, or how they behave? What are the relationships between metadata and the record? Are some metadata part of the record? Which metadata relate to aggregates of records, and which to individual record or record components? How much metadata needs to exist in time and over time to support the evidential qualities of the record? Where do/should the necessary metadata reside? To what extent should arch...
Building upon recent work, this paper demonstrates how 21st century recordkeeping concerns are in... more Building upon recent work, this paper demonstrates how 21st century recordkeeping concerns are integral to societal grand challenges that have been identified by governments, think tanks, scholarly organisations and affected communities around the globe. Using the example of forced displacement and migration the paper focuses on ways in which recordkeeping is inextricably linked to both the causes and possible digital, policy and educational mechanisms for addressing certain aspects of societal grand challenges. These linkages are significantly under-explored and under-addressed in our field. The paper's principal arguments are that archives and recordkeepers have social and ethical responsibilities toward those individuals who are least empowered to engage with official records and recordkeeping practices or to maintain their own records; and that responding will require implementing archival and recordkeeping practices and policy at supra-national and meta-archival levels. The...
Author(s): Gilliland, AJ | Editor(s): Cox, RJ; Langmead, A; Mattern, E | Abstract: This essay gro... more Author(s): Gilliland, AJ | Editor(s): Cox, RJ; Langmead, A; Mattern, E | Abstract: This essay grows out of the author’s ongoing research examining issues of affect and agency as these relate to archives and recordkeeping during the post-conflict recovery and political and economic transitions occurring in countries that emerged since 1991 out of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Specifically, since archivists in the countries play a key role in securing and providing access to records that are essential to individual, community and national recovery and transition, it contemplates possible relationships between affect and individual agency relevant to understanding their personal and professional situations. The essay also provides a synopsis of selective disciplinary literature addressing aspects of affect associated with individual experiences, memory and actions in war and post-conflict contexts. In so doing, it identifies several potentially relevant st...
The chapter provides an overview of research in the archival multiverse, reviewing and reflecting... more The chapter provides an overview of research in the archival multiverse, reviewing and reflecting on historical developments, current trends and future directions. It chronicles the rapid diversification and expansion of archival and recordkeeping research over the past 25 years and the development of important research infrastructure. It presents philosophical and theoretical frameworks used in archival and recordkeeping research drawn from archival science and other fields, particularly those that support the exploration of records and recordkeeping as they exist in multiple cultural and social contexts. Methodologies and methods commonly used in archival and recordkeeping research as well as emergent approaches are discussed with reference to research design and case studies exemplifying their use. Archival research methods and techniques are identified and defined, including those derived and adapted from other disciplines, with a view to promoting their rigorous application, an...
Author(s): Gilliland, AJ; McKemmish, S | Editor(s): Cox, RJ; Langmead, A; Mattern, E | Abstract: ... more Author(s): Gilliland, AJ; McKemmish, S | Editor(s): Cox, RJ; Langmead, A; Mattern, E | Abstract: In this paper we reflect on our engagement in research in Australia and the states emerging out of the former Yugoslavia relating to the role of recordkeeping and archiving in human rights and social justice contexts, and in post-conflict societies. This research has engendered a rethinking of participatory archiving as it relates to official as well as other types of records, an expanded conceptualisation of archival activism and a new concept of archival autonomy, recently defined by Evans et al. It also provides insights into the vital transformative roles that these factors individually and collectively might play in such situations. Based on our research findings, a review of relevant critical literature in archival studies, and our own immersive experiences over many years as archival and recordkeeping researchers, and as educators and practitioners, we present an integrated set of...
Participatory archives acknowledge that multiple parties have rights, responsibilities, needs and... more Participatory archives acknowledge that multiple parties have rights, responsibilities, needs and perspectives with regard to the record. The archives consequently become a negotiated space in which these different communities share stewardship—they are created by, for and with multiple communities, according to and respectful of community values, practices, beliefs and needs. This paper discusses principles and approaches to guide the establishment of participatory archives or the re-structuring of existing archives along participatory lines to further human rights agendas in relation to identity (including language, culture and religious practices), self-determination, the exercise of cultural rights, redress and the support of reconciliation and recovery after intercommunity conflict.
This paper is concerned with the politics of memory and their consequences – how memory in its ta... more This paper is concerned with the politics of memory and their consequences – how memory in its tangible and intangible forms is understood, performed, and acted upon in the popular imagination, and how it influences contemporary situations and inter-community relationships. Specifically, the paper is concerned with exploring the roles that the politics of memory can play not just in promoting continued community division in the aftermath of ethnic or religious conflicts in regions with complex and layered histories, but also the inverse – in promoting reconciliation. The paper takes as its primary example the multiple co-existing yet divergent accumulating narratives about the past that contributed to the eruption and later to the sustenance of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. After a brief historical review, it examines the experiences of one contemporary case that has been held up locally and internationally as exemplary in redirecting memory politics in support of reconciliation...
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Books by Anne Gilliland
• life cycle control of high-volume, dynamic multimedia collections of born-
digital and digitized materials, from creation through final disposition;
• establishment and preservation of the integrity of digital materials;
• identification and preservation of the evidential value of digital materials
through design, description, preservation, and evaluation of information
systems;
• exploitation of context and hierarchy in the design and use of digital materials;
• elucidation of the nature, genesis, and use of digital materials by their cre-
ators; and
• identification and exploitation of the interdependencies among digital materials, related nondigital materials, and their metadata.
Concludes with a discussion of what is needed from the archival, library, and other information communities engaged in the development
and preservation of digital resources in order to achieve the full potential of
cross-community dialog and development.
Journal Articles by Anne Gilliland
Using the juridical and archival legacies of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the Yugoslav Wars as case studies, this essay argues that when perpetrators die before giving legal testimony, survivors and victims’ families construct them as unavailable documents with imaginary agency to settle competing versions of history. Such imagined documents enter into a complex landscape of human rights archives that has heretofore been exclusively focused on tangible evidence. First, this essay frames the case of Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, who died before giving his testimony in a hybrid tribunal. In the face of diverse archival documentary evidence capable of presenting a more complete and complex picture of atrocities, it contemplates why survivors and victims’ family members placed high hopes on his potential testimony, essentially constructing him as a now-dead living document. Second, it explores a parallel case, that of the death of Slobodan Milošević while being tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and argues that the notion of a dead perpetrator as imagined document has less sway when the public has the opportunity to hear the perpetrator defend himself, regardless of the perpetrator’s own admission (or denial) of culpability. Third, it proposes the notion of imaginary documents. It argues that such imaginary documents challenge dominant conceptions of the evidentiary qualities of tangible records and the archival legacies of trauma by insisting on a more dynamic and holistic view of records that takes the affect of survivors and victims’ family members into account.
It also provides insights into the vital transformative roles that these factors individually and collectively might play in such situations. Based on our research findings, a review of relevant critical literature in archival studies, and our own immersive experiences over many years as archival and recordkeeping researchers, and as educators and practitioners, we present an integrated set of rights in records that acknowledge and respect the interests of the different agents who are involved or implicated in records and recordkeeping processes. The guiding principles for the development of the set of rights originate in deep reflection on what constitutes ethical and pluralized recordkeeping and archiving. While we may advocate for and invoke codified rights in support of transformative practice, the driving impulse to animate and prioritize 21st century recordkeeping and archival practice in human rights, social justice and post-conflict contexts has emanated from, and, we would argue, should ideally always emanate from personal, professional, institutional and national recognition of and response to ethical exigencies rather than as a result of externally-imposed rights-based directives.
• life cycle control of high-volume, dynamic multimedia collections of born-
digital and digitized materials, from creation through final disposition;
• establishment and preservation of the integrity of digital materials;
• identification and preservation of the evidential value of digital materials
through design, description, preservation, and evaluation of information
systems;
• exploitation of context and hierarchy in the design and use of digital materials;
• elucidation of the nature, genesis, and use of digital materials by their cre-
ators; and
• identification and exploitation of the interdependencies among digital materials, related nondigital materials, and their metadata.
Concludes with a discussion of what is needed from the archival, library, and other information communities engaged in the development
and preservation of digital resources in order to achieve the full potential of
cross-community dialog and development.
Using the juridical and archival legacies of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the Yugoslav Wars as case studies, this essay argues that when perpetrators die before giving legal testimony, survivors and victims’ families construct them as unavailable documents with imaginary agency to settle competing versions of history. Such imagined documents enter into a complex landscape of human rights archives that has heretofore been exclusively focused on tangible evidence. First, this essay frames the case of Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary, charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, who died before giving his testimony in a hybrid tribunal. In the face of diverse archival documentary evidence capable of presenting a more complete and complex picture of atrocities, it contemplates why survivors and victims’ family members placed high hopes on his potential testimony, essentially constructing him as a now-dead living document. Second, it explores a parallel case, that of the death of Slobodan Milošević while being tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and argues that the notion of a dead perpetrator as imagined document has less sway when the public has the opportunity to hear the perpetrator defend himself, regardless of the perpetrator’s own admission (or denial) of culpability. Third, it proposes the notion of imaginary documents. It argues that such imaginary documents challenge dominant conceptions of the evidentiary qualities of tangible records and the archival legacies of trauma by insisting on a more dynamic and holistic view of records that takes the affect of survivors and victims’ family members into account.
It also provides insights into the vital transformative roles that these factors individually and collectively might play in such situations. Based on our research findings, a review of relevant critical literature in archival studies, and our own immersive experiences over many years as archival and recordkeeping researchers, and as educators and practitioners, we present an integrated set of rights in records that acknowledge and respect the interests of the different agents who are involved or implicated in records and recordkeeping processes. The guiding principles for the development of the set of rights originate in deep reflection on what constitutes ethical and pluralized recordkeeping and archiving. While we may advocate for and invoke codified rights in support of transformative practice, the driving impulse to animate and prioritize 21st century recordkeeping and archival practice in human rights, social justice and post-conflict contexts has emanated from, and, we would argue, should ideally always emanate from personal, professional, institutional and national recognition of and response to ethical exigencies rather than as a result of externally-imposed rights-based directives.