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Making Archives

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Why will President Obama have to give up his Blackberry? ... Historians in the future might overlook President Obama's innovative use of IT ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Making Archives


1
Making Archives
  • Guest Lecture Margaret Hedstrom
  • Associate Professor
  • School of Information

2
Why do societies keep archives? Redux
  • Topics for Today
  • How do societies make archives?
  • Who decides what to keep?
  • How are archives changing in the digital
    environment?

3
How do societiesmake archives?
  • Processes used to build and maintain archives are
    closely tied to
  • The purpose(s) of archives
  • The structure of society
  • Assumptions about how archives will be used, and
    by whom
  • The prevalent forms of recording and communication

4
Why does this matter
  • The formation of archives affects
  • What information survives for the long-term
  • Who can use archives
  • What archives are used for
  • What we are able to learn/know about the past

5
Some common scenarios
  • Powerful individuals, organizations, or interests
    within government determine what records are
    valuable and who can use them
  • Formal legal systems define criteria for
    archives, professionals determine which records
    meet those criteria, and access is based on
    assumption of openness
  • Informal processes based on tradition transmit
    information orally and through practice

6
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7
Who decides what to keep?
  • Which records are kept in archives is influenced
    by
  • Social, political and cultural values
  • Laws and policies
  • Decisions by people about what documentation they
    create and how they save and maintain records
  • Decisions by archivists and records managers

8
Chain of Appraisal Decisions
Social, political, cultural power structures and
values

Creators
Laws Policies
Archivists
9
How are archives changing in the digital
environment?
  • More people are creating more information that
    might be kept in archives
  • Social and cultural norms lag behind new
    archive-making technologies
  • Laws and policies do not keep pace with new
    technologies
  • Individuals and organizations have more options
    for what to record, what to keep, and what to
    destroy
  • Digital archives create new challenges for
    preservation

10
Changing role of archivists
  • Help people creating records make wise choices
    about what to keep
  • Provide tools that help people and organizations
    manage their records
  • Rely on social networks and usage data to set
    priorities
  • Use more automated tools to find and select
    archives
  • Acknowledge the pro-active role that all
    participants play in shaping what is kept

11
Why will President Obama have to give up his
Blackberry?
12
How might this affect the historical record of
the Obama Presidency?
  • Some communications will not be recorded
  • Documentation will be more formal than it might
    have been
  • Interactions between the White House and the
    public will be under-represented
  • Historians in the future might overlook President
    Obamas innovative use of IT
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