Archivaria

"Let Us See What Is Meant by the Word Recorde"

2022-06-07T07:45:45-07:00

Taking as its starting point the discussion of “what is meant by the word Recorde” in a 1581 work by William Lambard, this article considers the development of conceptual ideas about records from the Middle Ages to the early years of the 20th century. After examining the medieval understanding of record as oral testimony of legal judgments, it discusses how concepts of record in England gradually expanded to embrace written texts, and it traces the shift from an exclusive association with courts of law to a perception that records could be made, kept, and used across a much wider range of contexts. The article also examines the changing terminological relationships between records and archives and the dissemination of English understandings of records to other Anglophone countries. It concludes with a brief exploration of points of contact between older debates about the scope of the term record and those of present- day professional discourse.

Documenting Events in Times of Crisis

2022-05-23T16:31:33-07:00

Traditional Thai archival practice, which consists of documenting events and ceremonies, can be traced to the activities of royal scribes in past centuries. Today, this practice is carried out by national archivists, far removed from people’s daily lives. However, current digital transformations and participatory, networked culture are making documentation more relevant now than in the past – and to virtually everyone.

Focusing on records from times of historic emergencies, this article aims to understand Thai documentation behaviour from a socio-cultural perspective, with an eye toward considering how to adjust traditional archival practice to the contemporary Thai context. Archival sources documenting two crises – the Franco-Siamese military conflict of 1893 and a catastrophic tropical storm in southern Thailand in 1962 – are compared with new social media–based documentation consisting of posts, comments, and other activity during the cave rescue incident in northern Thailand in 2018. This comparison is complemented by insights from national archivists and other documentation experts regarding their experiences and their thoughts on the future of Thai archival practice.

Together, this comparison and these insights show that Thai documentation retained some of its original principles and functions in Thai society when it moved into a digital landscape, but there is still room for it to become more engaging and, in some ways, better suited to common understandings of archives as a “hall of fame.” This article suggests that Thai archivists should embrace a participatory archives model in which professional archivists remain essential but shift their focus from recording and guarding information to fostering the reliability and sustainability of documentation.

Oral History, Donor Engagement, and the Cocreation of Knowledge in an Academic Archives

2022-05-23T16:31:34-07:00

This article examines attempts at the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University’s Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library (SWC/ SCL), in Lubbock, Texas, to integrate its oral history program into collection acquisition, arrangement, description, and discovery processes. Beginning with the creation of a staff position dedicated to acquisition, and continuing through an evolution of job duties resulting from COVID-19, the SWC’s oral historians now not only facilitate collection acquisition through extensive relationship building but also engage donors during arrangement and description. Such reconceptions have led to new processes and workflows, wherein oral history has become an endeavour of collaborative knowledge creation and an enabler of a more democratic archives.

The Personal Papers of American Sailors, 1890s–1940s

2022-05-23T16:31:35-07:00

Personal papers in the archives at Maritime College, State University of New York, document the lives of alumni from the school’s founding in 1874 through the early decades of the 20th century. Journals, diaries, memoirs, and reminiscences located in these collections provide evidence of what it was like to work on a ship, far from home, travelling to foreign lands. In this article, I explore first-hand accounts of maritime life by Van Horne Morris, my maternal grandfather and a 1938 graduate of the Massachusetts Nautical School (now known as Massachusetts Maritime Academy), and several alumni of the New York Nautical School (now known as SUNY Maritime College), who graduated between 1896 and 1929. Close reading of their letters and manuscripts reveals echoes of a maritime literary tradition rooted in the antebellum-era United States. Comparing and contrasting the style and content of their writing to antecedents in the 19th century also illuminates continuity and changes in maritime labour and culture over time.

Colonialism, Computerized

2022-05-23T16:31:36-07:00

This article argues for the incorporation of a transdisciplinary approach to cartographic materials in archives, especially in relation to archival description and preservation. Delving into the theoretical foundations and developments in the fields of archival studies and cartography, it explores the creation of cartographic materials and focuses on their processing by archives (i.e., their appraisal, arrangement, description, and preservation and the means of making them available to archival researchers). The lag between theoretical developments and practical applications is illustrated through the creation and management of the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) and Canada Geographic Information System (CGIS) materials held by Library and Archives Canada. An analysis of the creation and ongoing management of these materials highlights the role of cartography and archives in the formation of Canada as a modern colonial state and in the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous Peoples.

VERNE HARRIS, Ghosts of Archive: Deconstructive Intersectionality and Praxis

2022-05-23T16:31:37-07:00

Ghosts of Archive: Deconstructive Intersectionality and Praxis.
Verne Harris. London: Routledge, 2020. 166 pp. 9780429343827

Elizabeth Price, Fiona Tan, Zimoun: Assembly. New Media Gallery, New Westminster, BC

2022-05-23T16:31:37-07:00

Elizabeth Price, Fiona Tan, Zimoun: Assembly.
New Media Gallery, New Westminster, BC. September 18 – December 5, 2021. Curated by Sarah Joyce and Gordon Duggan.

Middleground: Siting Dispossession. Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Quebec

2022-05-23T16:31:38-07:00

Middleground: Siting Dispossession. Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Quebec. February 10, 2021 – March 13, 2022. Curated by Ella den Elzen, Rafico Ruiz, and Camille Saade- Traboulsi.

Lilly A. Koltun

2022-05-23T16:31:38-07:00

Volume 49, Nos. 1–2 (2020)

2022-05-23T16:31:38-07:00

Front & Back Covers

2022-05-23T16:31:38-07:00

Inside Covers

2022-05-23T16:31:39-07:00

Archivaria

"Let Us See What Is Meant by the Word Recorde"

Documenting Events in Times of Crisis

Oral History, Donor Engagement, and the Cocreation of Knowledge in an Academic Archives

The Personal Papers of American Sailors, 1890s–1940s

Colonialism, Computerized

VERNE HARRIS, Ghosts of Archive: Deconstructive Intersectionality and Praxis

Elizabeth Price, Fiona Tan, Zimoun: Assembly. New Media Gallery, New Westminster, BC

Middleground: Siting Dispossession. Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Quebec

Lilly A. Koltun

Volume 49, Nos. 1–2 (2020)

Front & Back Covers

Inside Covers

Table of Contents