Taking Custody, Giving Access: A Postcustodial Role for a New Century

  • Jeannette A. Bastian

Abstract

This article considers the relationship between custody and access focusing on the vital role that access to historical records plays in the construction of community memory. It explores the principle of archival custody as it has developed primarily in the English-speaking world, its historical background, its mid-twentieth century evolution into postcustodialism, and suggests that access be a primary role for the custodian in the new century.

Author Biography

Jeannette A. Bastian
Jeannette Allis Bastian is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science where she directs the Archives Management concentration. Prior to this, she was the former Director of the Division of Libraries and Archives of the United States Virgin Islands. She received her Ph.D. in 1999 from the University of Pittsburgh.
Published
2002-05-01
How to Cite
Bastian, Jeannette A. 2002. “Taking Custody, Giving Access: A Postcustodial Role for a New Century”. Archivaria 53 (May), 76-93. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12838.
Section
Articles