It was really interesting, thank you for sharing your science with us. There is a school here in France called Γcole des chartes which is a school of archives and I know they are studying ways of archiving written and numerical datas and work with public institutions and ministries. I read the definition by Giorgio Cencetti and it occurs how political archiving. You follow a classification system (or you choose one), this classification can change over time and space (that's what we understand if we follow this Diderot's story), you respond to institutional demands : all of this is deeply a work of bias. I wonder how you consider this political aspect in your (future) work.
Thank you for your comment! The purpose of this post was to make a distinction between collections and archives, and the main difference is the way they're organised. From what I've studied so far, I understand that the archival practice varies a lot in different countries, for example in France there are two separate sections for the intermediate records (one is just for storage and the other for selection), something that doesnβt occur in Italy. What I was trying to point out in this piece is that in order to properly organise an archive, it's important to know the institution that produced it, its purpose and structure. In Italy, the classification system is an helpful and mandatory tool but records are still organised in a way that respects the principle of provenance, because that's the only way to ensure the survival of the 'archival bond' over time.
This is so interesting. Archival science was probably that last thing on my radar, but now itβs got me thinking about the complexities of it all. I think before now I would have just said both archive and collection was interchangeable. Never thought there was a full process that goes into it.
I love seeing the stuff I'm studying in uni on susbtack hehe for me a good way of putting it is
Collection > intentionality (curation)
Archive > organic accumulation
Libraries would fall in the first category as well as museums (I know you already know this I'm just informing the public x:) I do think the word archive makes sense if you speak about like archiving emails or tweets or Instagram photos because technically that counts as activity (?) but correct me if I'm wrong
It's nice to hear from other people who study archival science π€ I don't know exactly how instagram pictures or tweets are called, though I would say you can refer to them as an "archive"
This is so interesting! You wrote it so clearly and beautifully! I didn't actually know about archival science before but i find this so great and important as a history lover. However, after looking more into it, I've noticed the universities in my country are stopping these courses (i think there's like 2 or 3 out of a little more than 10) and it's really sad to see how things as important as archives are being ignored, although I suppose digitalisation has a role into this demise.
There are several articles on the power of archives and how they contribute to the way history is interpreted, like Schwartz J. M., Cook T. (2002), βArchives, Records, and Power: The Making of Modern Memoryβ. I agree that with digitisation is easy to underestimate the power of archives and their organisation, but digital archives also need the structures of archival theory to properly store records.
Im an archivist and a cultural studies student, so I imagine there is relatively big overlap of our fields. This was a wonderful read! I've been thinking about how archives function as an extension of the state (at least the public archives) and, as you said in your other post, write the narrative of history.
I recently read a magazine all about archives and archival work--mostly because my boss and coworker had an appearance in one of the articles and an op-ed respectively--and in it i stumbled upon an article which was about how romani (i hope that's the right term) people had immigrated to our country and how the archives reflected and/or suppressed that. The project of finding and properly preserving, and storing information, about the immigrants, not only reflects the state's negligence of not only the papers--but the *people* themselves.
But it also helps the descendants who are still here today to be used in legal settings as proof etc. Very important work lead by one passionate guy and a small team, but also informs the reader just how cruel my country has been to these poor people who did nothing wrong...
Similar projects and archives exist pertaining to the samΓ people, which reflects a similar but slightly different story. And of course, the archive at which i work reflects its own story again--but still at the mercy of the state. that's why i would like to write an essay on that topic
So interesting! A while ago I dived into the topic of "archival silences" and how discrimination and silencing of marginalised communities affect archives and record storage. But, yes, ultimately archives are a reflection of power structures and, while their connection to governments is inevitable and inherent to their nature, it's also something that archivists should be mindful of.
Hi. Your posts are so enriching. I was wondering if you had any book recommendations for a good (beginner friendly) introduction on archival sciences. I am new to your blog and I apologize in advance if you have already answered this question.
Thank you for reading! I've started studying archival science in university, so I have never read beginner-friendly introductions. But I'm planning on posting more pieces like this in the future
Great piece! Iβve been a reader for a while, but archival science was a totally new concept to me. I usually think of "archiving" in a digital/IT sense. As a history student who loves the critical thinking involved in analyzing primary sources, I now have a much deeper appreciation for how archives preserve those sources for us.
It was really interesting, thank you for sharing your science with us. There is a school here in France called Γcole des chartes which is a school of archives and I know they are studying ways of archiving written and numerical datas and work with public institutions and ministries. I read the definition by Giorgio Cencetti and it occurs how political archiving. You follow a classification system (or you choose one), this classification can change over time and space (that's what we understand if we follow this Diderot's story), you respond to institutional demands : all of this is deeply a work of bias. I wonder how you consider this political aspect in your (future) work.
Thank you for your comment! The purpose of this post was to make a distinction between collections and archives, and the main difference is the way they're organised. From what I've studied so far, I understand that the archival practice varies a lot in different countries, for example in France there are two separate sections for the intermediate records (one is just for storage and the other for selection), something that doesnβt occur in Italy. What I was trying to point out in this piece is that in order to properly organise an archive, it's important to know the institution that produced it, its purpose and structure. In Italy, the classification system is an helpful and mandatory tool but records are still organised in a way that respects the principle of provenance, because that's the only way to ensure the survival of the 'archival bond' over time.
This is so interesting. Archival science was probably that last thing on my radar, but now itβs got me thinking about the complexities of it all. I think before now I would have just said both archive and collection was interchangeable. Never thought there was a full process that goes into it.
I love seeing the stuff I'm studying in uni on susbtack hehe for me a good way of putting it is
Collection > intentionality (curation)
Archive > organic accumulation
Libraries would fall in the first category as well as museums (I know you already know this I'm just informing the public x:) I do think the word archive makes sense if you speak about like archiving emails or tweets or Instagram photos because technically that counts as activity (?) but correct me if I'm wrong
It's nice to hear from other people who study archival science π€ I don't know exactly how instagram pictures or tweets are called, though I would say you can refer to them as an "archive"
This is so interesting! You wrote it so clearly and beautifully! I didn't actually know about archival science before but i find this so great and important as a history lover. However, after looking more into it, I've noticed the universities in my country are stopping these courses (i think there's like 2 or 3 out of a little more than 10) and it's really sad to see how things as important as archives are being ignored, although I suppose digitalisation has a role into this demise.
There are several articles on the power of archives and how they contribute to the way history is interpreted, like Schwartz J. M., Cook T. (2002), βArchives, Records, and Power: The Making of Modern Memoryβ. I agree that with digitisation is easy to underestimate the power of archives and their organisation, but digital archives also need the structures of archival theory to properly store records.
Im an archivist and a cultural studies student, so I imagine there is relatively big overlap of our fields. This was a wonderful read! I've been thinking about how archives function as an extension of the state (at least the public archives) and, as you said in your other post, write the narrative of history.
I recently read a magazine all about archives and archival work--mostly because my boss and coworker had an appearance in one of the articles and an op-ed respectively--and in it i stumbled upon an article which was about how romani (i hope that's the right term) people had immigrated to our country and how the archives reflected and/or suppressed that. The project of finding and properly preserving, and storing information, about the immigrants, not only reflects the state's negligence of not only the papers--but the *people* themselves.
But it also helps the descendants who are still here today to be used in legal settings as proof etc. Very important work lead by one passionate guy and a small team, but also informs the reader just how cruel my country has been to these poor people who did nothing wrong...
Similar projects and archives exist pertaining to the samΓ people, which reflects a similar but slightly different story. And of course, the archive at which i work reflects its own story again--but still at the mercy of the state. that's why i would like to write an essay on that topic
So interesting! A while ago I dived into the topic of "archival silences" and how discrimination and silencing of marginalised communities affect archives and record storage. But, yes, ultimately archives are a reflection of power structures and, while their connection to governments is inevitable and inherent to their nature, it's also something that archivists should be mindful of.
very interesting! yes definitely important to be mindful of
Hi. Your posts are so enriching. I was wondering if you had any book recommendations for a good (beginner friendly) introduction on archival sciences. I am new to your blog and I apologize in advance if you have already answered this question.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for reading! I've started studying archival science in university, so I have never read beginner-friendly introductions. But I'm planning on posting more pieces like this in the future
This was so interesting to read!!
Great piece! Iβve been a reader for a while, but archival science was a totally new concept to me. I usually think of "archiving" in a digital/IT sense. As a history student who loves the critical thinking involved in analyzing primary sources, I now have a much deeper appreciation for how archives preserve those sources for us.
This was a truly fascinating read, I didn't know archival science was even a thing!
Very necessary post.