What are archives?
The essays in Dr Louise Craven's new edited book (What are Archives? Cultural and Theoretical Perspectives: A Reader) are based on papers presented by contributors at the Society of Archivists Conference in Lancaster in September 2006. The essays assess the impact of recent technological developments - and attendant social, political and epistemological changes - on archival theory and practice. These changes have coincided with a significant perceived shift in the role of archives in cultural and heritage contexts, resulting in new ways of thinking and writing about archives and an increased recognition of the social and political role of the archive in academic disciplines such as politics, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, cultural studies and literary criticism.
Addressing the themes of 'continuity and change in the archival paradigm', 'the impact of technology', 'the impact of community archives' and 'archival use and users', this book seeks to contribute to this process of rethinking: to look to the future for solutions, rather than to the past; to examine the challenges that electronic records present to archival theory and practice; to consider the role of archives in culture and heritage; to grapple with the philosophy of the archive; and to ask whether the current intellectual and practical division between museums and archives is a result of outdated - and increasingly obsolete - educational and professional principles. Dr Craven's book thereore seeks to set archives in their cultural, political and social context, with each of the contributors considering whether archivists ought now to rethink the nature and borders of their profession.
