Panel: Defining the Archive

Abstract

This session considers the inconstancy of the term “archive” and how ever-changing notions of what archives are, or should be, present both challenges and opportunities in the work that we do. From the French Revolutionary ideas of transparency and authority to contemporary ones informed by the technological utopianism of Silicon Valley, it is a term that shapes the public understanding of our profession and shifting estimations of its overall value to society. The session will wed reflection on historical and theoretical contexts with more immediate, front-line awareness of how those contexts might inform the present day decisions that archivists, librarians, and professionals in the rare book trade make about the historical record, from the primary identification and acquisition of significant archival materials, to their description, preservation, and use.