Archives, What are they and How do we use them?

In apartheid South Africa, the destruction of records as a government policy demonstrated that government’s denial of any notion of democratic accountability to most of its citizens and enabled their systematic subjugation of Black South Africans.

The opening of the files of the Stasi, the East German secret police, after the fall of the Berlin Wall Shattered many lives when they revealed that many ordinary citizens had informed against friends, neighbors and relations.

The failure of some banks in the UK and elsewhere to maintain proper archives and records systems has led to the inability of the descendants of many Holocaust victims exterminated in death camps to claim their inheritance.

Lack of resources in post-colonial Africa has led to a loss of knowledge about its countries’ infrastructure and people. Records of bridges, drains, railways and roads and those relating to people’s health, voting land and pension rights have been lost.

C. Williams Managing Archives, 2006 p.17.

These cases highlight core concerns we must consider as archivists and readers of archives:

•An archive is only as truthful as the people who created the documents in it and the people who preserve them.

•How do we know what is not included in the archive and why?

In an archive all an archivist can be sure of is the provenance of a document – that is the “Information on the chain of ownership and custody of particular records.” 1. 

Therefore how do we ensure an archive is as trustworthy as possible?

‘For archives to function as reliable sources of information and evidence, the content, context and structure of the records in the archive must be verifiable.’ 2. 

‘Archives- must meet legal, regulatory and fiscal requirements, and undergo audits and inspection of various kinds; and they must be able to provide explanations for decisions made or actions taken.’ 3. 

The archivist and archives worker must also continuously reexamine and question: 
•    Their own subjectivity or that of the historian/curator’s working on the archive and what impact that is having on the collection
•    The institutional interests in which the archive is situated
•    The institution and archivist must invite in minority voices to help in the work of archiving, digitizing, and publishing archive material and employ international archival standards to ensure many voices and perspectives of a history are recorded and findable.

1. Anne-Flore Laloë, “Archives of and for science”, EMBO reports, published online 2017 Jul 20, accessed 08/17/2024: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5538624/
2. Maygene F. Daniels, “Archives and Records Management Resources”, Archives and Library Information Center (ALIC) at the National Archives, page last reviewed August 2016, accessed 08/17/2022: https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/archives-resources/terminology.html
3. Shepherd & Yeo – Managing Records a Handbook of Principles and Practice, London 2003.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is joining with Native
communities and educators nationally to help change the way American Indian histories, cultures, and
contemporary lives are taught in K-12 classrooms. This long-term initiative, Native Knowledge 360°
(NK360°), provides educators and students with deeper and more comprehensive knowledge and
perspectives about Native Peoples, bringing the richness of the museum’s collections, scholarship, and
live programming, along with the diverse voices of Native experts and young people, directly into
classrooms nationwide. At the center of Native Knowledge 360° are Native people themselves.