Review of the conference 1

So to continue with my impressions of the conference….

As already mentioned, I thought the three keynote speakers were very good. Peter Emmerson opened the proceedings with a clear message that the profession needs to re-think, well, how we think about the profession and come up with a new framework to support our work. He suggested that, here in the UK, archivists are interested in what we were doing, how we are doing it and who it is that does it, rather than why we are doing it and for whose benefit. He thinks we need to be more attuned to the outcomes and consequences of our jobs. He noted that his experience working in commonwealth countries highlighted a difference, internationally, in professional approaches. In Commonwealth countries they felt the need to explain the why in terms of the benefits offered to the organisation/government and benefits to the wider society. [I think this is why projects like Interpares are based in Canada, why the Australians came up with such a good RM Standard and function-based appraisal, and why more attention seems to be paid to records as evidence in other countries].

I hope I’ve summarised Peter’s talk correctly as I thought it a good one.

Randall Jimerson also gave an excellent talk. He spoke about the need for Archivists to realise that objectivity is a myth. From this realisation should come greater appreciation of our role (and power) as shapers of history and truth, and greater awareness that our activities should be carried out in an ethical way that supports social justice. It’s impossible to disagree with this. In fact, I hope this is something we’ve all already thought about. Although we’re all brought up on Jenkinson and Schellenberg, I think we’re equally influenced by the post-modernism that I would say has characterised most recent archival theory. And although I rarely feel very powerful, he’s right that we do have this power. It’s a pity that our funding and staffing resources don’t always allow us to fulfil our world-saving potential.

That’s all for now. I got other things to do.