The Web is now recognized as a cultural artifact worthy of preservation and study; however, the rhizomatic, dynamic nature of online production, the accelerating rate of innovation of the live Web, and the sheer quantity of online records all pose challenges to preserving access to online cultural heritage. Moreover, whole-Web archiving efforts such as the Internet Archive frequently miss sites that are not linked to well from other sites—including the marginalized and fringe materials that are most important in building a thick cultural history of online life. This paper argues that archives and other collecting institutions are uniquely poised to preserve online heritage in the form of cultural subject Web archives. Such institutions have the intellectual capital and the technical capabilities, as well as the cultural responsibility, to create collections that reflect the diversity of online life and that best serve potential future users. In order to build these collections, archivists and other information professionals will need a new set of skills. This paper proposes some theoretical and technical approaches to selection and access for cultural Web collections, with helpful tools and model projects to guide the discussion. / text

For the first time in history one billion subscribers are creating records using a single software platform: Facebook. Subscribers create historically significant Facebook records every day, yet there is no concerted effort to preserve these records. Archivists do not agree on whether or how these records will continue to exist, nor do they agree on the best way to preserve these records. At the same time, privacy advocates are concerned that social networking records will continue to exist "forever" and therefore have serious privacy implications. In this study I examine the seemingly opposing viewpoints of privacy scholars and archivists. I find that privacy scholars are concerned that the lack of subscriber control over social networking records threatens privacy over time. Archivists address this lack of control through the concepts of donor agreements and the trusted digital repository, but the application of these concepts to the long-term preservation of Facebook records depends on who will preserve these records. I explore four different ways Facebook records may be preserved. I examine whether the U.S. federal government can and should play a role in encouraging Facebook to preserve records. I find that the U.S. federal government is unlikely to take action. I take a first step in empirically examining the likelihood that individual Facebook subscribers will preserve their own records using both an online survey (n = 144) and focus group to ask Facebook subscribers what they expect to happen to their Facebook records. I find that Facebook subscribers do not trust Facebook, do not think about preservation when they use Facebook, and do not expect their Facebook records to exist forever. This research makes four contributions to existing literature: a discussion of the value of social networking records and whether they should be preserved, a close examination of the differing opinions of archivists and privacy scholars about these records, a discussion of the role public policy might play in the preservation of Facebook records and privacy in the United States, and an empirical exploration of the attitudes and behaviors of a small group of Facebook subscribers related to preservation and privacy. / text

Increasing the visibility and societal understanding of archives is an important task given the struggle archives have to show their worth and attract a larger and more diversified group of researchers. Researchers in the field of medicine often already have the visibility that archivists seek and, within that field, those who use archival sources in their investigations may be able to increase their audience’s awareness of archives. Consequently, reaching out to these researchers is an important step in increasing archival consciousness and appreciation. Learning about what they value in archives and how they use them are equally important. For a medical researcher, archives can provide important data for studies. This thesis analyzes key medical research uses of archives over the last forty years. As will be highlighted here, medical researchers have used archival records to study the effects of malnutrition, trauma, and environmental conditions on health. Greater awareness of the contribution of archival materials to medical knowledge and better health care has the potential to change public perceptions of archives. This medical research provides concrete examples of the value of archives to the central contemporary concerns of society. It dispels the conventional view that archives are peripheral to those concerns. Instead, it underscores the importance of archival work and the need to support it. The archival record is fluid. It has different meanings for different people at different times. Archivists must adopt a fluid perspective on value when they seek to increase their visibility and attract new users to their institutions. Records used in medical research may not have been created with that in mind. Thus by re-imagining what the medical record can be, this thesis hopes to contribute to this important process. / October 2015

This paper explores how the interaction between community members, researchers and cultural institutions can be leveraged to produce improved results for all through the interplay of user-centred design (UCD) and participative action research informed by structuration theory. We discuss through a case study of a Women on Farms Gathering (WoFG) collection in Victoria, our vision of UCD, the potential of using ICT to facilitate e-research, and the reflexive adaptation of cultural institutions.

With the recent changes that have occurred within the records environment, such as the problems of electronic records and increased demands for the societal accountability of the profession, archivists have had to rethink many of the principles that guide their activities. In other words, this concerns the connections between archival practice and archival theory, the latter of which has recently become a valid area of inquiry within professional discourse. Starting with the early professional literature contesting the need for archival theory and its necessary connection to archival practice, this section will address one ideology within clear roots in archivistics, that of Positivism. We will see that its â naturalizationâ (a process important to the concretization of ideology) was challenged through early literature on the subject. The threat to such deeply entrenched ideology was viewed within the profession either as a much-needed change or as a threat to the role of the archivist. Ultimately, the problematization of this ideology will inform the other two areas of analysis within this paper: the examination of â archival truthâ and the problems of representation within archives.

The purpose of this study was to investigate staff attitudes to access and outreach in the three provincial and two of the university-based private archives of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. The position with regard to physical, legal and bibliographic access, including reference services and user education, was explored through visiting the five archives and discussing the situation with archives staff, using the "Checklist for a visit to an archives repository" as the first survey instrument. A survey was then conducted among the 45 staff members, using the second survey instrument: "Survey of archives in KwaZulu-Natal: staff questionnaire", in order to find out if archives inKZN hold outreach activities to publicise themselves and promote their use, and if so, which activities are held, and what attitudes staff hold with regard to these activities. To provide the necessary background information, a literature review was done. The archival situation was looked at from all aspects, starting with a brief overview ofthe history, development and usage ofarchives in the Western World, Africa and South Africa and focussing on the current policy and situation in KZN. Background information was also given on the issues of reference services, public programming and outreach in archives generally and in South Africa in particular. The results of the checklist and questionnaire were then analysed, and revealed difficulties with physical and bibliographic or intellectual access, a lack of user education, and deficiencies in staff qualifications and training. It was found that four out of five archives had held outreach activities, and that there was a growing awareness ofthe need to publicise archives. Activities preferred by staff and user differed from archive to archive. Staff needed to be aware ofwhich type of activity would appeal to each different sector ofthe public. Staff attitudes varied on such topics as best ways ofencouraging users into the archives, factors causing archives not to encourage new users, and factors causing lack of interest of potential users. It was found that there was a dearth of public relations training both in degrees and diplomas, and of in-service training. Recommendations were then made for, among others, improvements to premises, reading room service and user education; upgrading of archives qualifications; provision of in-service training and outreach workshops, based on the findings of the study. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

This thesis explores the subjects of professionalism and ethics as they relate to archivists and seeks to assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of the ethical codes adopted by two national archival associations in North America. The archival profession in North America is in its infancy compared to its status in Europe. Having been identified with serving scholarship and other "non-essential" pursuits, archivists have begun to involve themselves in more vital records management tasks involving access to information and privacy issues. As the archival profession strives to achieve greater public recognition and trust to better carry out these and other sensitive tasks, the need for a code of ethics has become more acute. Both the Society of American Archivists and the Association of Canadian Archivists have developed codes in the last few years in an attempt to set standards of conduct in the face of rising responsibilities. However, many of the elements have been borrowed from other codes and with the need to ensure that such codes will be observed by members and enforceable by sanction, it seems timely that some means be established for analyzing their effectiveness. This thesis attempts to establish the tools for analysis of archival codes of ethics. To this end, it examines professionalism and ethics and the relationship between them. It draws upon the literature on emergent professions, establishing some of the characteristics of recognized professions. It also draws upon the literature on professional ethics to determine how one might look at existing codes from an ethical perspective. It examines the nature of archives and archival work to identify ethical principles regarding archival material and its treatment. Ultimately, the elements of these foregoing discussions form the basis for analyzing archival codes of ethics. The thesis generally concludes that ethical codes must be placed in an ethical infrastructure which reinforces the values and principles embodied in a code of ethics. Moreover, a better understanding and consensus about the purpose or goals of the profession needs to be achieved and stated in the codes themselves. Greater attention needs to be paid to formulating basic principles which can be applied in unpredictable situations. Greater use of logical relationships between code components is also needed. Finally, to become truly useful, the North American codes need to be made more comprehensive and to this end, it is suggested that professional archival groups abandon their attempt to provide ethical guidance solely in encapsulated form.

The concept of systems accounts for the organization and patterns of order that characterize the natural world. Throughout the history of science, scientific activity has been based on this concept, either implicitly under a mechanistic approach or explicitly under an holistic systems approach. Contemporary science is now based on an holistic systems viewpoint that encompasses both the natural and social worlds as objects for study. Based on this context for the systems viewpoint, the thesis addresses archival constructs, arising spontaneously as a byproduct of societal activity, as instances of systems. This is an aspect of their nature that was recognized by traditional theorists, who devised the methodology that still fundamentally guides archival practice. However, the archival field has not yet recognized the applicability and utility of formal systems notions to the work of the archivist, specifically to the tasks of arrangement, description, and appraisal. The thesis argues that appropriate handling of archival constructs requires that they be treated as systems, that the concept of systems provides a necessary framework for archival theory, and that by adopting a systems viewpoint, the archival field may regain the status of a recognized profession and join with other fields of applied science that contribute to systems research.

Social science research is a form of inquiry which is useful in expanding the knowledge-base of a profession, but one which is not normally associated with the archival profession. The purpose of this study is to examine social science research as it applies to the Canadian archival profession in general, and to archivists who have graduated from the Master of Archival Studies (MAS) degree program, at the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia. This study examines the attitudes of the first cadre of graduates of a degree program in archival studies in Canada towards the various roles that social science research plays in the development of their discipline and practice. A reading of the literature in the archival field reveals that social science research methods are infrequently employed by the profession in Canada, although there have been frequent calls for their adoption. Archivists are more familiar with and employ more often theoretical (deductive) and historical methods than empirical (inductive) methods. The study employs the methodology of a survey questionnaire to discover the training and application of social science research methodology that these graduates have experienced during their formal education and during their careers. All the respondents had either completed the MAS program or the course work towards the degree in the period, 1981-1994, and were working in the field at the time of the study. The study revealed that respondents support a research dimension for the field, although their support was inclusive of other types of research more common to the archival studies (theoretical, historical, scholarly, and archival), and not specifically directed to scientific research. 33% of respondents expressed an interest in learning about research methods, while 39% said that they were somewhat interested. There was also a correlation between those respondents who had taken a course in research methods and their knowledge of and support for this type of research in the archival profession. Likewise, there was also evidence to support that respondents without the knowledge of research methods were as confident in their ability to conduct a research project or assist on a research team led by someone else, as were their colleagues who had taken the course. The qualitative data yields evidence of at least a few scientific research projects being conducted in the archival workplace, particularly user or reference surveys and conservation surveys. The study concludes that there is a role for both pre-appointment and continuing education programs to foster greater understanding and use of social science methods in all facets of the profession's research endeavours. Social science research methods are not only applicable to archival studies, they are beneficial and necessary to the development of the Canadian archival profession. The thesis recommends that archivists should have, at the very least, an appreciation of research methods and a discerning eye for what constitutes good research.

This thesis explores the significance of gender as an overlooked element of context in understanding the provenance of archival records. The relevance of gender to archival provenance is demonstrated through a case study analysis of the gendered contexts of record creation, use, and meaning. The analysis is grounded in an examination of the archival photographic and textual records of Mary Schäffer Warren, an amateur photographer, traveller, and explorer of the Canadian Rocky Mountains during the years 1888 and 1939. This thesis argues that gender is an important context in a record’s provenance providing nuanced understandings of socio-cultural relations and processes of record creation, use, and meaning. Gender as context further empowers the principle of provenance by more fully reflecting how and why records are created which accordingly allows archivists to appraise, acquire, and describe records in ways more sensitive to gender as a socio-cultural reality.