Dear colleagues,
I was pleasantly surprised to find the Symposium program far better than I feared and must say it looks genuinely interesting. (People may know I expressed dismay, not to say anger, about the lack of involvement of professional archivists in putting the program together while noting the oversight of the Council.
Notwithstanding its interest, I retain my concern that this is a significant departure from past practice in that it is an interesting gathering with more in common with events such as writers’ festivals than an ASA conference aimed at professional development, discussion and shared experience.
I have no objection to non-archivists joining our discussions and have in fact argued for this welcome development. However there are relatively few ASA members presenting, and the other people selected to present emphasise the collecting institutional aspect of “archives” at the expense of the recordkeeping (archival) mission. Perhaps I should not be surprised by this given that the archival mission statement seems to have disappeared from the ASA website and the statements about archivists seem to emphasise institutional archives, not recordkeeping. Perhaps this also explains a discernable sentiment in the Symposium program of commonality of interest between museums, libraries and archives.
If this is where the Council thinks that archives and archival institutions are or should be, going, then this is a distinct debate which should be articulated plainly. I am concerned because the Australian practice of, and scientific discourse about, archives has always emphasised the responsibility of archivists/recordkeepers for creation and control of records, and has long linked the mission with accountability of organisations. Hence the Frank Upward records continuum thesis and Australian archival engagement with current records and electronic recordkeeping.
It is perfectly reasonable for a one day event to select a particular theme, but I wonder about the future direction of the ASA if this is an indicator of preference or interest.
I will be interested to hear others’ responses to the program.
Anne Picot
Replies
I echo Anne's interest in the material for the Symposium and regret I won't be able to be there. I would also have to agree with her comment about the movement in thinking away from us as recordkeepers to keepers of the 'iconic'. I guess I've been seeing a little of that first hand now that the Archives Office of Tasmania has returned to the fold of the Tasmanian State Library. Though, perhaps in an ironic twist (for those unaware) libraries in Tasmania have now been renamed LINCs, and no that's not an acronym.
regards
David Bloomfield