I dream of a new age of curiosity. We have the technical means for it; the desire is there; the things to be known are infinite; the people who can employ themselves at this task exist. Why do we suffer? From too little: from channels that are too narrow, skimpy, quasi-monopolistic, insufficient. There is no point in adopting a protectionist attitude, to prevent ‘bad’ information from invading and suffocating the ‘good’. Rather, we must multiply the paths and the possibility of comings and goings.
Michel Foucault, 'The Masked Philosopher', in L.D. Kritzman (ed.) Michael Foucault: Politics, Philosophy, Culture, Interviews and Other Writings 1977-1984. London: Routledge, 1988, pp. 198-99
The seemingly infinite potential of digital technologies to acquire, manage, preserve, and disseminate information resources of cultural value has been well recognised by many cultural institutions globally. For instance, the National Library of Australia has partnered photosharing sites such as Flickr to enable open access and tagging of their cultural resources. The Library of Congress has followed suit, partnering Flickr since 2008 to make archived collections of newspapers and photos available for access and use by anyone that goes to Flickr for images (Springer et al, 2008). In addition to allowing licensed use of the materials, one of the goals of the online collection is to also facilitate the creation of new memories and annotations – via tags, notes, and comments – to the materials. These annotations serve as collective memories and provide both symbolic and semantic meanings to the materials. There are other new media experimentations, such as wearable lifelogging devices, where individuals attempt to capture their lives through wearable computers fitted with cameras.
Such explorations of new media demonstrate the democratic potential of contemporary archives, perhaps reflective of the ‘new age of curiousity’ referred to by Foucault (as quoted above). New forms of memories are constructed, characterised by cooperative remembrance and intentional transformations[1] as the act of remembering and shaping collective memories are integrated as part of everyday practices. As Schwartz and Cook (Archives, Records and Power: The Making of Modern Memory. Archival Science, 2, 1-19, 2002) pointed out, there is power in archives as it shapes what is remembered about the past as well as what becomes of significance in the present and the future. The shift of power from institutions to individuals underlies the power of contemporary archives, in persuading and mobilising, creating awareness and exerting influence on various social actors and political powers in society. Specifically, this special issue is interested in papers addressing any of the following through cases and user studies of new types of archives enabled or facilitated by new media:
- Attributes and the shaping of memories and records demonstrating shifts in power towards individuals
- Impacts on social actors and institutions, including implications for modernity
- Practical and theoretical strategies in the governance of such contemporary archives
The average length of full papers should be around 5000 words. We also welcome short contributions, of 3000 words or less, which could focus on emerging special topics on new media archives. All papers should be prepared using the submission guidelines of Archives and Manuscripts here: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=raam20&page=instructions#.Uk3UElNMedw
Submissions should be made through the Archives and Manuscripts portal at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/raam.
All enquiries about the special issue theme should be directed to guest editor Natalie Pang at nlspang@ntu.edu.sg by 30 November 2013.
Any general enquiries in relation to the journal should be directed to the General Editor, Sebastian Gurciullo at journaleditor@archivists.org.au.
Deadline for submissions is 30 November 2013. The articles chosen for publication will appear as the March 2014 issue of Archives and Manuscripts.
[1] Intensional transformations, one of the consequences of modernity proposed by Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1990, conceive of everyday practices as opportunities for daily reflections and renewal. In this context, the participation in and reading of contemporary archives present such opportunities.
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