Community Archives: The Shaping of Memory

Citation

Freeman, M. (2011), "Community Archives: The Shaping of Memory", New Library World, Vol. 112 No. 1/2, pp. 98-99. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801111100526

It is interesting to note how the sciences of records management and associated archive work have developed so strongly over the years. One might have imagined that the web and new technology would have weakened records management and archive work, but that does not appear to be the case. This well written book from Facet Publishing offers a range of international perspectives on archives and communities of many varieties: aboriginal, victims, gay, refugee and so on. These 14 essays cover a wide spectrum from a wide and well‐chosen range of authoritative writers.

The two editors introduce the topic well, emphasizing the range and applications of archives in communities, such as oral history, records generation and exploitation and specialist archives. David Mander presents a thoughtful account on the history and development of “community” within the UK and the task of locating, recording and utilising the numerous small and often independent specialist archive collections which lie scattered throughout the nation. Glen Kelly writes insightfully of the records, mainly oral and traditional, of aboriginal society in Australia and the “anthropology” of these records and legal implications in such areas as land claims and tenure. There are interesting essays on the historical: records of the International Courts and Tribunals, covering such areas as the former Yugoslavia, Truth Commission records in Chile, the problem of “memory” and of the use of archives for genocide and Holocaust research. New formats such as web logs and video in archive work are dealt with fairly well and it is clear that these are sectors of growth and divergence.

The book, with its strong international flavour, will be of interest to archivists and record managers and also to historians, sociologists and community workers.