Reading and Publishing within the Archives Community: A Survey

This article reports on a survey of professional reading and publication practices within the archival community and explores the extent to which community members engage with archival literature. Participants were asked to respond to a series of questions on archives-related reading habits and their experience and preferences regarding publishing. Analysis of their responses considers the impact on the profession of archival journals, as well as of emerging forms of professional discourse such as blogs. This article also examines the impact of larger changes in academic publishing, such as electronic journals, open-access publishing, and copyright agreements. While this study suggests that the archival community is subject to these larger trends, it also notes areas in which community members vary from those in related disciplines.