ABSTRACT

Big Data is becoming a key part of transactions and decision-making processes, and archivists are increasingly called to intervene in its management. This article examines the digital preservation needs of government Big Data from the perspective of archival theory. While Big Data presents unique challenges, particularly in the areas of record capture, access, and privacy, it is nonetheless becoming a key component of modern government recordkeeping. Managing both the technical and ethical aspects of Big Data is essential, with each requiring specific consideration. Taking a systems-level view of Big Data by attempting to capture instances of bounded variability may be one path forward, and technical tools and systems can successfully manage such large volumes of information. However, ultimately, as with all digital preservation initiatives, proper documentation is key. Creating appropriate metadata to capture the identity, technical characteristics, and management actions for Big Data must include the multiprovenancial origins of such data sets. More broadly, Big Data reminds archivists of their larger responsibilities. Recognizing the power dynamics in Big Data requires an interrogation and documentation of the data themselves, as well as of the ways in which governments and corporations use them. Digital preservation must balance technical knowledge with critical perspectives to truly capture the context of Big Data and the records it produces.

ABSTRACT

Geographical renaming as a methodology to deconstruct power shifts in South Africa allows for inclusion of silenced and marginalized voices from the country's recent past. This article examines the symbolic power of the state, as well as of the processes of boundary-making under the lens of place renaming with a focus on the province of Gauteng. The article introduces the phrase “living archive” to unpack South Africa's changing perceptions of who is oppressor and who is oppressed in the ongoing transition to democratic governance. The article employs the renaming of sites as a metanarrative to reveal a nuanced picture of the political shifts in power. Through the selection of particular facts as usable past, the article argues, the government seeks to identify who is worthy of the role of hero or victim in post-apartheid South Africa.

ABSTRACT

What happens when a researcher arrives at an archives, only to find that the materials requested are not in the repository? This article argues that when applying Eliot Eisner's concept of the null curriculum (what is missing is just as important as what is present), the absence of materials is just as significant to a researcher as the contents of present materials. To accomplish this, it uses a case from a larger study of General Education Board (GEB) funding in the US West comparing the holdings of the Rockefeller Archive with those in the state of Texas. Ultimately, archivists and researchers should do null history to recognize that rather than setting limitations on the project, a lack of evidence instead can be used to expand the project by applying the principles of the null curriculum. This article is not intended to be an interrogation of the archives themselves, but another lens through which the researcher can view (and an archivist can prompt) both the holdings and lack of holdings. The article is not meant to argue the semantics around the absence of the phrase “null curriculum” from the fields of history or archives; instead, it is meant to open the door to conversations about silences and the power of the archive.

EDITOR

Christopher (Cal) Lee (2018–2020), University of North Carolina
Sumayya Ahmed (2019–2023), University College London Qatar
Adriana P. Cuervo (2016–2020), Rutgers University
Caroline Daniels (2017–2021), University of Louisville
Benjamin Goldman (2019–2023), Pennsylvania State University
Katharina Hering (2019–2023), German Historical Institute

Reviews Editor

Bethany Anderson (2015–2021), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Shadrack Katuu (2019–2022), United Nations Mission in South Sudan
Josh Schneider (2016–2020), Stanford University
Heather Soyka (2016–2020), Kent State University
Karen Trivette (2016–2020), Fashion Institute of Technology
Alison Trulock (2017–2021), U.S. House of Representatives

GENERAL INFORMATION

American Archivist

Archival Evolution

Big Questions: Digital Preservation of Big Data in Government

ABSTRACT

Reading Geographical Names as Text: Refiguring the “Living Archive” in Postcolonial South Africa

ABSTRACT

What Do You Mean It's Not There? Doing Null History

ABSTRACT

Privacy and Access in the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Records

ABSTRACT

Maintaining Records in Context: A Historical Exploration of the Theory and Practice of Archival Classification and Arrangement

ABSTRACT

Curating Digital Surrogates in a Museum Archives: The Historic Boards Collection at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University

ABSTRACT

Partnering Preservation with Sustainability

ABSTRACT

We Are All Connected

Review Essay: What We Talk about When We Talk about Archiving the Web

Teoria i praktyka archiwistyki USA

The Monumental Challenge of Preservation: The Past in a Volatile World

Reappraisal and Deaccessioning in Archives and Special Collections

Archives

Leading and Managing Archives and Manuscripts Programs

Archive für Literatur. Der Nachlass und seine Ordnungen

Flood in Florence, 1966: A Fifty-Year Retrospective

Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts

The Digital Archives Handbook: A Guide to Creation, Management, and Preservation

Front Matter

GENERAL INFORMATION

A Green New Deal for Archives

Archeion, Volumes 122–124

Front Matter

The Art of Ectoplasm: Encounters with Winnipeg's Ghost Photographs

Alone in the Stacks: Succeeding as a Solo Archivist

Front Matter (Front Cover, Masthead, Table of Contents, From the Editor)

MicroMARC:amc: A Case Study in the Development of an Automated System

Front Matter (Front Cover, Masthead, Table of Contents, From the Editor)

Professional Reading

Reviews