Community Archives: The Shaping of Memory

Community Archives: The Shaping of Memory

Collective memory

Community Archives is part of a series called Principles and Practices in Records Management and Archives. The series aims to augment the body of professional knowledge and understanding currently available. Each book in the series offers a detailed overview of a specific topic, in this case community archives. This book contains 14 essays, which offer an array of viewpoints from a variety of global contributors (academics, librarians, archivists, etc.) on the interrelationships between archives and communities. The contributors examine the ways in which records reveal community identity and collective memory. The book is split into five sections: case studies in community archives; community and non-traditional recordkeeping; record loss, destruction and recovery; online communities; and, practical suggestions for building a community archive. Numerous themes are examined: the human need for community, recording making, the construction of communities, community identity, empowerment of marginal communities, social justice, and reinforcement of memory. It assesses the recent advances in technology that can contribute to the creation of new virtual communities. The book also discusses the role of archivists in supporting communities and their relationship to community records because the contributors contend that the archivist has a significant role to play in the process of building communities archives.

Bastian, Jeannette

Alexande, Ben

Facet

2009

Polk, Victoria

Book

ISBN: 1856046397

Bastian, Jeannette Allis., and Ben Alexander. Community Archives: The Shaping of Memory. London: Facet, 2009. Print.