Toward More Honest Description<sup>1</sup>

Douglas, Jennifer

doi:10.17723/0360-9081.79.1.26

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…81 Jennifer Douglas recognized that the conventions of archival theory discourage archivists from preparing descriptions that deviate from the "traditional notions of archives as impartial and natural and of archivists as objective and neutral." 82 Her assessment was made in the context of writers' archives and focused on three different ways in which these fonds can be manipulated: first, by the creator of the archives; next, by the archivist; and finally, by other interested parties. 83 In the context of cartographic materials, this observation is also relevant; as the history of the CLI and CGIS demonstrates, the active parties behind the creation of these materials were using technologies designed to meet the parameters of processes perceived by government as modernization and development toward future prosperity.…”

Section: Colonialism Computerizedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonialism, Computerized

Castron¹

2022

Archivaria

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This article argues for the incorporation of a transdisciplinary approach to cartographic materials in archives, especially in relation to archival description and preservation. Delving into the theoretical foundations and developments in the fields of archival studies and cartography, it explores the creation of cartographic materials and focuses on their processing by archives (i.e., their appraisal, arrangement, description, and preservation and the means of making them available to archival researchers). The lag between theoretical developments and practical applications is illustrated through the creation and management of the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) and Canada Geographic Information System (CGIS) materials held by Library and Archives Canada. An analysis of the creation and ongoing management of these materials highlights the role of cartography and archives in the formation of Canada as a modern colonial state and in the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous Peoples.

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Section: Colonialism Computerizedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonialism, Computerized

Castron¹

2022

Archivaria

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“…Doing so would make clear that "the archives is a construction built by many hands and formed over time. " 38 Honest description would help more fully open male-centered collections, such as military collections, for researchers of women. Using the Pearce Civil War Collection as an example, such a practice would result in finding aids that are attuned to more than just the needs and interests of military scholars.…”

Section: Confronting Archival Silencementioning

confidence: 99%

The Timothy 0. Webster Papers and the Pearce Civil War Collection: Using Civil War Military Collections for Women's History

Holcomb

2018

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Working-class and rural white women and free and enslaved African American women left few material traces, making it difficult for scholars to document their experience of the Civil War. This three-part article uses the story of the Timothy O. Webster Papers, which is part of the Pearce Civil War Collection at Navarro College in Corsi-cana, Texas, to examine the possibilities and limitations of recovering women's experience of the war from military collections. The first part examines the practice of collecting Civil War documents, the history of the Pearce Civil War Collection, and the collection and preservation of the Webster letters. In the second part, I begin to reconstruct Harriet's story using letters from the Webster Papers. The final part returns to the archive to consider how archivists might aid scholars in recovering the story of Civil War-era women from military collections.

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“…While donor-provided information is likely to be included in finding aids in biographical sketches and scope and content elements, the telling of detailed stories about records is not accommodated in current descriptive standards and these stories are not often shared with users in other forms. 35 Often, stories about records are heard by archivists during the accession stage and may be recorded in some form in an accession record or file; these types of materials are not always -or even often -available to researchers 36 and new accession standards do not include fields that encourage the capture of detailed records stories. 37 The significance that interviewees accorded to donor stories suggests that these require more deliberate care and that archivists should look at developing ways of preserving them where they have consent to do so.…”

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confidence: 99%

On ‘Holding the Process’: Paying Attention to the Relations Side of Donor Relations

Douglas

2023

A&M

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This article reports on a series of interviews with archivists and recordkeepers conducted as part of a larger project exploring relationships between grief and recordkeeping. Though the interviews were not explicitly focused on donor relations, it emerged that the relationship between archivists and donors was a particularly emotionally charged one: interview participants described deep and complex relationships with donors, whom they often knew over a long period and through difficult or complicated times. Interview participants also reported feeling unprepared for this emotional work. This article responds to a perceived lack of attention paid to donor relations in archival theory and education by acknowledging the significance of donor stories, feelings and relationships. Aligned with the ever-growing emphasis in archival theory and praxis on person-centered approaches, the article suggests where such approaches are needed in relation to archival education and training, the collection and preservation of donor stories, relationship-building, and recognition of different kinds of archival labor.

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Toward More Honest Description¹

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Colonialism, Computerized

Colonialism, Computerized

The Timothy 0. Webster Papers and the Pearce Civil War Collection: Using Civil War Military Collections for Women's History

On ‘Holding the Process’: Paying Attention to the Relations Side of Donor Relations

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Toward More Honest Description1

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

Colonialism, Computerized

Colonialism, Computerized

The Timothy 0. Webster Papers and the Pearce Civil War Collection: Using Civil War Military Collections for Women's History

On ‘Holding the Process’: Paying Attention to the Relations Side of Donor Relations

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Toward More Honest Description¹