Archives Flashcards
1
Q
How can we label archivists?
A
Truth-tellers
2
Q
What did historians/archivists use to stress was most important?
A
Having a full historical record
3
Q
What did the main challenge use to be for historians?
A
To collect and preserve as many historically significant documents as possible?
4
Q
What was historians’ role in all this?
A
To examine, fill gaps and correct
5
Q
Whose study focuses on local archives?
A
Proctor’s
6
Q
Who does he argue need to help local archivists?
A
The client group
7
Q
List some reasons why archives have been created in the past
A
To meet legal requirements, to protect rights, to remove rights, to entertain, to create cohesion, to create a communal memory
8
Q
What was/is the most common role?
A
A combination of record-keeping and access
9
Q
What is a key role for archivists?
A
To manage information from the point of creation to the point of access
10
Q
Who was a leading archivist in the past?
A
Jenkinson
11
Q
What did Jenkinson stress?
A
Preservation as priority
12
Q
What is a quote from Jenkinson of an archivist’s task?
A
Managing, collecting, preserving and enabling access to information in whatever shape and form the time demands
13
Q
What is the main of the ISA’s main archivist?
A
Lozowick
14
Q
What highlights newly digitised material from the ISA?
A
English language blog
15
Q
What is the main focus of archival administration?
A
Preservation and care of unique records of actions
16
Q
What is the term for respecting the arrangement of sources?
A
Respect des fonds
17
Q
On what is the study of history based?
A
One generation’s ability to understand events, motives, environments of previous generations through the research of information collected or left behind
18
Q
What is the literal definition of an archive?
A
In a literal sense it refers to both the body of documentation and the repository housing it
19
Q
What is the metaphorical definition of an archive?
A
Oppressive discursive system enforcing official versions of history. Also a liberating embodiment of alternative and subjective forms of lived experience.
20
Q
Who argues that an archive includes people’s memories?
A
Burton
21
Q
What is the quote by Burton of what an archive entails?
A
Any mode or site wherein knowledge is gathered together
22
Q
What three types of components does an archive have, exerting a subtle/insidious influence on what constitutes an acceptable / unacceptable form of inquiry?
A
Physical, organisational and human
23
Q
List some things which can have a subtle influence on what constitutes an acceptable / unacceptable form of inquiry?
A
Architecture, finding aids, methods of arrangement, descriptions, referencing service
24
Q
How does Brown define an archive?
A
Repository, place or space in which materials of historical interest or social significance are stored and ordered
25
How can a national archive be defined?
The storing and ordering place of the collective memory of that nation or peoples
26
What was the impact of the rise of the state?
Gave rise to modern archives, libraries, museums as places of secular, national memory
27
What was the role of the archive with the rise of the state?
To help store and create imagined communities
28
What are archives, if not just guardians of memory?
Manufacturers of memory
29
What have structuralists shown?
That a logical, categorical order easily becomes a social or moral hierarchy
30
What are examples of subtle hierarchies in archives?
Culture-nature, right-left, black-white
31
What do archivists argue about the classifications of materials?
That classifications emerge from the inherent order of the material
32
How does Stoler see archives?
Archives as places of knowledge production, monuments of state and sites of state ethnography
33
Who has stressed the impact of outward forms of paper records, as influencing the researcher?
Craven
34
What sources are especially vulnerable?
Born digital sources
35
Why are 'born digital' sources vulnerable?
Their survival is determined by their current use and usefulness for creations, rather than any potential archival value
36
What has Proctor predicted?
The end of local history
37
Why are local materials more vulnerable?
The archive sector at a local level is too small to sustain separate preservation strategies
38
What two things challenge the notion of the longevity and permanence of archives?
Nature and multiplicity of blogs and web communication
39
What does the explosion of sources require?
A revolution in preservation tactics
40
What now outdated view did Jenkinson hold?
That archives are not collected, but come together and reach their final arrangements by a natural process
41
What percentage of the British Library's material is digitised?
1%
42
What is increasing faster than archival resources?
Records increasing in quantity and complexity
43
What is the result of archives being dependent on external funding?
Must stay attuned to the expectations of customers and patrons
44
Who argued that learning to use a database and scan materials etc. takes up time that could be used to write?
Andersen
45
Who argued that "it is quite clear that historians will have to grapple with abundance, not scarcity?
Cohen
46
What was the impact of the linguistic turn?
Texts can no longer be read as confident guides to the past. Undermines confidence in the scientific method.
47
What is a key quote to reflect the linguistic turn?
All representations of the past are constructed in the present
48
What are the implications of technological innovations, according to Ridener?
They have created an expectation of democratic-record keeping
49
What was the impact of the creation of the typewriter?
The ability to quickly create multiple copies. Problems of duplication and authentication
50
What are the problems with data-migration?
It is expensive and time-consuming
51
What is the equivalent of data-migration?
Equivalent of photocopying all books in a library every five years
52
Who is a leading figure in digital archiving?
Hedstrom
53
What does Hedstrom argue digital archivists must do?
Develop solutions that are appropriate, effective, affordable and acceptable
54
What did Marshal argue in 1964?
The medium is the message
55
Who argues that the medium can impact the interpretation and message?
McLuhan
56
What company is the main authority on digital media?
NIST
57
What is the range in lifespan of digital media?
20-200 years
58
What can ruin a CD or DVD?
A stray static charge or magnetic field
59
50% of what are now unreadable?
Hansard links
60
Who argues that we are living in the midst of a digital dark age?
Kuny
61
What makes it difficult to concentrate on a page?
When the position of words are constantly changing
62
Who stresses the loss of experience and impact on learning on digital sources?
Towheed
63
What three problems does Towheed highlight with digitisation?
Scanning Chinese characters, optical character recognition, data download restrictions
64
What electronic database is not aimed at browsing?
British Newspapers 1800-1900
65
What kind of newspapers are difficult to digitise?
Broadsheets
66
What is becoming more remote and hard to reconstruct?
The experience of casual browsing
67
Who declared that America was in danger of losing its memory in 1985?
Committee on Records of Government
68
What aspects are there to making an online database / what do you need digital tools for?
To receive, process and store submissions
69
What technical challenges are there to making an online database?
Installing and configuring appropriate software
70
What is a problem with digital material beyond data corruption?
All digital material needs a special set of eyes, unique hardware, accompanying operating system and application software
71
What has meant that webpages from the 1990s might be unreadable?
Several versions of HTML
72
What does Towheed argue there is a loss of familiarity with?
Size, shape, form, smell, texture
73
What is a problem with mass digitisation?
Presents an unreflective level-playing field
74
Why are digital materials harder to authenticate?
There is no clear notion of an original
75
Who sees the internet as dangerous?
Himmelfarb
76
How many books is Google planning to digitise?
15 million
77
What area of research is already dominated by electronic books?
Physical sciences
78
What are practical problems with physical archives?
Shelf space is expensive, stacks must be kept at the right temperature and humidity, and must be lit, cleaned, inspected and insured
79
What percentage of records are permanently accessioned by the National Archives?
2%
80
After how many years are records reviewed at TNA?
5 years
81
What books could be revolutionary in the future?
Multi-layered books
82
What is a crucial benefit for historians, with the increased amount of digital material?
It allows for longer-term engagement and closer reading
83
Digitisation marks the end of...
The tyranny of shelf space
84
Who argues that digitisation allows you to be more adventurous with research?
Towheed
85
What is a good summary of what is happening in the archive sector (Towheed)?
Change, but not revolution surrounds us
86
How does Kahle view the internet?
As the people's medium
87
Who argues that the quality of web-based historical resources is surprisingly good and improving?
Rosenzweig
88
How does the British Library justify the use of digitisation?
It opens up new areas of research
89
Who argues that colonial archives are technologies that bolstered the production of states?
Stoler
90
What did colonial publishing houses do?
Made sure that documents were selectively duplicated, disseminated and destroyed
91
What does Guha argue about colonial documents?
Erased the facts of subjugation
92
How do colonial archives distort past realities?
Petty crime becomes political subversion
93
Who has studied French archives in Algeria?
Colonna
94
What did French archives in Algeria do to those who worked in government?
Penalised those with too much or insufficient knowledge
95
Who helps the ISA with large-scanning scanning of holdings?
Heritage Division of the Prime Minister's office
96
Who helped the ISA digitise maps and photos?
Department of Judaism, Harvard
97
Who helped the Zionist archives?
Holocaust Museum, Washington
98
What is the slogan used by Lozowick?
"Help us preserve the national memory of the Jewish people"
99
What letter did the ISA scan this year on 5th May?
Truman's letter
100
Who argued that "who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present controls the past"?
Orwell
101
With what motive can archives be reshaped?
To enshrine particular historical narratives
102
What did McCormick describe archives as?
Colonial weapons of oppression
103
What were seized in 1974?
Nixon White House tapes
104
What does the Vatican possess?
The finest collection of sexually explicit art
105
What is an example of the politics of access?
Arafat's visit to the American Holocaust Museum
106
Who argues that there are imposed silences of the Haitian Revolution?
Trouillot
107
How does Foucault view archives?
Not as an institution, but the law of what can be said
108
What did Derrida say about archives and political power?
There is no political power without control of the archive
109
How does Stoler see archives constructing moral narratives?
By ordering evidence, proof, testimonies and witnesses
110
How does Proctor see the difficulties of over-abundance being countered?
With the increased sophistication of search engines and portals
111
Who does Craven see as being far ahead of archives?
Museum profession
112
What should we focus on to help preservation?
Short-term preservation horizons
113
What well-known solutions are there for preserving digital materials?
Frequent backups in multiple locations, regular data-transferring
114
What is used by the British Library to simulate a real reading experience?
Turning Pages TM
115
What reflects backward looking solutions to the problems of digitisation?
Translating digital information into something more familiar and reassuring. To preserve original equipment
116
How is the ISA trying to work out what is most important to preserve?
Asking the public what to prioritise
117
How many km of records are kept by the ISA?
40 km
118
What is a big task facing the ISA? What will this amount to?
Must make a list of each government position and function. 100 000
119
What has hindered the preservation of digital material in Israel?
No procedure for archiving digital documentation
120
What company claims to "own the Eighteenth Century"?
Thomson Corporation
121
How many pages of text and titles does the Thompson Corporation have in its database?
33 million papers, 150 000 titles
122
What database is the equivalent of an assistant professor's annual salary?
ProQuest historical newspapers
123
What is the impact of the high cost of subscribing to electronic databases?
In danger of reproducing the information divide
124
By what doctrine are books etc. commanded?
First sale doctrine
125
How does the legal system upholding books contrast with that of digital goods?
Digital goods are licensed, not sold
126
Why have publishers not assumed preservation responsibility?
No obvious profit to be made
127
What is on the NY Times' website?
Robot exclusion file
128
When did the Internet Archive begin archiving?
1996
129
What French Revolution decree links to archives?
Article 37 of Messidor Decree. The principle of accessibility to public records
130
How many emails were sent daily in 2005?
35 billion
131
Who argues that e-technology should have addressed the problems posed by emails as it evolved?
Friedberg
132
What basic problem undermines emails as a future source?
Hard-drive space on mail servers means mailboxes must be routinely cleared
133
What is a main problem with printing emails?
Breaks crucial links between related messages and attachments
134
What can radically alter a message's meaning?
Removing a subject heading
135
How many emails did the Clinton admin send each year?
6 million
136
When were the PLO's archives destroyed?
1982 Lebanon invasion
137
Who designed the building of the CZA in 1987?
Moshe Zahti
138
What else was created by the architect who designed the CZA building?
Temple of Memory at the Holocaust Memorial, Moscow
139
When did the ISA replace its "magic software"?
2007
140
With what did the ISA replace its "magic software"?
New Technologies' Documentum
141
What does Lozowick see the purpose of archives as being?
Civic ends
142
What quote from Lozowick exemplifies his view of an archives' mission?
The mission of the archive is to transfer documentation of the government to the possession of the governed
143
What technologies are used by Yad Vashem?
Multilingual search tool and Google maps
144
What major historical texts have now been digitised?
Dead Sea Scrolls, Codex Sinaticus
145
What archive was created by Steven Spielberg and where is it?
Jewish Film Archive. Mount Scopus
146
What kind of material is held at Yad Vashem and the Central Archives for the History of the Jewish people?
Microfilm
147
What new app was released by the ISA's twitter?
Documenting Camp David Accord on the 35th anniversary
148
What event was talked about by the ISA's twitter, showing its political nature/role?
MV Struma 1942
149
What is kept secret by the ISA?
Location of classified information
150
What is kept in a thick, leather book and leather-embossed? What is Lozowick's justification for this?
Israel-Egypt Peace Agreement. "It is a very special document"
151
What object is kept by the ISA?
Gun used to shoot PM Rabin
152
At what four stages does Trouillot see silencing happening?
Fact creation, fact assembly, fact retrieval, moment of retrospective significance
153
What must be remembered about archival documents?
They are never reality in themselves
154
How many books had been scanned by the Internet Archives by 1 November 2009?
821786
155
What is the equivalent of the number of records created by the US Federal Government each year?
124 years of records from Washington-Wilson
156
What legislation was introduced in 2004 in Britain?
Central government bodies had to create a manage electronic records
157
What must electronic record management systems have now in Britain?
Archival functionality
158
What does "archive functionality" mean?
The ability to recognise and manage potential archival value
159
What determined that government bodies must transfer records of archival value to TNA?
Public Records Act
160
What harvests a selection of government websites at regular intervals?
UK Government Web Archive
161
To what kind of records does the PRA relate to?
Legal, court, prison, health and military records
162
What requirements do not extend to local government records?
"Modernising government" requirements
163
What is there no fixed link between? (Think Proctor)
Between local authority departments and local record offices
164
How can TNA be described?
In house repository
165
What are local record offices technically?
Collecting repositories
166
What percentage of local, electronic records are accessioned in England?
94%
167
What enforced the concept of the public's "right of access"?
2000 Freedom of Information act
168
What is the impact of Uzbekistan's archives been separated into 'historical' and 'revolutionary' sections?
Deters efforts to locate continuities
169
When did Netanyahu extend classification by 20 years?
2010
170
What was Netanyahu accused of doing by extending Israel's classification period?
Avoiding less than heroic chapters
171
How did Goldstein describe the closure of Israel's archives by 20 years?
Against the spirit of an open society
172
What documents are off-limits in Israeli archives?
Mossad, Shin Bet, nuclear energy
173
How many electronic downloads were there from TNA in 2006-07?
66 million
174
What percentage of historians use digital or electronic reproductions?
21%
175
What percentage of historians least liked using electronic reproductions?
6%
176
How many records are digitised by the CZA?
2876000
177
How many documents, photos, maps, posters are scanned by the CZA?
12 million
178
What does Lozowick deny his job as being?
Damage control
179
Who visited the ISA recently?
John Kerry
180
What is the name of the Palestinian attempting to create a Palestinian Library of Congress?
Sami Batrawi
181
How many books did Sami Batrawi's father leave him?
15000
182
On what topic would Batrawi's project be useful?
Palestinian National Heritage
183
What is Batrawi's role in the PA?
Director General of Intellectual Property Unit of Ministry of Culture
184
How many Palestinians have a graduate degree in library science?
Less than 12
185
For how many years has Batrawi tried to create a Library of Congress, hindered by government bureaucracy?
Over two years
186
What does the PA lack?
A uniform copyright law
187
How many volumes of 'abandoned property' from Palestinians are in Israel's National Library?
30 000
188
What do some Palestinians fear might happen if all their records are in one place?
That Israel will destroy it
