HISTORY 3W03 Lecture 2: Intro to Archival Literacy Part I
12 Dec 2020
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Document Summary
What are archives: not an entirely straightforward answer, archive can refer to two interrelated but distinct concepts, 1. A particular type of institution where original source material is acquired and kept safe; a place where a person may go to access these kinds of materials. Usually kept in a highly controlled environment called a reading room . Archival institutions have a twofold mission: 1. The present: work to enhance society"s collective understanding of materials held by the archive, cataloguing, making sources available to use, answering the questions of users, 2. The future: preservation and control of materials the archive is responsible for, keeping them safe from neglect or overuse, responsible for ensuring materials survive along with the context necessary to make sense of them for future generations, 2. A gradual accumulation of historical records which were generated, set aside or retained with a view to future use.
