#the american archivist

[archivyrep]

Archivists on the Issues: Sophisticated Bureaucracies, Archives, and Fictional Depictions [part 1]

Archivists on the Issues is a forum for archivists to discuss the issues we are facing today. Today’s post is by Burkely Hermann (me), Metadata Librarian for National Security Archive and current I&A Blog Coordinator. There are spoilers for each of the books, animated series, films, and other media he will be discussing. It was originally published on the Issues and Advocacy blog on Jan. 3, 2023. It was also published on my Wading Through the Cultural Stacks blog on Feb. 13, 2023.

This organizational chart of the National Archives and Records Administration is an example of an archival bureaucracy

Large government, corporate, and private archives are bureaucratic. Even though the so-called Information Revolution threatened to upend existing practices within archival bureaucracies, and structures of these institutions, new records management strategies developed, in Europe and U.S., which are as hierarchical as previous methods. [1] Bureaucracy remains firmly entrenched, in language, practices, and strategies of collecting institutions, whether the National Archives or Library of Congress. In this post, I'll discuss the role of bureaucracies in archival institutions and connect my findings to fictional depictions.

Recordkeeping often lends itself to bureaucracy, whether in non-profit organizations, corporations, or governments. Sometimes practices change and reinforce the bureaucracy of these institutions. This can include discouraging creation of "rich narrative reports", while supporting archival classification and arrangement as an "infrastructural tool". Furthermore, some bureaucracies are repressive, affecting restitution of captured wartime records. [2]

Unsurprisingly, culture of documentation has changed from being transactional to bureaucratic as organizationally sophisticated bureaucracies first developed in the 19th century. Scholar Francis Blouin called for new principles about diplomatics, referring to study of form, creation, and transmission of records, and their relation to facts within them, and their creators, to order to "identify, evaluate, and communicate their nature and authenticity." [3] Blouin argued that bureaucratic culture produces transactional and literary records, systematic recordkeeping, analytic records, and records created in respect to "sovereignty of people in democratic societies". In Blouin's view, in such societies, public accountability necessitates "particular forms and genres of recordkeeping." [4]

Other scholars have noted growing complexity, changing nature, and interrelatedness of government bureaucracies. Recently there has been a tendency to "free up" bureaucracy while encouraging entrepreneurship and risk-taking. The latter undermines archival missions. [5] Modern bureaucracies have defined existing file systems, even as archivists and historians are presented with many challenges. This includes influence on archival theory, especially by Weberian bureaucratic thinking, and controlling access to records. This was even the case in Eastern Europe, with political shifts in latter years of the Cold War caused archival access procedures to change. [6]

Modern bureaucracies have produced a "sheer mass of records". In the past, this caused archivists to use sampling in order to determine "research potential" of records and appraise them. Even so, archivists continued to experience frustrations when "dealing with" bureaucracy, while being a part of complex bureaucratic structures, which can include competing groups. [7] More recently, there has been discussion of how various technologies can change bureaucratic processes, including in the United Nations and Vatican. Other scholars have asked whether the role of archives in the life-cycle of government records is a way of "holding democratic governments accountable". The latter is the case in Germany, which has a strict division between records management and archival functions, with records remaining in custody of government bureaucracies. [8]

Fictional depictions of bureaucracies reflect some of these realities. One of the best known examples are the Vogans in Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, who destroy Earth because the planet is in the way of a hyperspace freeway. They are the embodiment of bureaucrats. The Vogans are inefficient, with absurdly lengthy official processes, and their continued efforts to thwart "any real progress in the galaxy." Adams' makes clear a metaphor: the house of protagonist Arthur Dent will be destroyed by an uncaring (and extremist) bureaucracy, just as the Vogans are doing to the planet. [9] Archives are not directly shown, but characters in the 2005 film view a restricted archival record from the Magrathean Public Archive. The record cuts off before revealing the name of a supercomputer, with a message stating that information has been deleted, as I noted in my post on the Issues & Advocacy blog back in December.

© 2022-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Continued in part 2

Notes

[1] Bearman, David. “Diplomatics, Weberian Bureaucracy, and the Management of Electronic Records in Europe and America.” The American Archivist 55, no. 1 (1992): 169–70, 173–76, 180.

[2] Wosh, Peter. "Bibles, Benevolence, and Bureaucracy: The Changing Nature of Nineteenth Century Religious Records." The American Archivist 52, no. 2 (1989): 166-167, 169, 172, 175, 178; Montgomery, Bruce. "Saddam Hussein's Records of Atrocity: Seizure, Removal, and Restitution." The American Archivist, 75, no. 2 (2012): 326, 331, 333, 357.

[3] Blouin, Francis. "A Framework for a Consideration of Diplomatics in the Electronic Environment." The American Archivist 59, no. 4 (1996): 466-467, 471, 477-478.

[4] Ibid, 476.

[5] Wilson, Ian. "Reflections On Archival Strategies." The American Archivist 58, no. 4 (1995): 414, 416-417, 421, 423-424.

[6] Elliott, Clark. "Science at Harvard University, 1846--47: A Case Study of the Character and Functions of Written Documents." The American Archivist 57, no. 3 (1994): 448-450, 460; Menne-Haritz. "Appraisal or Documentation: Can We Appraise Archives by Selecting Content?" The American Archivist 57, no. 3 (1994): 528, 532-533; Ress, Imre. "The Effects of Democratization on Archival Administration and Use in Eastern Middle Europe." The American Archivist 55, no. 1 (1992): 86, 90-91.

[7] Kepley, David. "Sampling in Archives: A Review." The American Archivist 47, no. 3 (1984): 237-238; Lutzker, Michael. "Max Weber and the Analysis of Modern Bureaucratic Organization: Notes Toward a Theory of Appraisal." The American Archivist 45, no. 2 (1982): 120-122, 124, 126, 130.

[8]Taylor, Hugh. "'My Very Act and Deed': Some Reflections on the Role of Textual Records in the Conduct of Affairs." The American Archivist 51, no. 4 (1988): 456, 459-460, 464, 466; Zandt, Lauren. "A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace." The American Archivist 84, no. 1 (2021): 214-217; Blouin, Jr., Frank. "A Case for Bridging the Gap: The Significance of the Vatican Archives Project for International Archival Information Exchange." The American Archivist 55, no. 1 (1992): 184, 186-188; Hering, Katharina. "Zwölf Wege ins Archiv. Umrisse einer offenen und praktischen Archivwissenschaft." The American Archivist 84, no. 1 (2021): 212-213.

[9] Fatima, Zahra. "Humor, Satire and Verbal Parody in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: A Relevance Theoretic Approach." NUML Journal of Critical Inquiry 14, no. 11 (2016): 45, 51; Thompson, Thomas David. “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: A Metaphorical Look at Life, the Universe, and Everything.” Bachelors, California Polytechnic State University, 2015, see pages 15-16.

[that-butch-archivist]

A recent acquisition originally published in 1965, and sure to be an interesting read ...

[usnatarchives]

Ever wondered how science was introduced to the public through media? Check out this 1948 comic book produced for General Electric! It offered readers a glimpse into atomic energy.

[callilemon]

Vanoé American Gothic! 🎃

In Halloween costumes, of course :)) Vani is a vampire (to tease Noé) and noé is a scarecrow! 💙💜

[ask-thearchivists]

Earth is a terrestrial planet, despite 70% of it's surface being covered in water. It has a molten iron core, and has existed for about 4.5 billion years. It's the third planet out from it's star (a yellow dwarf).

The Cartologist: Oooh, interesting, is there more?

The Cartologist: Oh, is that what the song about cheese comes from?

The Coordinator: Yes, mortal planets that have had life for a long time do tend to experience multiple extinction events, which is one of the reasons it is important we tend to our duties.

[weil-weil-lautre]

So far tens of millions of Americans can understand Ahab. They have worked under such men. A smaller but not insignificant number have gone through his experiences. The Diesel engine and now atomic energy face the vast majority with the same problem that he faced: the obvious, immense, the fearful mechanical power of an industrial civilization which is now advancing by incredible leaps and bringing at the same time the mechanization and destruction of human personality. Men who are thinking like that, classes of people in a nation who are thinking such thoughts, are being steadily prepared for desperate action. If now there descends upon them a violent catastrophe that ruins them and convinces them that the life they have been living is intolerable and the grave doubts that have previously tormented them are justifiable, then they are going to throw aside all the traditional restraints of civilization. They are going to seek a new theory of society and a program of action and, on the basis of this theory and this program, they are going to act.

CLR James, Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways: The Story of Herman Melville and the World We Live In

[gregdotorg]

The US Government is back on its bullshit, censoring Dorothea Lange's photographs of WWII-era racist incarceration of American citizens and legal immigrants of Japanese descent it commissioned her to take.

[brutefury]

me and webinar recordings with 15 to 200 views on youtube

[archivlibrarianist]

There is damage in the library, but it's not to the books or special collections. Occupiers even helped the university's archivist/special collections librarian attend to some of the special collections, so that they'd be safe.

Concerning special collections:

"The next morning [after the initial April 29 occupation of the library, April 30, special collections librarian and archivist Cris] Paschild explained who she was to protesters guarding the entrance to the library. They eventually let her in and together they worked to clear out and secure the library’s special collections.

"'They actually were really receptive and seemed to hear what I was saying and what my concerns were,' Paschild told OPB. 'I appreciated that.'"

Concerning damage to the building versus to the library collection:

"...But [PSU Operations Assistant Director Cary] Morris, who has been overseeing parts of the cleanup since Friday, noticed the library’s books were largely undisturbed.

"'The book stacks seem pretty untouched,' Morris said. 'There was a lot of graffiti and signage that said, "leave the books alone" or "don’t touch the books."'

"The university’s Dark Horse Comics collection, which had originally been reported as missing or stolen, also appeared to be intact."

I've previously posted a timeline on this topic; this article is also linked there.

[alliluyevas]

my sorry ass contemplating how to write a personal statement convincing admissions people that my experience studying 20th century soviet history as an undergraduate qualifies me perfectly to study 19th century american history in their masters program:

[archivyrep]

The relevance of Star Wars to pop culture depictions of archives [part 1]

My post on here back in February was met with some push back on /r/archivists, which I totally expected. One cranky archivist, with the username DependentFigure6777, declared that "any article that uses Attack of the Clones as evidence of anything in the real world is not well." I'm not really sure how to interpret that comment except that it is passive aggressive and a bit hostile. So, in this post I'll explain why Attack of the Clones and Star Wars are relevant to the real world, especially to work in archives, even though Star Wars films, animated series, and the like, are obviously fiction, and not "evidence" of any real-world archiving, especially since archivists and librarians are famously confused in Attack of the Clones, leading a myriad of problems.

Reprinted from my Wading Through the Cultural Stacks WordPress blog. Originally published on Oct. 12, 2022.

As I noted in that post, Jedi archivist Jocasta Nu in the Star Wars franchise thinks her records are "complete" and without error, but is anything but neutral. She further thinks that all the records will not have not have any issues because the information is managed by a Jedi, i.e. herself, and others who are helping her. I further noted that that the Jedi temple archives' records are meant for the Jedi, but the general public is now allowed inside and can't access the records, meaning there are definitely specific rules which influence how the records are described, collected, and arranged, rules with their own biases based on where, when, and who runs the archives. In the post I also noted that the Imperials took the Jedi records and destroyed many of these records, with Nu purging the archive files before that, using it for their own means, becoming a a place for anti-Jedi propaganda, with manipulation of archived data. I further argued that this story means that archives aren't neutral but are contested spaces going from Jedi propaganda to anti-Jedi Empire propaganda, then becoming Sith propaganda. Since it is a human institution, its organization of information and storage involves choices, as not a neutral receptacle of history, nor is its documentation accurate, comprehensive, fair or representative. There is no such thing as a "complete" archives.

This is really something that would be great for someone to write a fan fic about if they so chose, as they could touch on many archival themes. Otherwise, apart from the various articles about this by Sam Cross and Jennifer Snoek-Brown, both of whom were part of a really great video vlog/podcast about archival themes in Star Wars films which was posted on Cross's YouTube channel [1] this film has often been covered in the archival literature. I noted one such article in my post last month, by an Italian archivist. Others have pointed out Nu as an example of a "librarian" with an "unsupportive" attitude, as she is extremely unhelpful to Obi-Wan.

Harvard educator, ethnographer, and organizer Jarret Martin Drake mentioned the series briefly in his article "Blood at the Root" in the Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies, writing that "the ethical archivist, it is often argued, does not shirk this power but rather assumes it consciously and conscientiously, a wiser wielder of their force, so to say, as evidenced by the conspicuously outsized number of references to Star Wars in this genre of writing." [2] Others have gone further, saying the scene in Attack of the Clones provides a glimpse into the "kind of power archives wield and their ontological effect as sites where not only events, experiences, and histories get recorded"

Most well-known is an article by Randall Jimerson, then president of the SAA, arguing that in Attack of the Clones, "archives represent power", claiming that the film presents a "more confident view of archives" than George Orwell's 1984, and describes Jocasta Nu as a "frail elderly woman". He goes onto say that the missing planet is erased in an "act of archival sabotage" but that the film's futuristic vision of an archives "shows the limits of archival control." He then says that the "pose of omniscience" of the archivist is "truly an illusion" and quotes Eric Ketelaar who says that the power o the archivist is shown in the fact that "Obi-Wan must physically enter the Jedi Archives in his search" He concludes that in the film "the role of the archivist is crucial and powerful." [3]

The article by Ketelaar describes Nu as a "Jedi archivist", says that the film indicates the power of the archives. He asks if her claim that if something doesn't appear in records it doesn't exist is an overestimation or "typical for the dedicated professional who is so entirely taken up by her own world that external reality is rated lower than its internal representation". He further argues that Nu "suggests that the archived reality is part of the record" and notes that the Jedi archives is within a temple. Later in the article, he adds that "temples and churches convey by their architecture the idea of surveillance and power" and notes that search rooms of many archives are a panopticon, giving examples of the U.S. and U.K. National Archives, saying that researchers have to keep silent and are under "constant supervision" while researchers have a "minimum of privacy". [4] He concludes his article by saying that Nu is ensuring the archives are comprehensive, secure, and affirming her role in society. In that, she is fulfilling the societal expectation of archives: that they are secure places which store memories, while archivists use their power for empowering so that "society can be confident of the future". [5]

There a few other articles in The American Archivist which analyze Star Wars. One of those is an article in 2007 by Richard Pearce-Moses. He briefly mentions Attack of the Clones. He saying that with the rise of the Web and the the digital era, there will be "changes in public expectations for access to information". He goes onto argue that the attitude "if it’s not on the Web, it doesn’t exist" is a naive notion manifested in the film itself. He quotes a now-dead link to a Star Wars Databank entry for Nu, which states that she was so reliant on the data of the Jedi Archive that she "neglected to consider that perhaps the information could have been tampered with." [6]

While I understand what he is saying, it would be a stretch to say the computer systems of the Jedi Archives are like the internet. Its more like an intranet, as it can only be accessed within the archives and not outside of it. Neither of these reviews noted something interesting about Nu, as noted in the "expanded universe" part of that entry: that Nu had been Archives Director for 30 years, but is not a frontline warrior, and "in addition to serving as custodian of the records, she would prepare mission briefs for Jedi taskforces and Knights on assignment." I wish something like that had happened in the film. Something akin to that did happen in the animated series. In the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "The Lost One", Nu explains the records that the Jedi Archives has on Sifo-Dyas. [7]

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Continued in part 2

Notes

[1] See Cross's articles "Tool of the Empire, Tool of the Rebellion: Star Wars and the Archive" on Pop Archives and "Page Turners, They Are Not: The Last Jedi and the Archives" in The American Archivist Reviews Portal. Also see Snoek-Brown's "The Jedi librarian", "The Jedi Librarian vs. Darth Vader", "A funny thing happened on the way to the Jedi library…", and "May the archives be with you | Shining the spotlight on the Jedi librarian" on Reel Librarians.

[2] Drake, Jarrett Martin (2021) "Blood at the Root," Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies: Vol. 8, Article 6, p. 2.

[3] Randall Jimerson; Embracing the Power of Archives. The American Archivist 1 January 2006; 69 (1): 20-21. doi: https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.69.1.r0p75n2084055418.

[4] Ketelaar, Eric. (2002) "Archival temples, archival prisons: Modes of power and protection," Archival Science 2, p. 2, 8-9. The pages used her are in the PDF version on academia.edu, not those in the original article in Archival Science.

[5] Ibid, 10.

[6] Pearce-Moses, Richard. (2007). "Janus in Cyberspace: Archives on the Threshold of the Digital Era". The American Archivist 70 (1): 15.

[7] She also has a big role in the episode "Holocron Heist", a smaller role in the episodes "Lightsaber Lost" and "Assassin" as I noted in my post on the topic.

[stargazerlillian]

Me with a fair amount of my original characters like...

[usnatarchives]

A recent discovery in our holdings: in 1901, when Natives needed permission to travel off the reservation, this letter commended two Lakota performers in Buffalo Bill's Wild West who wanted to swing by the Crow Agency on their way home to Pine Ridge. #AskAnArchivistDay

[owl-deer]

yeah I know stranger things + wtnv is hot, but

stranger things + wtnv + tma

dunno how it will work together, but I like to think that this lab is actually like the archives, but maybe under different power? or an attempt at cooperation of several powers - all without scientists knowing, and El is like Agnes.

And they tried to do it all nice and sciency and clinical, only that's not how fears work, and also kids kinda became touched by different powers and it makes them stronger but also fuels the whole fears warping reality thing (which is what they think is Upside Down bleeding into the world)

And Creel thinks he's special only he's just fleshy avatar puppet who doesn't even realise it lol (dunno he annoys me as a villain, they could do better). And when he dies by fire that's actually what its master wanted to bring itself forth in full.

and well, post-4th season Hawkins is already on its way to being Night Vale, right? Could be fun if Hawkins becomes out of sync with the rest of the world but in sync with actual Night Vale, and Cecil catches on kids radio frequency and starts broadcasting it to his listeners and giving them advice that nightvaleans send to the radio tower.

...okay that thing wasn't supposed to run away from me like that.

(Eddie lives btw, fuck vol 2)

[hiringlibrarians]

Hiring Librarians Podcast S01 E06: Kaetrena Davis Kendrick (Part One of Two)

My guest is Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, whose work on low morale in libraries is lighting some dark corners in the LIS profession. #Libraries #Librarians #renewerslis

My guest is Kaetrena Davis Kendrick, whose work on low morale in libraries is lighting some dark corners in the LIS profession. Her data collection projects and the associated reports are available on her Renewals website, as well as information about her coaching, facilitating and speaking, and consulting services. You can also connect with the community on Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter, and…

[dante-winning-archive]

May the Fourth Be With You!