What is Past is Prologue: a history of archival ideas since 1898, and the future paradigm shift Abstract This essay analyzes the history of archival thought since the publication of the Dutch Manual a century ago and suggests that from this inspiring past a new conceptual paradigm is emerging for the profession. Ideas of leading or symbolic thinkers within the European, North American, and Australian archival traditions are considered within the context of their times. The focus is on those theorists able to recognize and articulate radical changes in the nature of records, record-creating organizations, record-keeping systems, record uses, and in the wider cultural, legal, technological, social, and philosophical trends in society, as well as the impact of these changes on archival theory and practice. That articulation forms our collective discourse, the metatext or narrative that animates our professional practice, and from it five broad themes are seen to emerge from the evolution of archives over the last one hundred years. For the future, the trends of the century suggest the need to reconceptualize traditional archival principles from a product-focused to a process-oriented activity, to preserve in the best manner the collective memory of nations and peoples. Prologue: memory, archives, and archival history The history of archival thought in this century reflects the interaction of [18] archival theory and practice as archivists everywhere have sought to preserve the memory of the world.1 Former National Archivist of Canada and ICA President Jean-Pierre Wallot has set the inspiring goal for archivists of "building a living memory for the history of our present." The resulting "houses of memory," in his words, will contain "the keys to the collective memory" of nations and peoples, and to the protection of rights and privileges. Thereby the 28 TERRY COOK Reprinted from Archivaria 43 (1996), pp. 17-63. 1 This article has a long history and owes much to many colleagues, whom I want to acknowledge here in order to make clear my gratitude, and which history will make clear the provenance of a paper already cited in various existing versions. The paper was first commissioned in 1993 as the third plenary address to be delivered at the Thirteenth International Congress on Archives to be held in Beijing, China, in September 1996. After several drafts greatly benefitted from comments by colleagues (see below), a very long paper was finalized in May 1995, which was distributed to delegates at the Congress in English and Chinese. To reduce translation costs into the other ICA official languages (Spanish, German, Russian, and French) for Congress distribution, a second version was produced in December 1995, approximately one-half the length of its predecessor, and this second, much tighter version forms the core of the present article, but with some additions from the first and with significant updating and refocusing, many more extensive explanatory footnotes, and especially overall rewriting to make the article more "Canadian," by setting Canadian archival traditions and contributions within the original broader international context. A brief third version highlighting only the key themes of the paper, approximately one-seventh the length 29

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Jaarboeken Stichting Archiefpublicaties | 1999 | | pagina 16