Many Happy Returns: Advocacy and the Development of Archives

by Larry J. Hackman (Editor)

Twenty-three well-versed archivists and allied professionals teach you how to advocate effectively for your archives in Many Happy Advocacy and the Development of Archives. Editor Larry Hackman's opening essay is a tutorial on advocacy principles and application, including practical techniques and tactics. Hackman asserts that "advocacy is an investment that we make when we intentionally and strategically educate and engage individuals and organizations so that they in turn will support our archival work." Thirteen case studies address a variety of advocacy experiences and methods. For example, the New York Philharmonic archivist has spent more than 25 years building a strong and highly visible archives by finding and using allies within the Philharmonic's own internal family. One vital strategy has been to link the archives to the interests and needs of the symphony's very prominent music directors. Other examples include major breakthroughs, such as passage of a $7 million bond issue for the Butte archives in Montana, and creation of a significant preservation endowment for the Oberlin College Archives in Ohio, as well as more typical incremental advances made over longer periods by matching an archives advocacy methods to the culture, structures, and processes of the parent organization. A highly instructive chapter describes seven categories of advocacy lessons learned from the case studies and suggests areas that archivists should give higher priority, particularly in finding and using external advocates. The book concludes with essays on advocacy and archival education, the use of new technologies to build support for archives, and advocacy at the federal level. This book ably demonstrates that archivists can (and should!) invest time in advocacy efforts to produce "many happy returns" for themselves and their archives. And now, so can you! Society of American Archivists (2011) 978-1-945246-95-1

Genres: Nonfiction

549 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2011

Reviews

[Ed Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone currently learning more about archival practice this book is really excellent. It provides a fascinating look at Documentation Strategy and Samuels' career through the lenses of a great set of practicing archivists. I didn't actually even know much about what Documentation Strategy was before reading this book, and still found it to be very accessible. Of particular interest to me were essays that addressed the very active, subjective and even political role that archivists play when working with and describing collections. Also I enjoyed the pieces that explored how digital information and the increasing amounts of content have influenced the shape of what archivists do. Now I have more reading to do of some of Samuels stuff. I think I might start with Varsity Letters--recommendations are welcome. I also really enjoyed Francis Blouin's essay "The evolution of archival practice and the history-archival divide", who (I just discovered) has a new book out called Processing the Past. Derrida's Archive Fever gets name dropped a lot so I already followed that particular thread.

[Margot Note]

Reviewed for Library Review

[Audra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent set of essays edited by Terry Cook and inspired by archival appraisal/documentation hero Helen Samuels. Samuels' writing continues to transform the archival field by asking the archivist to be more inclusive and conscious of what she/he chooses to document in archives (and acknowledging her/his voice in this act). My favorites are Elizabeth Yakel's essay on the social web and Richard Katz and Paul Gandel's essay on documenting in a digital world; I haven't read all the essays but I focused on the ones about web and born-digital materials. A great tribute to Samuels and an accessible work of archival theory.

[Adam Gossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection of case studies and a good treatment of proactive things to build your archival collection at an administrative level. Pretty good.

[Margot Note]

Reviewed for Journal of Academic Librarianship