Archives Power: Memory, Accountability, and Social Justice

by Randall C. Jimerson

Grounded in historical and social theory, this analysis of the power of archives and the role of archivists in society calls for renewed emphasis on remembrance, evidence, and documentation as a means of securing open government, accountability, diversity, and social justice, within an archival ethics of professional and societal responsibility.

Genres: Nonfiction, Professional Development, History, Academic, Library Science

466 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Professor of History & Director, Archives and Records Management MA Program, Western Washington University

Reviews

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly uneven and definitely showing its age, this book still had the power to give this archivist some inspirational feelings now and then. Jimerson pulls in a comprehensive history of archives across cultures and time, literary criticism (particularly Orwell's 1984 and Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being), the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, an overview of archival enterprise, and a nod to electronic records and ties them all up with a call to rethinking the archival code of ethics to include a social justice focus. Parts of this worked better than others, but I particularly liked the historical overview and the section on archives in South Africa. Jimerson's conclusions vacillate between an energizing call to arms and a rather tepid encouragement to maybe think of justice while wielding your power as an archivist to select, preserve, and provide access to historical documentation if you feel comfortable doing so and your institution lets you. If this book was being published today, questioning the neutrality of archivists would be much less of a controversial opinion and the author would hopefully rely less on white dudes to support his argument, but in 2009, this was certainly pushing the archival envelope.

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative overview of why archives exist, how they exist, and some reasoning behind what they hold. This text talks specifically about the "power" the archivist holds when it comes to selecting materials for collections, deciding what to (or not to) preserve, etc. I think the first chapter offers a good idea of how archives came to be--so if you're interested in archives history this first introductory chapter is enjoyable.

Chapter 2 is also useful when it comes to Indigenous ideologies. The chapter delves into how Western ideology often wants to determine if an item is "authentic" but suggests that this conflict is something to consider with certain materials.

[Travis Wagner · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is not that I don't think that any of these topics are important. Indeed, an accounting of social justice is long overdue in the archival world, but I just don't know that Jimerson was the person to do this, especially since his femme colleagues of color have been demanding this well before he took an opportunity to publish this. It says a lot about SAA that this is the type of person they have putting forth this scholarship, versus who is doing the day-to-day work. There is also an entire chapter that is basically just a literary analysis that is completely irrelevant and could have been better deployed using actual real-world archival examples.

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting but wordy look at archives. I really enjoyed the beginning with the history of archives across cultures. This book is also outdated at this point considering that questioning the neutrality of archivists isn’t a controversial opinion anymore. Also could have done with less references to white only voices to support his points but in 2009, that was normal.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this are a really powerful about memory and history and archivists role in the maintenance and creation of both. But it gets really repetitive

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jimerson's treatise on the field of archiving starts out very strongly. There are two very interesting chapters highlighting the development of archives. A later chapter on using new technologies to spread access to archival records is also valuable. However, Jimerson's later chapters on bringing about social justice through archives are numbingly repetitive. It's unfortunate, because this is otherwise an interesting look at archiving today.

[Margot Note]

Reading it for a review in Journal of Academic Librarianship.

[Paige]

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