The role of the archive in society
Vision
The Archival Platform is a networking, advocacy and research initiative. We use the word “archive” to refer not only to records or books in archives and libraries, but also to memory, cultural practice and places that tell the stories of the past. The Archival Platform’s aim is to facilitate dialogue and information sharing between professionals, academics and government employees in the heritage and archive sector.
Three years from now, the Archival Platform will have helped consolidate public ownership of South Africa’s historical archive – not only physical records of the country’s history, but also the memory, cultural practices and places that tell the story of the past – by raising its public profile and status, promoting effective management of it and improving access to it.
Mission
The Platform is intended to address specific challenges faced by the archive sector, including the lack of status accorded to the sector, weak public ownership of the sector, poor communication and coordination within the sector, uneven or inadequate funding and training opportunities, and the lack of critical information for strategic planning across the sector.
The Platform aims to reach government, academics, professionals in the sector and the public, not only in South Africa, but also elsewhere in Africa and other parts of the developing world.
The Platform will develop a few high-profile public interventions to increase public appreciation and use of the archive. It will also facilitate face-to-face and online networking activities between government, academics and professionals in the sector. This will open up new opportunities to strategise across the sector, identify key problems and successes, coordinate activities, and thus improve the management of the archive.
The Platform’s vision and mission were informed by several key texts:
Protecting our Cultural Capital: a research plan for the Heritage Sector
Archives and Justice
Refiguring the Archive
Archives at the Crossroads
At arm’s length: the relationship between research and policy in arts and culture, 1994-2007
Key areas of interest
Archives at the Crossroads
The archival system is currently facing degradation because of the low priority afforded to it by the state and by the public. A non-functional archive could result in the loss of monitoring and evaluation capacity, poorer governance and a loss of historical memory. We do, however, have a window of opportunity to understand more about this problem and address it.
Digital Archives
What digitisation projects have been established across South Africa? How have these digital archives been used, what factors have increased / limited their use and how could they be better used in future?
Heritage / Archive Education
Education in the sector should link theory and practice to the needs of the broadly defined sector, but to do this we need better engagement between practitioners, government and academics.
Heritage Economics
We need to be looking at government and other investment in the sector as well as current and future benefits of this investment. These benefits include relatively intangible public benefits (social cohesion, mutual understanding) as well as tangible profits and opportunities for profit generated from tourism and other uses of heritage resources.
The Platform in the news
Monday Paper, Oct 2009
Cape Talk interview, 12 Nov 2009
University World News, Dec 2009
Biz community, Dec 2009
How to use the Platform
Stay informed
1. Sign up for the monthly email newsletter on the home page.
Some events, jobs and opportunities come and go before the next newsletter appears, so you can also:
2. Get regular updates: subscribe to the “RSS feed” for news or resources to get new item notifications by email.
3. Join the Archival Platform fan page from our home page.
4. Follow our twitter feed, the_archive.
Have your say
1. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) a guest blog, participate in the forums / online conferences we will be holding, or comment on our website.
2. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) news and information about jobs, books and conferences.
Please note: the views expressed by contributors to the Archival Platform website and facebook fan page, including the part-time correspondents employed by the Archival Platform, are intended to broaden and extend the debate in the sector and do not necessarily represent the views of the Archival Platform.
Contacts:
Dr Harriet Deacon, the first Director of the Platform, will remain connected with its work during her temporary relocation to the UK in January 2010. The new Director will be announced on this website. The AP is also served at present by contributions from four part-time correspondents, viz. Uthando Baduza, Thokozani Mhlambi, Xolelwa Kashe-Katiya and Kirsten Thomson. Mbongiseni Buthelezi is an associate of the Platform, working on the clan names project.
Director, Archival Platform
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