The Modern Archive
Archives today are quite the quiet character with loads of pressure placed on them. They are
asked to become this open repository to house all important material culture, knowledge,
documents and artifacts and given moderate help in staying healthy with continued use and
protection. Funding is scarce and many, but not all, users of archives might opt to visit a
collection online rather than in person if available.
Archives and Special Collections typically do not share accessioned items between
organizations and are usually singular mission and goals. They do not share mostly because
each is trusted to keep and preserve a specific collection. They then take on this responsibility to
that collection which typically grows some over time which also must be accounted for in their
minimal budgets.
This can lead to a messy archive in that items are processed without complete detail over long
periods of time. Archivists come and go, taking with them huge background knowledge of the
collection. Archival accessioning protocols consistently evolve to accommodate new technology
and insights in the preservation of archival materials. This constant rate of change every few
years combined with inherit obsolescence in technology also leads to a potentially messy
archive making it harder for users to navigate and find what they are looking for or “the good
stuff.”
This is where the archivist comes in. Finding aids help give an idea of what is in the collection,
but it is the archivist that really knows the collection. They can help make connections amongst
all the items in their collection. They might even know where else to look at other collections
around the world, but they don’t know those collections inside and out like they do their own.
Situations For Play
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.”
— Carl Jung
Archives are usually ask you to “be careful” or maybe “handle with care”. Pencils and gloves are
typically replace casual handling and writing tools. These places would never be thought of
when someone thinks about the word “play”. Yet that is something I was interested in finding—
can play be introduced to the access of archives? I never really intended to look at it in terms of
gaming but more in a playful manner. This eventually led me to the tangibility aspect or
interacting with physical artifacts in collections. After visiting multiple archives and conducting
research in each, I found very little opportunities where play intersected my inquiries.
“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.”—Diane Ackerman
Researchers at archives can come from a wide variety of backgrounds and interest, including
academia, journalism, genealogy, and the general hobbyist or enthusiast. Today many approach
archives with some added technology to help them capture thoughts, answer questions or take
notes. Pens are typically not allowed, and sometimes your bags and notebooks aren’t either.
Instead archives will provide researchers with a pencil and scraps of paper. This helps to cut
down on theft. And since many archives are adding wifi hotspots to their reading rooms
researchers have begun to bring their laptops along for note-taking and internet searching or
cross-referencing.
Reading rooms for the most part all appear the same with similar furniture, lighting and layouts.
Access & requirements & locations
Many archives are open to the public however you typically need to call ahead for an
appointment. Some will only allow professional or scholarly researchers only and not the
casually interested hobbyist. And then you have the famous special collections housing
irreplaceable important artifacts that only accredited researchers can gain access to.
Inquiries as a researcher
By visiting three distinct archives—a governmental, an educational, and a museum collection—I
got to sample a range of institutions and see their organization and affordances. However all of
the archives I visited shared some similar qualities and later inspired my prototypes from my
findings on these trips.
_________
People, not so much the content, were more educational and more helpful.
People working in the archives know their collections. Finding aids only provide a brief
description of what the collection contains. A good archivist knows what is in their collections,
and what has been left out or missing. In this way they can really help a researcher tune their
search.
Archivists are akin to Sommeliers, DJs, Personal Shoppers and Antique Roadshow
attendees.
Wine Sommeliers for offering a selected choice of samples.
DJs keep pace with the mood or club goers vibe and spinning the next appropriate track.
Personal Shoppers for listening and suggesting.
Antique Roadshow attendees because sometimes archivists ask the researcher: “You tell me
what this object is.”
Some users can get lost in a single folder or box all day long.
The aura of an artifact and its history can enthrall a researcher for hours while they delicately
examine it. When other researchers rush through objects, it’s sort of like scrolling quickly.
Research reading rooms are curiosity epicenters.
They’re a great place to eavesdrop. They are not social spheres presently, but it is very easy to
overhear conversations between other researchers and archivists. Butting in to a conversation is
not as rude a practice compared to other social spheres like a restaurant.
No “Best if used by _____” date.
Accessioned materials don’t receive an “expiration date”, “born on date” or “best if used by this
day” date stamped on them. In this way, it is hard for users to tell how often this object has been
used, how sick or deteriorated it has become since accession, or when it may no longer be
available to handle physically.
Researchers’ inquiries are like Flickr pools or YouTube channels.
But these are not easy to broadcast back out.
Archives are not open-source.
Don’t allow for “ME-ness” or customization.
Archives are not setup by subject matter/topic.
“Do you have any pictures of ships?”
Not everything in an Archive is processed and has a description.
This makes it impossible to know what is in, and what is missing, in an archive.
More care is taken for the objects, less care is taken for the researchers experience.
There is a delicate balance between care of objects, and access to them. Yet it seems that the
objects win every time since they are for everyone, and the researcher is for himself. The
archivist is also for everyone.
Research Reading Rooms are not comfortable.
The research reading rooms are stuffy and not comfortable although they have some reference
material to help them in their search. However, if the archivist was lost, the researcher could be
lost too.
