Explaining Ourselves: 40 Years of Archivaria

  • Laura Millar

Abstract

In 2015, Archivaria and the Association of Canadian Archivists both celebrate 40 years of existence. This anniversary coincides with another milestone from 1975: the publication of To Know Ourselves, the report of the Commission on Canadian Studies (also known as the Symons Report), which identified Canadian studies as a critical tool in the quest for an understanding of Canadian identity. In keeping with the Symons Report’s call for self-knowledge, this overview article explores four specific themes addressed in the pages of Archivaria over the past four decades: first, the role of archival education and the question of whether an archivist in fact needed a formal education, and if so, what should be studied; second, the nature of the archival profession and the debate about whether the archivist was and should be a historian, information manager, librarian, or other; third, the nature and relevance of archival theory and the discussion of what such theory comprised and how definitive it might be in a postmodern age; and fourth, the history of the profession in Canada and internationally, and the exploration of how records, archives, and archivists have evolved in Canada and elsewhere in the world over many centuries. The article concludes by calling for more exploration of these same themes, which remain as valid today as they have been over the past four decades as a means of helping archivists in Canada and around the world “explain ourselves.”

RÉSUMÉ

En 2015, Archivaria et la Association of Canadian Archivists fêtent tous deux leurs 40 ans d’existence. Cet anniversaire coïncide avec un autre événement marquant de 1975 : la publication de Se connaître, le rapport de la Commission sur les études canadiennes (aussi connu comme le rapport Symons), qui identifia les études canadiennes comme un outil crucial dans la quête pour comprendre l’identité canadienne. Conformément à l’appel de connaissance de soi lancé dans le rapport Symons, cet article panoramique explore quatre thèmes spécifiques abordés entre les pages d’Archivaria au cours des quatre dernières décennies : dans un premier temps, le rôle de l’éducation en archivistique et la question à savoir si un archiviste a, en fait, besoin d’une éducation formelle, et si oui, ce qui devrait être à l’étude; dans un deuxième temps, la nature de la profession archivistique et le débat à savoir si l’archiviste était et devrait être historien, gestionnaire de documents, bibliothécaire, ou autre; dans un troisième temps, la nature et la pertinence de la théorie archivistique et la discussion à propos d’en quoi consiste ce champ théorique et si la théorie est définitive ou non à l’ère postmoderne; et dans un quatrième temps, l’histoire de la profession au Canada et dans le monde, et l’exploration des façons dont les documents d’archives, les centres d’archives et les archivistes ont évolué au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde sur plusieurs siècles. Cet article se termine en lançant un appel pour une étude plus poussée de ces mêmes thèmes qui demeurent tout aussi valides aujourd’hui qu’ils ne l’ont été au courant des quatre dernières décennies, dans le but de permettre aux archivistes au Canada et à travers le monde de « se connaître ».

Author Biography

Laura Millar

Laura Millar has been an independent consultant in archives and information management, and in publishing and education, for over 30 years, working with governments, universities, colleges, professional associations, non-profit organizations, and other agencies in Canada and internationally. She has taught in the fields of records/archives management and editing and publishing, and she is the author of numerous publications and presentations on various topics related to records, archives, editing, publishing, and education. She is the author of The Story Behind the Book: Preserving Authors’ and Publishers’ Archives, published as part of the J.J. Douglas Library by Simon Fraser University’s CCSP Press in 2009, and Archives: Principles and Practices, published by Facet Publishing in the United Kingdom in 2010. She received the Waldo Leland Gifford Award from the Society of American Archivists in 2011 for Archives: Principles and Practices and was awarded the W. Kaye Lamb prize for “The Death of the Fonds and the Resurrection of Provenance: Archival Context in Space and Time,” which appeared in Archivaria 53 (Spring 2002), and for “Coming Up with Plan B: Considering the Future of Canadian Archives,” which appeared in Archivaria 77 (Spring 2014). She has been a member of Archivaria’s editorial board since 2005.

Published
2015-11-19
How to Cite
Millar, Laura. 2015. “Explaining Ourselves: 40 Years of Archivaria”. Archivaria 80 (November), 5-31. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13542.