The Silence of the Archive

Records managers, archivists, historians and other users of archives should read this timely and important book.

-- Peter Webster * LSE Review of Books *

Archival silences cannot be avoided. Records may not have been created, or they may have been manipulated or destroyed. In the present digital, or “post-paper,” world, staggering amounts of data are being created, and much of it is lost.Thomas, Simon Fowler, and Valerie Johnson, all former or current employees of the National Archives, delineate the silences and the reasons behind them. They also offer methods for breaking the silence or sometimes simply accepting it. Filled with thought-provoking and pertinent anecdotes (many of which are related to Great Britain), this is an interesting book for those who create, manage, and use archives.

-- Jim Frutchey * Booklist Online *

In examining the concept of silence, the UK-based authors of this volume focus on historical, cultural, and political contexts having critical implications for archives. They address enforced silence, misinformed popular expectations, dealing with the silences or gaps in the digital record, and possible solutions and prospects for archives in the current environment, styled by some as a post-truth era. While corporate and government structures continue to shape the archival record for political purposes, gaps in staff training and record-retention policies also contribute to these silences, as have misinformed popular perceptions of archives and inappropriate expectations of researchers. Technology presents an additional challenge to archival integrity because of the need to preserve content such as ephemeral social media or email communications, the sheer abundance of digital records, the anonymity of record creators, and pervasive concerns about sensitivity and privacy—all factors that further exacerbate the practical and intellectual problems of archiving. Dealing with silence often involves interpreting and fictionalizing what is described as "absent heritage," which implies working with deliberate and inadvertent forgeries and fabrications. That Soviet-era maps omitted churches, for example, offers an analogy to archival finding aids with missing or omitted information; in both situations, critical gaps in knowledge are a serious consequence. This work is highly recommended for various specialists in archival operations, including manuscript curators, records managers, digital archivists, and government-document specialists, as well as practicing and future historians. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-level undergraduate students through professionals/practitioners.

-- A. Sabharwal * CHOICE *

The three authors are experienced archivists and are highly qualified to write about this topic...Readers will step away with a heightened awareness that silences exist in archives and will hopefully be challenged to question and interrogate the silences in their own archives.

-- Greta Kuriger Suiter * New England Archivists Newsletter *

This book is an essential read for any archivist, special collections librarian, museum curator, student, or anyone working/studying in an archive, special collection, museum, or organization that curates and maintains an archive. It is important to have a base understanding of why silences occur and their impacts in order to move forward in a thoughtful and deliberate way that will hopefully lead to significantly decreasing silences in archival collections.

-- Katie Nash * Technical Services Quarterly *

'The three authors are experienced archivists and are highly qualified to write about this topic...Readers will step away with a heightened awareness that silences exist in archives and will hopefully be challenged to question and interrogate the silences in their own archives.'- Greta Kuriger Suiter, MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections, NEA Newsletter

* NEA Newsletter *

'The authors...current or former archivists at the UK National Archives, have packed the slim volume with a wealth of information and debate, supported by a survey of the existing literature and using examples from around the world. Overall, however, The Silence of the Archive will be of interest to any user of archives and of considerable practical use to those involved in their management.'
- Mandy Banton, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, Family and Community History

* Family and Community History *

'As traditional understandings of archival wholeness and impartiality continue to be challenged, the archive is moving from a ‘neutral’ space to one of active and incomplete curation. Embedded in power structures, bureaucracies, and other information mediators, the voice of the archive speaks only of certain stories. But if the voice of an archive is shaped by deliberate action, what about its silences? What structures and processes create these silences, and how can we as archivists address them? These are the questions asked by David Thomas, Simon Fowler and Valerie Johnson in “The Silence of the Archive”, a critical addition to the “Principles and Practice in Records Management and Archives” series. The three authors bring with them a wealth of knowledge from public, corporate, academic, and community sectors, using their experiences to explore different facets of that which is missing as a positive, rather than negative, space.'- Nina Whittaker, Archifacts

* Archifac