15
th
International Congress on Archives
Myburgh
www.wien2004.ica.org
2
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A rejection of dominant cultural understandings (especially euro- and andro-centric notions of
knowledge) in favour of multiple cultural perspectives; this includes the belief that no single tradition or
story can speak for the entirety of human experience (Hekman, 1990, 6-12).
Postmodernism has influenced records management and archives in various ways, some of which are noted below.
1.
It is claimed to be the foundation for a new conceptual paradigm for the professions, continuum theory.
2.
An has noted, "Postmodern archival thinking considers archiving to be a key feature of society's
communication processes in shaping the reality rather than just documenting it. It views archivists as co-
creators of knowledge, culture and society rather than just passive recipients merely guarding and
retrieving records and knowledge created entirely by others" (An, 2001). In this view, archives are
political, dynamic, and contested sites of power in society, and have a role in preserving diverse
memories of governance, and not only particular and official views (Cook, 2000). This is discussed
further below.
3.
Postmodernism explains the virtual digital document, understanding that the notion of process is more
important than product (or artefact). This lends itself to a reconceptualization of the document as an
artifact.
4.
Postmodernism places an emphasis on the context of a document or information in order to shape
meaning and understanding. Bucci, amongst others, supports the view that "seeing the social,
organizational, and functional context of record creating and record keeping as essential to the discipline
of understanding archives..." (Cook, 2000).
5.
Postmodernism avoids dualisms, or thinking of objects or concepts into pairs male/female; dark/light;
rich/poor which was typical of rationalist thinking, where, of opposites, one is typically privileged. It
allows for the simultaneous existence of multiple characteristics; dualisms are deconstructed. For
recordkeeping, this permits convergence of previously separate concepts, such as manuscripts and
libraries, information and records, and archives and records (Upward, 1999). This also takes away any
ambiguity, as it removes the absolute nature of such division, and tolerates other principles of division
when necessary.
Development and invasion of associated information professions
Reliance on electronic information, and the perception that successful businesses must be "information and
knowledge driven" has attracted both money and people. Competition is intense, and what frequently happens is
that traditional recordkeepers (and librarians) are often sidelined, while their functions are assumed by others, such
as information technologists, competitive intelligence officers, knowledge managers, and so on. Traditional
functions are often renamed in the process (such as subject analysis becomes content management, a thesaurus
becomes a taxonomy, and so on).
The Information Economy
The Information Economy is concerned with the commodification of both the content and the communication of
information and knowledge, and the market for such commodities. Culture and cultural products are converted
increasingly into economic terms, where knowledge and culture are viewed as industrial products. As Mayon-
White (1996) states, "The commodification of information is a silent and nearly invisible revolution. As
information sets grow in size and quality they acquire the characteristics of a commodity which can be bought and
sold." This view of the Information Economy, however, seems to work remarkably like the Industrial Economy.
Multidisciplinarity
Against this background of rapid, varied societal and technological change, and the development of
postmodernism in an attempt to explain contemporary society, modern recordkeeping theory has developed.
Having said this, however, it is not always easy to isolate the archival theory from other, related areas. Upward
and McKemmish state "Archival science is the foundation for organising knowledge about recordkeeping",
although the use of the phrase `archival science' smacks of Enlightenment rationalism.
Critiques of science from several disciplines (sociology, philosophy, anthropology and history) have attacked
science for its notion of truth and rationality as well as the alleged objectivity of scientific method. All this
criticism has established that science is a social process, that scientific method is little short of a myth, that
scientific knowledge is in fact manufactured.
Traditionally, archival theory has drawn on diplomatics, history, law, textual criticism, management and
organizational theory, and library science (Gililand-Swetland, 2000), although we feel it can be well positioned in
the broad discipline of information theory. Now, Cook indicates that "Information theory under the postmodernist
umbrella is complicated by encompassing philosophy, linguistics, semiotics, structuralism, hermeneutics and
iconology, as well as Marxism and feminism" (Cook, 2000). One can also add information technology, systems
theory, public administration and database management. Postmodernism encourages multidisciplinarity, seeking
answers where it can.
