Volume 48, Issue 2 - Special Issue: The Tenth Annual Archival Education and Research Institute / Guest Editor: Tonia Sutherland

On July 9–13, 2018, the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, hosted the tenth annual Archival Education and Research Institute (AERI). A week-long institute designed to strengthen archival education and research and support academic cohort-building and mentoring, AERI is open to all academic faculty and students working in archival studies, both nationally and internationally, as well as others engaged in archival education, research, and scholarship, broadly conceived. Attended by researchers, educators, doctoral students, and students enrolled in the AERI-affiliated Emerging Archival Scholars Program (EASP), this tenth anniversary gathering marked the Institute’s first meeting in the Southeast. Alabama provided a valuable lens for considering critical archival issues: discussions of memory, community activism, and representation were particularly vivid in a region that continues to consider its past, and its continued influence on present social, political, and economic environments. In this introduction, the Co-Chair of the Institute and Guest Editor of this issue, Tonia Sutherland, provides a brief overview of the conference highlights and introduces the papers presented in the Special Issue.

The author goes behind the scenes of the digital exhibit MonroeWorkToday.org, a citizen’s project that was researched and produced outside of academia or formal funding. What began with an amateur’s visit to Tuskegee University Archives in 2010 led, 6 years later, to the first ever map of the true entirety of US lynching violence against all groups of people of color. The creation process collided with common issues: positionality, appropriation, interpretive body language, the ethical visualization of historical trauma, the erasure of women, and the power of digital archives.

This report examines the recordkeeping issues facing refugees, displaced persons, and asylum seekers who have either applied for asylum while residing in Turkey or transiting through. There is a high degree of interdependency between types of documents, particularly birth certificates, marriage certificates, and identity documents. The challenges faced by Syrian and non-Syrian refugees can be distinctive, suggesting a need for more targeted interventions. The report’s recommendations confirm Sakena Alalawi and Anne Gilliland’s findings and point to a pressing need for archive-to-archive collaboration to increase accessibility of records; to lobby those who make policy, adjudicate asylum cases and vet refugees for resettlement to consider alternate forms of documentation that might be presented by a records advocate working on a case; and to develop new forms of certification for relevant digitized documents.

Technology has a significant impact in archival institutions. The creation and need to preserve digital records require archivists to have the necessary training, and ongoing professional development. In addition, technology is embedded in many archival processes, making knowledge of technology use vital for archivists. While technology may be a challenge for archivists in terms of archival management, it also presents a useful means to support training and professional development. This paper is based on the experimental research conducted by the researchers, as instructors, in developing curriculum based on theories of andragogy for the purposes of developing intentional curriculum for professional development of archivists in digital learning environments. In this article, we will focus on the application of technology for the purposes of training archives professionals. We have explored archives training through the application of andragogy theory in online training through Louisiana State University and Mohawk College. In addition, we will review the literature relating to the use of technology to support both outreach and marketing to educate clients of archival institutions. Social media tools offer a broad means to engage clients, as these platforms already function as “community hubs for activity, featuring many users, regular updates, and active forum discussions” (Terras). The literature suggests that there is have been significant inroads in developing intentional curriculum for digital learning environments.

The digital preservation of intangible cultural heritage has become a major emphasis and challenge in China. This study investigated the state of the field by examining the activities of the local Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centers at Nanyang, Kaifeng, Xianning, Chibi, Sanming and Jingdezhen, using semi-structured interviews to document the status of digital preservation of intangible cultural heritage in China. This study found that the digital preservation system of Chinese cultural heritage has a clear structure and pluralistic components. The centers are rich in digital resources, but disordered in their storage, and are supported by policies, but weak in the area of management. It is necessary to further clarify these institutions’ rights and responsibilities, formulate storage standards, build shared platforms, and strengthen digital preservation management.