Hello Friends!
It is getting down to the last days of the semester here- and not just the semester but also my days in South Dakota. But, do not fret, I will probably (mostly likely) be back in Vermillion for one reason or another.
Today's entry is talking about what it means to be an ethical archivist. According to the Code of Ethics for Archivists on the SAA website:
Archives are created by a wide array of groups and provide evidence of the full range of human experience. Archivists endeavor to ensure that those materials entrusted to their care will be accessible over time as evidence of human activity and social organization. Archivists embrace principles that foster the transparency of their actions and that inspire confidence in the profession. A distinct body of ethical norms helps archivists navigate the complex situations and issues that can arise in the course of their work.
http://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics#code_of_ethics
What happens though when your collection contains information that contains explicit information about a murder or the collection was not obtained in a transparent matter? The best practices in ethics have slightly changed over the years- so sometimes it is not any one's particular fault, but it still means that the current archivist must make some serious decisions.
One of the first things that archivists do when they have obtained a collection is processing the documents- this typically makes sure that serious, personal or compromising information can be restricted or removed. Many times collections have a restriction placed on them by the donor- cannot be opened for X amount of years/or until after my death, sort of thing.
I had to read a really interesting article which discussed the slippery slope of a collection that was created and collected at Boston College containing interviews of former IRA members- in 1998 some of the protocols that oral history centers have created to protect interviewers from potentially implicating themselves or others in a prosecutable crime.
As a historian, I understand why these men did what they did in terms of keeping their project secret. The history of the violence in Ireland is decades long and still not fully healed. The intent- according to the historian in the group was to collect a cutting edge history for scholars in the future to go through. It was never intended to be used in the present, when so many former and active members of the IRA are still alive.
I do not know what I would do in the situation at Boston College or the other Case studies given on the SAA website regarding the question of access and ethics in archive collections. I can only hope that I would be able to find a path that allowed for the integrity and protection of the collection to be secure enough that allowed for patrons to look at the voices of the past and present in a respectful manner.
The article can be found here: http://www.chronicle.com/interactives/belfast if you are interested in reading it.
As always Peace,
-Kylie
It is getting down to the last days of the semester here- and not just the semester but also my days in South Dakota. But, do not fret, I will probably (mostly likely) be back in Vermillion for one reason or another.
Today's entry is talking about what it means to be an ethical archivist. According to the Code of Ethics for Archivists on the SAA website:
Archives are created by a wide array of groups and provide evidence of the full range of human experience. Archivists endeavor to ensure that those materials entrusted to their care will be accessible over time as evidence of human activity and social organization. Archivists embrace principles that foster the transparency of their actions and that inspire confidence in the profession. A distinct body of ethical norms helps archivists navigate the complex situations and issues that can arise in the course of their work.
http://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics#code_of_ethics
What happens though when your collection contains information that contains explicit information about a murder or the collection was not obtained in a transparent matter? The best practices in ethics have slightly changed over the years- so sometimes it is not any one's particular fault, but it still means that the current archivist must make some serious decisions.
One of the first things that archivists do when they have obtained a collection is processing the documents- this typically makes sure that serious, personal or compromising information can be restricted or removed. Many times collections have a restriction placed on them by the donor- cannot be opened for X amount of years/or until after my death, sort of thing.
I had to read a really interesting article which discussed the slippery slope of a collection that was created and collected at Boston College containing interviews of former IRA members- in 1998 some of the protocols that oral history centers have created to protect interviewers from potentially implicating themselves or others in a prosecutable crime.
As a historian, I understand why these men did what they did in terms of keeping their project secret. The history of the violence in Ireland is decades long and still not fully healed. The intent- according to the historian in the group was to collect a cutting edge history for scholars in the future to go through. It was never intended to be used in the present, when so many former and active members of the IRA are still alive.
I do not know what I would do in the situation at Boston College or the other Case studies given on the SAA website regarding the question of access and ethics in archive collections. I can only hope that I would be able to find a path that allowed for the integrity and protection of the collection to be secure enough that allowed for patrons to look at the voices of the past and present in a respectful manner.
The article can be found here: http://www.chronicle.com/interactives/belfast if you are interested in reading it.
As always Peace,
-Kylie
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