Archives at the Crossroads 2007 - Nelson Mandela Foundation

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Firstly, it is critically important that the record of oppression be preserved becauseof its capacity to explain the legacies of those eras that still persist, as well asits ability to account for oppression itself. It is also an important resource inenabling people to do the necessary work of coming to terms with oppression,whether as victims, perpetrators, witnesses, on-lookers or latter-day descendants.Secondly, the colonial and apartheid administrations recognized that theknowledge tools that operated amongst those whom they sought to rule werepowerful resources that could be yoked to their own project of domination.They assiduously collected, and archived, information about the subject peoples,and brought that information, reshaped in all sorts of ways, into play in thepractice of rule and into the knowledge system that underpinned that rule.Abundant and potent materials from and about the past were thus not annihilated,but insidiously saved, lodged in the colonial and apartheid archives, where theyyet lie, many still awaiting recuperation and rehabilitation in the service of postcolonialprojects.The collapse of the South African Society of Archivists and the Association ofArchivists and Manuscript Librarians adds a professional isolation on top of thisconceptual isolation. And there is no doubt that critical professional energiesare drying up as a result of the growing crisis in the teaching of history, bothat school and university levels.Patchy and Failing Archival ServicesIn 2006 the South African Historical Association wrote to the National ArchivesAdvisory Council expressing extreme concern about the state of disrepair anda failure in the provision of archival services in the national system. This followedan earlier petition from the South African Historical Society. The two interventionswere formal registrations of complaints and anxieties about the state of thearchival system reported widely in the research community and indeed atpreceding archives conferences.These concerns were addressed at the Conference. There is no doubt thatthe present archival and record-keeping services are patchy and in someinstances collapsing. The pending SAHRC Report mentioned above whichexplicitly tests public access to records in terms of the Promotion of Access toInformation Act confirms this.Two major factors contributing to these failures were identified: a lack of adequateresources and a lack of skills necessary for the various archives services.10 |“National System, Public Interest” Open Report
Lack of resources: The Conference deliberations linked the lack of availableresources to two points: a national failure to appreciate what is at stake ininvesting in archive, and secondly the direction of resources into national flagshipprojects designed to produce politically valuable symbolic capital.Lack of skills: Three points were raised in relation to the lack of skills within thenational archival system:1. Failure in the culture of government to prioritise record-keeping andarchives. As noted above record-keeping across government is largely withoutactive management and personnel are untrained.2. Within the National Archives significant training is undertaken butpersonnel are rapidly lost to more attractive employment elsewhere becausesalaries are poor and advancement routes into departmental record-keepingstructures have not been developed. The critical links between record-keepingin government departments and ultimate archival deposit which would enablesuch routes have not been developed. Likewise, career advancement routesgeared towards introducing archival competencies into other cognate areas ofthe heritage and culture sectors have not been developed because critical linksacross these sectors are not in existence.3. The Conference noted that technical training for archivists is availablein educational institutions. The quality and range of the skills inculcated is notformally monitored by the profession and the necessary interweaving of technical,management and IT training, and theoretical education is not subject to reviewand adequate planning. These lacunae are partly a consequence of the collapseof the professional society. The matter needs to be addressed urgently via theArchival Platform. The Conference further noted a plethora of advanced Heritagequalifications but slender offerings in the area of archives. Again, this should beaddressed via the Platform.The Conference noted that the lack of career path integration between archives,the wider heritage sector, and records management means that the pool to beeducated under the current dispensation is too small to warrant educationalinstitution investment in this area without substantial incentives, traininginvestments and bursaries. Currently, what records management training isavailable is undertaken for departments by private consultants at huge cost andwithout attention being given to the connections into archives. These are mattersthat need to be taken up at departmental level.The frameworks in which the training takes place are the responsibility ofgovernment and these are in some disarray: these include the SAQA andstandards-generating body frameworks. Development of both of these frameworksArchives at the Crossroads | 11
Page 1: Archives at theCrossroads 2007Open
Page 5 and 6: ContentsSummary ...................
Page 7 and 8: SummaryThe triggers that led to the
Page 9 and 10: “The archive” is a conceptual t
Page 11 and 12: Electronic records management in bo
Page 13 and 14: Yasmin Sooka, Foundation for Human
Page 15: archives are vital in anchoring cit
Page 19 and 20: ConclusionWhile the current situati
Page 21 and 22: Justice Albie Sachs| 15
Page 23: | 17
Page 26 and 27: Tuesday, 24 April 200709h00 - 09h30
Page 28 and 29: Institution Last Name First Name Co
Page 34 and 35: Appendix 4: Regional Archival Platf
Page 36 and 37: The interaction is aimed at improvi
Page 38: AcknowledgementsConference Organisi

Archives at the Crossroads 2007 - Nelson Mandela Foundation

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