Archivist: friend or foe?

To collaborate or not to collaborate, that is the question

Public archives in east and southern Africa are functioning in a competitive information environment. Institutions such as libraries and museums also offer information, but fewer people utilise public archives. More effort is required to make archives a part of the daily lives of citizens in east and southern Africa. This study sought to explore whether or not public archives should collaborate with other information providers in their mission to increase social interaction with the archives. Directors of National Archives, archivists and members of the East and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA) Board were invited to shed light on their experiences and views regarding collaboration in outreach initiatives. The directors completed a questionnaire, while the archivists and board members participated in face-to-face interviews. Country reports from the different ESARBICA member states were also reviewed. The findings indicate that collaboration in outreach initiatives took place to a certain extent, but libraries and museums were rarely part of this. This paper recommends that public archives play a stronger role in collaborative efforts to improve their visibility and widen their outreach to the public in east and southern Africa. The findings provide an overview on collaborative outreach projects from the perspective of selected archivists from this region, and therefore cannot be generalised to represent the common views of this entire region.

We are archivists, but are we OK?

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show that the digital environment of the early twenty‐first century is forcing the information sciences to revisit practices and precepts built around paper and physical objects over centuries. The training of archivists, records managers, librarians and museum curators has had to accommodate this new reality. Often the response has been to superimpose a digital overlay on existing curricula. A few have taken a radical approach by scrutinising the fundamentals of the professions and the ontologies of the materials they handle.

Design/methodology/approach

The article explores a wide range of the issues exposed by this critique through critical analysis of ideas and published literature.

Findings

The authors challenge archive and records management educators to align their curricula with contemporary need and to recognise that partnership with other professionals, particularly in the area of technology, is essential.

Practical implications

The present generation owe it to future generations of archivists and records managers to ensure that the education that they get to prepare them for professional life is forward‐looking in the same way.

Originality/value

This paper aims to raise awareness of the educational needs of twenty‐first century archives and records professionals.