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Describing the archive: preservation of space, time and discontinuity in photographic sequences

Describing the archive: preservation of space, time and discontinuity in photographic sequences
Describing the archive: preservation of space, time and discontinuity in photographic sequences
The important relationship between the material arrangement of the archive and its accompanying catalogue is discussed and rationalised from a position inside the institution, from where I argue that an understanding of physical and contextual relationships between interconnecting units is critical to the spatiotemporal understanding of the archived image. The archive catalogue list is determined by the original order of the archive material and is subsequently central to the maintenance of order, functioning as ‘detector’ and ‘effector’ (Hood and Margetts 2007). There is a consideration of the comparatively new concept of original order from its development in the late 1880s publication known as the ‘Dutch Manual’. This manual for archivists emphasised recordkeeping without anticipating specific future use, a methodology that still persists today. The diachronic nature of archival ordering systems, dependant as it is on collection and use by original owners, is examined alongside important questions of narrativity and storytelling in photographic collections.
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Birkin, Jane
30ada6e1-9603-4a9c-9159-8297758817fe
Birkin, Jane
30ada6e1-9603-4a9c-9159-8297758817fe

Birkin, Jane (2016) Describing the archive: preservation of space, time and discontinuity in photographic sequences. Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA-PGN, 9 (5), 1-19.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The important relationship between the material arrangement of the archive and its accompanying catalogue is discussed and rationalised from a position inside the institution, from where I argue that an understanding of physical and contextual relationships between interconnecting units is critical to the spatiotemporal understanding of the archived image. The archive catalogue list is determined by the original order of the archive material and is subsequently central to the maintenance of order, functioning as ‘detector’ and ‘effector’ (Hood and Margetts 2007). There is a consideration of the comparatively new concept of original order from its development in the late 1880s publication known as the ‘Dutch Manual’. This manual for archivists emphasised recordkeeping without anticipating specific future use, a methodology that still persists today. The diachronic nature of archival ordering systems, dependant as it is on collection and use by original owners, is examined alongside important questions of narrativity and storytelling in photographic collections.

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Accepted/In Press date: 4 May 2016
Published date: July 2016
Organisations: Winchester School of Art

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 398706
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/398706
PURE UUID: e351271d-0950-4dac-9f6c-0b3de25574a4
ORCID for Jane Birkin: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6025-9300

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Date deposited: 01 Aug 2016 09:33
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:58

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