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A call to rethink archival creation: exploring types of creation in personal archives

Archival Science volume 18, pages 29–49 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

The concept of creatorship is central to archival theory, as evidenced in archival description, which focuses on the relation of the material described to a single, named creator. Despite its centrality to the discipline and profession, the concept of archival creation is under-theorized and oversimplified. This article builds on recent discussion in the archival discipline regarding the need to expand the principle of provenance by exploring methods of archival creation in the archives of Canadian and American writers. It argues for a broader understanding of the types of agents and processes that create an archive over time and suggests that despite being centered on the concept of creation, the archival discipline has only begun to scratch the surface of the possibilities contained in it.

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Notes

  1. [David Weir], note to Rare Books and Special Collections staff. This note is in the accession file for the Douglas Coupland fonds and is made available to researchers upon request.

  2. For example, the Canadian descriptive standard Rules for Archival Description (RAD) instructs archivists to record in the custodial history field “the successive transfers of ownership and custody or control of the material, along with the dates, thereof, insofar as it can be ascertained,” and includes a footnote advising archivists not to “confuse information given in the Administrative history/Biographical sketch of the creator of the unit with the history of its custody.” Rules for Archival Description, Rule 1.7C.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is a revised version of a chapter of my doctoral dissertation (Douglas 2012). I wish to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and York University (through the Kent Haworth Archival Research Fellowship) for their financial support. I also wish to gratefully acknowledge the expertise and graciousness of the 13 archivists and librarians who consented to share their expertise with me: Kathy Garay (McMaster University), Catherine Hobbs (Library and Archives Canada), Heather Home (Queen’s University Archives), Richard Landon (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto), Michael Moosberger (University Archives, Dalhousie University), Monique Ostiguy (Library and Archives Canada), Tony Power (Special Collections and Rare Books, Simon Fraser University), John Shoesmith (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto), Carl Spadoni (William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University), Appollonia Steele (Archives and Special Collections, University of Calgary), Shelley Sweeney (Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba), Jean Tener (Archives and Special Collections, University of Calgary) and Jennifer Toews (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto). Finally, I am grateful to the peer reviewers whose comments helped me to strengthen my arguments and write a better paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Jennifer Douglas

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  1. Jennifer Douglas
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Correspondence to Jennifer Douglas.

Appendix: List of archives consulted

Appendix: List of archives consulted

Margaret Atwood fonds. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. University of Toronto Libraries. Toronto, Ontario.

Douglas Coupland fonds. Rare Books and Special Collections. University of British Columbia Libraries. Vancouver, British Columbia.

Marian Engel fonds. The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections. McMaster University Libraries. Hamilton, Ontario.

Margaret Laurence fonds. Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections. York University Libraries. Toronto, Ontario.

Dorothy Livesay fonds. Archives and Special Collections. University of Manitoba Libraries. Winnipeg, Manitoba.

L.M. Montgomery collection. Archival and Special Collections. University of Guelph Libraries. Guelph, Ontario.

Alice Munro fonds. Archives and Special Collections. University of Calgary Libraries. Calgary, Alberta.

Sylvia Plath collection. Mortimer Rare Book Room. Smith College Libraries. Northampton, Massachusetts.

Sylvia Plath collection MSS II. Lilly Library. Indiana University Libraries. Bloomington, Indiana.

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Douglas, J. A call to rethink archival creation: exploring types of creation in personal archives. Arch Sci 18, 29–49 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-018-9285-8

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