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The Symbolic Significance of Archives

Author(s) -

James O’Toole

Publication year - 1993

Publication title -

the american archivist

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

eISSN - 2327-9702

pISSN - 0360-9081

DOI - 10.17723/aarc.56.2.e481x55xg3x04201

Subject(s) - the symbolic , reverence , meaning (existential) , hatred , historical record , symbolic data analysis , history , computer science , epistemology , law , psychology , political science , philosophy , art history , psychoanalysis , politics , memoir , theoretical computer science

Although most archival records are created to accomplish a practical, utilitarian purpose, this essay explores some of the more "symbolic" aspects of recordmaking and recordkeeping. It argues that archivists should understand such issues as: the mixture of practical and symbolic values in records; the effects of symbolic meaning on the forms that records take; the occasions when the act of recordmaking is more significant than the record itself; the ceremonial uses of records; and both the reverence for and the hatred of records as objects.

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