Gunn, Chelsea
(2020)
Unruly Records: Personal Archives, Sociotechnical Infrastructure, and Archival Practice.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Personal records have long occupied a complicated space within archival theory and practice. The archival profession, as it is practiced in the United States today, developed with organizational records, such as those created by governments and businesses, in mind. Personal records were considered to fall beyond the bounds of archival work and were primarily cared for by libraries and other cultural heritage institutions. Since the mid-20th century, this divide has become less pronounced, and it has become common to find personal records within archival institutions. As a result of these conditions in the development of the profession, the archivists who work with personal records have had to reconcile the specific characteristics of personal materials with theoretical and practical approaches that were designed not only to accommodate organizational records but to explicitly exclude personal records.
These conditions have been further complicated by the continually changing technological landscape in which personal records are now created. As ownership of personal computers, access to the World Wide Web, and the use of networked social platforms have grown, personal records have increasingly come to be created, stored, and accessed within complex socio-technical systems. The infrastructures that support personal digital record creation today precipitate new methods and strategies, and an abundance of new questions, for the archivists who are responsible for collecting and preserving digital cultural heritage.
This dissertation considers how both the history of excluding personal records in the archival profession and the socio-technical systems that support contemporary personal record creation impact archival practice today. This research considers archival approaches to working with personal records created within three environments: personal computers, the open web, and networked social platforms. Ultimately, this dissertation seeks to reevaluate the role that personal records have previously occupied, and to center the personal in archival practice today.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
26 August 2020 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
27 July 2020 |
| Approval Date: |
26 August 2020 |
| Submission Date: |
7 August 2020 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
241 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Computing and Information > Library and Information Science |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
archives, personal archives, digital archives |
| Date Deposited: |
26 Aug 2020 16:01 |
| Last Modified: |
26 Aug 2020 16:01 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/39581 |
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