According to the Dictionary of Archives Terminology, archives can be defined as “records created or received by a person, family, or organization and preserved because of their continuing value.” They exist in many forms: digital websites, books, museums, academic institutions, among others.
These records can serve a variety of purposes in society such as 1) preserving memory and identity, 2) supporting governance and legal rights, 3) democratizing access to knowledge, and 4) enabling scholarship and innovation.
By archiving information, we can make sure that the memory of a society, its identity, and its history endures the test of time. Additionally, archives can provide evidence for legal processes and protect people’s rights by ensuring a copy of important documents exist in writing. Not only that but archives fuel academic research by enabling people to deepen their understanding of culture and history. With the increased amount of information available, these records also promote transparency and accessibility to information.
In Jennifer S. Milligan’s literary work, “What is an Archive? In the History of Modern France,” she shows the audience an example of how archives play a central role in shaping national memory and identity. During the French revolution, revolutionaries established a national repository for state records, the Archives Nationales. The establishment of these records in 1790 marked a break from the centralization of documents to be kept by their own respective institutions, often causing loss or disorganized information. As the French revolutionary government passed more laws that centralized pre-Revolution private and public archives, they realized the importance of these collections for legal, administrative, and historical purposes. Archives could not only help secure property rights, but also government accountability, and continuing the narrative of the nation’s memory.
Control over archives means control over what is remembered, forgotten, or erased. It dictates the memory and perspectives of future scholars who stumble upon its related information.