Reappraising archival practice in light of the new social history

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between historiography and archival practices. It takes the new social history approach to history as a case study for examining how historians' changing theories and methods may affect solicitation, acquisition, appraisal, arrangement, description, reference, outreach, and other aspects of archival administration. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a review of the archival and historical literature since the late 1970s. Findings The paper finds that many aspects of archival administration have been and continue to be affected by the new social history trend in historical scholarship. The paper suggests that archivists and archival educators be trained in historiography as a way to understand historians' craft and develop strong documentation strategies to anticipate future archival needs. Research limitations/implications Because the paper is primarily a literature review, it does not test real‐life examples or case studies that would be useful in understanding the relationship between historians and archivists. Practical implications The paper includes implications for the development of archival administration and education strategies. Originality/value The paper draws from a range of literature to consider the impact of scholarly practices on professional archival work.

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