“Archives in Context and as Context” in Journal of Digital Humanities

I was very pleased to be asked to contribute a piece to the Journal of Digital Humanities. They wanted something that would expand on the discussion on this blog about the use of the phrase “archival silences,” which was itself a follow up on the discussion about the use of the word “archives.” In the course of writing it and responding to thoughtful feedback from wise friends, I decided to drop the archival silences angle and just tackle the use of the word “archives” head on. This certainly isn’t all that could be said about archives for a digital humanities audience, but it’s a start. The most important thing is for archivists to get actively involved in the digital humanities, particularly those people working in college and university settings. I’m a big believer in the potential work in the digital humanities has for bringing archival and special collections material to life. If you want to read something to get you inspired, look no further than “What Is Digital Humanities and What’s it Doing in the Library?” by Micah Vandegrift. I wish I had written something like that. But I took a different route. I wrote “Archives in Context and as Context.” I’m sure people will have opinions about it. I look forward to hearing them.

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