Relational and person-centred approaches to archival practice and education

Abstract

In 2013 Terry Cook identified four paradigms that have shaped archival theory and praxis over the last 150 years: evidence, cultural memory, societal engagement and identity and community.  More recently, Jennifer Douglas, Mya Ballin, and Sadaf Ahmadbeigi (2021) have identified a fifth emerging paradigm, Person-Centred Archival Theory and Praxis. Person-centred approaches to archival science shifts the discussion from a focus on records to a focus on “the people that create, keep, use and/or are represented in records.”  This paper argues that a person-centred approach to archival theory and praxis must acknowledge the deep emotional impact of working with records, record keeping and the people who create and use archives.