MEDIA AND THE ARCHIVE: Motions and Transformations

The Power of the Archive by Heather Duncan

Throughout this course, Media + the Archives: Motions and Transformations, I have truly seen and experienced the deep importance of the archives more than ever before. The archives both connect us and preserve us. Now, with the emergence of digital technologies, the ability to archive and preserve has grown and continues to evolve at a rapid pace. While I saw how the increased accessibility of digital technologies creates greater accessibility for creation and exploration of the archives I began to also see the difficulties we face in this digital age with regard to organization, longevity of preservation and archival accessibility.

With the modern technologies of today at our finger tips, we have all now become keepers of our own digital archives in one way or another. However, as keepers of the archives, we need to understand the incredibly responsibility that comes with this archival power. As accessibility through digitally expands so too does the limitations of accessibility of the archives because of a lack of organization. Without proper organization and classification of components of the archives the information is lost among a sea of endless data. 

We also need to be aware and sensitive to the ongoing evolution of technologies to be sure that the archives we are creating adapt to future platforms so that longevity of the archives is sustained. 

As the power we hold as individual archivists begins to grow there is increasing importance on our own understanding of the archival process, its benefits, its repercussions and its power. 

Now, more than ever before, we all have an obligation to be wise and respectful of the power of digital archivization we hold in our hands. The more we know about the archives the more effectively we can create them and archive in such a way as to contribute to the present and to the future with wisdom and understanding.