Identity palimpsests : archiving ethnicity in the U.S. and Canada / edited by Dominique Daniel and Amalia S. Levi.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Daniel, Dominique, editor.

Levi, Amalia S., editor.

Series:

Series on archives, archivists and society.

Series on Archives, Archivists and Society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ethnological archives--United States.

Ethnological archives.

Ethnological archives--Canada.

Ethnology--United States--Archives.

Ethnology.

Ethnology--Canada States--Archives.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Sacramento, California : Litwin Books, 2013.

Summary:

Identity Palimpsests assesses the ways ethnic identities and other forms of belonging are affected by current practices in ethnic archiving. The book begins with an overview of the evolution of the ways ethnic organizations and communities have collected, preserved and provided access to their heritage. It then goes on to examine contemporary practices and theories in the context of a cultural heritage sector that is today defined by the digital medium and the Web. Institutions involved in ethnic archiving include libraries, archives and museums that document the history immigration and ethnicity in the United States and Canada. Archival science has long challenged the image of the archivist as a neutral guardian of the historical record and recognized her role as an active shaper of archives, but historians have yet to discuss implications for historical research. This book is designed to bring new theoretical insight into the impact of this challenge on ethnic archiving, to suggest ways historians are affected, and to begin to study implications for the archivist's practice. The book also innovates by exploring the impact that archivists have on the very ethnic identities they are trying to preserve. The book's intended audience includes cultural heritage professionals, iSchools and Library Science schools' students and faculty, and historians. While the book deals with heritage institutions in the U.S. and Canada, it appeals to an international audience.

Contents:

Intro

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction: From Containing to Shaping to Performing Ethnicity in Archives

Section One Theorizing Ethnicity In the 21st Century

Documenting Communities Through the Lens of Collective Memory

Inventing New Archival Imaginaries: Theoretical Foundations for Identity-Based Community Archives

Section Two Setting the stage: Personal reflections

Building Ethnic Archives in the United States and Canada since the 1960s

Documenting Departure: A Reflection on the Role of Emigration Research in the Development of Ethnic Archives

Section Three Toward Culturally Sensitive Archiving

Archiving "From Below": Preserving, Problematizing and Democratizing the Collective Memory of Portuguese Canadians - the Portuguese Canadian History Project

If We Knew Then What We Know Now: Applying Lessons from Past Eras of Ethnic Archiving Collection Development to Contemporary Practice

Language, Identity and Archives

Respect, Recognition, and Reciprocity:

No Bottleneck Here: The Role of Physical and Cultural Place, and the Necessity of Cooperation in Finnish-American Archival Collections

Local and Translocal Belonging: The Comparative Case Study of a Puerto Rican Archives

The Collaborative Archive from the African Diaspora: Access and Outreach

Section Four Creating and Re-Creating Identities

"The Unshaven," "The Unwashed" and the "Closed Society": Re(re)membering Freedom Summer

Straight from the Community? Canada's Community Historical Recognition Program and the Creation of Digital Archives

'You Know You From Champaign-Urbana': An Ethnography of Localized African-American Archiving Initiatives

Documenting the Arab American Experience: Identity and Community in the Archival Context

Section Five Archiving Ethnicity on the Web.

DigiBaeck, The Digital Archives of the Leo Baeck Institute, German-Jewish History Online

Hacking A Museum: Asian American Digital Life as Archive

Toward Digital Diasporas: The Case of Somali Youth

Migrant Memories in the Ephemeral Digital Age: The Case of the Basque Institutional Diaspora in North America

Contributors

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-63400-010-2

OCLC:

908989019