AustLit

'The First World War (1914–1918) produced an explosion of record making and record keeping, from state agencies conducting a war of unparalleled scale, to individuals and families producing testaments of experience which also often became objects of remembrance and memorialisation. The effort to document has a history; so too does the determination – or otherwise – to retain those records, organise and describe them, and provide for or otherwise deny access to them. In turn, the ways in which contemporaries recorded and then archived the First World War have powerfully shaped the kinds of histories produced over the last century. The war was being recorded and archived as it happened – and for decades after – for particular reasons and particular purposes. The processes of recording and archiving have bequeathed in different times and places alternately a very rich, very partial, and very prejudiced record of conflict and its legacies. This special issue of Archives and Manuscripts grew out of a gathering of scholars in Melbourne in 2018. The conference, hosted by the International Society for First World War Studies, took as its theme ‘Recording, narrating and archiving the First World War’. Our selection of papers from that conference revisits the creation, recreation and transmission of knowledge about the war. Together, a series of archivists and historians investigate the ways in which a war that has been so critical not only to defining the modern world, but also individual and cultural identities, has been shaped and reshaped by those who produced and archived its record for a century since 1914.' (Bart Ziino & Anne-Marie Condé, Editorial introduction)

'On 2 April 2019, the Victorian Branch of the Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) and Monash University organised a panel discussion on the relationships between research, education and professional practice in the Australian recordkeeping field. The panellists included Catherine Nicholls, Records Manager at Monash University and part-time doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education and Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University; Katherine Jarvie, Assistant Director, Information Management and Archives at RMIT and part-time doctoral student at Monash University; Wenting Lyu, PhD student in archival science at the School of Information Management, Nanjing University and visiting PhD student in the Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University; James Hill, recent graduate and 2018 Margaret Jennings Award recipient; and myself as the new General Editor for Archives and Manuscripts.'  (Editorial introduction)

'This special issue of articles emerged from presentations delivered at the 2017 Information Technologies and Indigenous Communities (ITIC) Symposium, which was convened by Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker for the Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) in conjunction with the 2017 ASA Annual Conference at the University of Melbourne. It was also held in conjunction with the 16th Symposium on Indigenous Music and Dance of the National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia (NRPIPA) convened by Professor Aaron Corn.' (Lyndon Ormond-Parker and Aaron Corn : Introduction : Information technologies and Indigenous communities)

'Alongside the production of this issue of the journal, I have been preparing a chapter for an edited volume about the impact of World War I on the universities and professions in Australia. Absent from the volume is a chapter about the archival profession, which is understandable given the more recent history of the profession in Australia from the 1950s.' (Editorial introduction)

'This issue presents a number of articles and reflections about some women’s archives from the perspectives of some archivists, activists and researchers. It addresses some major, significant and challenging archival and research projects relating to women’s archives. Most of the settings for the archives discussed in this issue could be described as ‘traditional’ archives among whose primary purposes is to support research.' (Katrina Dean Editorial introduction)

'This issue of Archives and Manuscripts, centred on the theme of radical recordkeeping, was designed with two aims in mind. The first was to present a selection of papers that suggest the creativity, range, and breadth of current conversations in archival scholarship and practice, and that are also linked to radical departures in thinking, in content, and in approach. The second was to connect Australian recordkeeping, past and present, with the growing, diverse scholarship and practice that continues to evolve around records, challenges, and radical solutions.' (Introduction)

'Appended to the obituary of Dr Sigrid McCausland published in this issue is an impressive bibliography of her publications. Among these is a 2012 review article published in this journal surveying its content since the inception of Archives and Manuscripts (A&M) in 1955.¹1. S. McCausland, ‘Archives and Manuscripts: A Window into Australian Archival Writing, 1955–2011’, Archives and Manuscripts, vol. 40, no. 3, 2012, pp. 122–35,  This provided an informative and insightful context for receiving feedback from readers about A&M in the recent survey of members and readers. I would like to thank all 226 individuals who took the time to complete the survey and provide this valuable feedback. The A&M sub-committee of the Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) is developing a position paper about the future of the journal for members’ consideration informed in part by the results of the recent survey. Members will be consulted once again before any decision is reached. For now, I can report on what some members would like to read in the journal.' (Editorial)

'Archives have always been changing, but in recent times the changes have been quite profound and seemingly accelerated, both in Australia and around the world, in theory and in practice. Much of this can probably be attributed, in one way or another, to the ongoing disruptive effects of the Internet and its many derivatives. It is unsurprising then that the online world features prominently in the articles of this issue, shaping and channelling many of the challenges that archivists are contending with in their contemporary practice. ' (Introduction)