In issue 86.2 of American Archivist, Makala Skinner shares results from the A*CENSUS II: Archives Administrators Survey Report; Dana Reijerkerk and Caterina M. Reed evaluate whether decolonial archival work in the United States has helped or hindered Indigenous access to records; and Pam Hackbart-Dean, Leanna Barcelona, and Anne Marie Hamilton-Brehm investigate current policies and practices around managing online exhibits. In addition, contributors review seven books that consider born-digital design records, the Anthropodermic Book Project, and more.
This issue also features a Special Section, edited by Sumayya Ahmed and Rebecca Hankins, on Middle Eastern and North African archives. The section contains seven articles on a diverse range of topics, including a case study in counter-archiving, an argument for the redescription of the Middle East Institute’s Colbert Held Archive, and introductions from each of the co-editors of this special section.
On the Cover: A man looks north from a housetop and over Tangier to the Kasaba (Citadel) in Morocco. The photo is part of this issue’s Special Section on archives in the Middle East and Africa (MENA), which highlights the value of archival collections in this region as well as related records kept at institutions in North American and Europe. As co-editor Sumayya Ahmed writes in her introduction, the articles in this section ask archivists “to reconsider the role of place and people in the making of archival collections and the meaning-making work of archives.” Read her introduction to learn more. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC.
American Archivist 86.2 (Fall/Winter 2023)
Table of Contents
From the Editor
- It's a Conversation
Amy Cooper Cary
A*CENSUS II
- A*CENSUS II: Archives Administrators Survey Report
Makala Skinner
From the Special Section Co-Editors
- Appreciating the Archives and Archival Thinking of the Middle East and North Africa
Sumayya Ahmed - Centering the Archives of the Middle East and North Africa
Rebecca Hankins, C.A.
Special Section: Middle Eastern and North African Archives
- Activating Personal Counter-Archives: The Case of the Amir Hassanpour Fonds
Mahdi Ganjavi - KHOYA: Jewish Morocco Sound Archive: Sounds, Voices, Memories, and Cognitive Rupture
Vanessa Paloma Elbaz - Locating Arab Americans in Greater Detroit: An Overview of MENA Archives in Southeast Michigan
Alexis Braun Marks, Mason Christensen, Amanda Ford, Steven Gentry, Ashley Johnson Bavery, and Matthew Jaber Stiffler - Beyond the Frame: Toward a Collection-Level Redescription of the Colbert Held Archive
Ryan Zohar - The Counter-Archive: Eluding the Erasures of Iraq's Successive Wars
Amin Alsaden - The Absence of National Archives and Legislation: The Vacuum of Records and Archives Management in Kuwait
Sakena A. Al-Alawi - What's in a Name? Archives and Special Collections at American Research Institutions in the Middle East: Repositories at the American University of Beirut, the American University in Cairo, the American Center of Research in Jordan, and New York University Abu Dhabi
Brad Bauer, Samar Mikati Kaissi, Ryder Kouba, and Stephen Urgola
Articles
- "Archival Mentalities," Multiculturalism, and the Canadian Context: Identifying the Value and Impact of the Ontario Jewish Archives
Yoonhee Lee, Henria Aton, Donna Bernardo-Ceriz, and Wendy Duff - "Primary Sources Belong in a Library but in a Special Place": Corporate Identity and User Perspective on the Positioning of Archives in Academic Libraries
Ashley Todd-Diaz - Archival Reckonings: Confronting White Supremacy in the Digital Transgender Archive
K. J. Rawson - Archives, Decolonization, and the Politics of Tribal Sovereignty: An Examination of Accessibility Barriers to Indigenous Federal Recognition Research in the United States
Dana Reijerkerk and Caterina M. Reed - Emerging Best Practices for Managing Online Exhibits: Survey Report
Pam Hackbart-Dean, Leanna Barcelona, and Anne Marie Hamilton-Brehm - Innovation and Collaboration at the National Library of Medicine: Migrating Profiles in Science to a New Digital Platform for Development, Preservation, and Public Access
Jennifer Gilbert, Christie Moffatt, Jeffrey S. Reznick, and Doron Shalvi - Wikipedia Pages for Underrepresented Archivists: Creating Representation through an SAA Foundation Grant-Funded Documentation Project
Stephanie Collier and April Anderson-Zorn
Reviews
- The Meaning of Archives
Rose Buchanan and Stephanie Luke - Minds Alive: Libraries and Archives Now
Edited by Patricia A. Demers and Toni Samek
Reviewed by Becky White - Archives in the Digital Age: Preservation and the Right to Be Forgotten
Abderrazak Mkadmi
Reviewed by Josh Hogan - Born-Digital Design Records
Edited by Samantha Winn
Reviewed by Andi Altenbach - Archives 101
Lois Hamill
Reviewed by Christina Wolak - Thriving as a Mid-Career Librarian: Identity, Advocacy, and Pathways
Edited by Brandon K. West and Elizabeth Galoozis
Reviewed by Caryn Radick - Disputed Archival Heritage
Edited by James Lowry
Reviewed by Mpho Ngoepe - Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin
Megan Rosenbloom
Reviewed by Alissa Matheny Helms
Love what you’ve read? Share it with a friend or colleague!
Interested in writing an article or review? Check out American Archivist's submission guidelines.