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From Archaeologist to Archivist

Exploring the Research Potential, Content, and Management of a Moving Image Archive

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2017

Kelly Wiltshire
Kelly Wiltshire*
Affiliation:
Collection Development and Management—Moving Image, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia ([email protected])
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Abstract

Moving image archives—like many other archives—are considered a passive repository of knowledge extraction, rather than an active site of knowledge production. Following the premise that archives are indeed a source of knowledge production, this article explores how moving image archives have the potential to produce new and alternative knowledges by bringing to light factors that may have influenced archaeological practice, factors captured within a moving image archive but obscured or marginalized within linear accounts of this practice. While such an archive may exist unevenly, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) has been historically positioned to develop a moving image archive that features a number of well-known archaeological investigations. Yet this archive and similar moving image archives remain overlooked and underutilized resources. In order to address this, emphasis is placed on producing detailed, searchable, and retrievable content description for moving image archives. In doing so, this article maintains that the knowledge and experience brought to the management of this archive following the author's transition “from archaeologist to archivist,” is key to promoting the discoverability and accessibility of this archive with potential clients in the archaeological, academic, and broader community.

Los archivos de imágenes en movimiento—como muchos otros archivos—se consideran repositorios pasivos de extracción de conocimiento más que sitios activos de producción de conocimiento. Siguiendo la premisa que los archivos son realmente una fuente de producción de conocimiento, este artículo explora el potencial que tienen los archivos de imágenes en movimiento para producir conocimientos nuevos y alternativos, poniendo en evidencia factores que pueden haber influido en la práctica arqueológica—factores capturados dentro de un archivo de imágenes en movimiento pero oscurecidos o marginados dentro de las explicaciones lineales de esta práctica—. Aunque tal archivo puede existir de manera desigual, el Instituto Australiano de Estudios Aborígenes e Isleños del Estrecho de Torres (AIATSIS por sus siglas en inglés) ha tenido el rol histórico de desarrollar un archivo de imágenes en movimiento que cuenta con una serie de conocidas investigaciones arqueológicas. Sin embargo, este archivo y otros parecidos siguen siendo recursos demasiado vistos pero poco utilizados. Con el fin de abordar este problema, se hace hincapié en la producción de descripciones de contenido detalladas, consultables y recuperables para archivos de imágenes en movimiento. Este artículo afirma que el conocimiento y la experiencia aportados a la gestión de este archivo después de la transición del autor “de arqueólogo a archivista” son clave para promover la detección y accesibilidad de este archivo a potenciales clientes en el ámbito arqueológico, académico y en la comunidad en general.

Type
Articles
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 5 , Special Issue 3: FOR THE RECORD: ARCHAEOLOGICAL ARCHIVES IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY , August 2017 , pp. 289 - 296
Copyright
Copyright 2017 © Society for American Archaeology 

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