Discussion on the Power & Considerations of Archives
Archives are to many seen as boring, archaic filing systems where irrelevant documents are stored when they are no longer of use. Yawns of derision usually meet the over-stylised library basement scenes in documentary films. However, with the digitisation of many of these archives, new tools and techniques are coming to the fore to bring them to life in new ways and extract the often very useful and important accounts they hold.
István Rév, a political scientist and historian and a central figure in the open access movement, believes archives are now essential to understanding the development or history of an individual or a collective past. Their role has developed from the boring to the revealing and, thus, they have become a target for the shedding of light on historical events, people and institutions. For Rév, it is unfortunately not as easy as simply opening up historical archives to the public. The privacy of individuals and corporations must be respected, intellectual property and copyright restrictions must be factored in and constraints such as national security and secrecy provisions may hinder openness. This web of overlapping and often contradicting rights and responsibilities makes the job of opening up access to archival information extremely difficult.
Yet, it is still imperative. Firstly, access to one’s own information is now seen as “a natural part of the widening concept of basic human rights”. With the adoption of GDPR regulations and the setting of a best practice for personal data and privacy rights, many of the largest corporations in the world are having to rethink their business models. These business models revolved around data mining and targeted advertising. Tim Worstall asserted that “if something is free, it must be you that is being sold”. With these concepts becoming widely known in civil society, privacy and personal data rights have strengthened and in many ways this stands in the way of open access to archives of data. Hurdle number one.
If something is free, it must be you that is being sold.
Tom Worstall
The imperative remains. Basic individual data aside, the concept of open access is now understood to be the unimpeded right of access to any documents of political, historical or cultural significance. Those documents that have been produced with direct or indirect public funding or that document important historical events are now seen as a public good. This becomes even more important in the aftermath of a regressive regime or abhorrent human catastrophe. Documentation of reprehensible events cannot only lead to prosecution but can serve as a small glimmer of light to those that lived through it. Again this does not come without its challenges. The protection of third parties that happen to be mentioned in documents becomes vital importance. Wrongdoing committed on a system level does not necessarily mean wrongdoing at a specific individual level. This need to balance the public with individual rights can slow or even prevent the opening of archives. Hurdle number two.
Where does the imperative lie? More accurately with who does the imperative lie? Rév argues that the institutions that hold the archives have a duty to balance this web of interests. These institutions in many jurisdictions have a legal obligation to protect the identities of individuals and apply copywrite and secrecy laws to the access rules of their archives. However, it is the second imperative – public good – where things are more difficult. Institutions must have it as a founding goal to release the largest amount of data that they can to the public without endangering individuals or intellectual property.
In Ireland, we’ve seen through the scandals around Mother and Baby Homes and other state institutions, the lasting effects secrecy, restriction and active suppression of documents can have on individuals and families for generations. Adopted children being unable to access their own information and birth families the same. As we move forward, these lessons must teach us that balancing rights and responsibilities takes active involvement and thought and baking this process into our archives has the power to protect, reveal and even inspire.
