In general, community archives are grass-roots documentary initiatives built around a broadly defined community, which collect, preserve, describe and provide access to historical sources concerning a previously chosen topic, e.g. local history and traditions, a social movement, a minority, an ethnic group, an event or a person. The phenomenon of community archiving is not new, but only several years ago it started to be described by scholars in Poland.The article describes educational activities performed by two biggest and most influential community archives in Poland: the KARTA Centre Foundation in Warsaw and the General Elżbieta Zawacka Foundation in Toruń. Actions of these archives are shown referring to general understanding of education in historical archives, as well as specific situation of Polish archives, especially their mission to promote historical knowledge and local identity. Also promotional qualities of educational endeavours in archives are stressed.
The Archival Science journal in the years 2011–2020 – an analysis of research papers Archival Science is currently the most important archive journal, published in English since 2001. The aim of this article is to analyse articles published in that journal in the years 2011–2020. Four types of issues were analysed: the authors’ affiliations, geographical characteristics of articles, research methods and the subject of the published texts. As a result, it was noted that authors of articles come mostly from English-speaking countries (which confirms the trend from the years 2001–2010, studied by Eric Ketelaar in 2010) and when the subject of an article focuses on a specific geographical area, it concerns English-speaking countries as well. It was observed that many research articles do not present specific research methods and those that do mention not only traditional methods, such as archival research and a literature review, but also methods characteristic of social sciences (e.g. an interview, observation, survey). Ten most popular subjects described in the analysed texts include: digital issues, the underprivileged, state archives and documentation, the history of archives, human rights, decolonisation, ethics, preparing archival materials, social archives, the profession of an archivist and documentation manager.
The article presents detailed description of methods of arrangement and description of archival materials in three community archives from Poland: the Foundation of General Elżbieta Zawacka, the Association “History Tellers from the Lower City in Gdańsk”, and the Civic Archive in Podkowa Leśna. Information presented in the article are part of a research project entitled “Community archives in Poland: multiple case study” (2016–2019). Research data was collected during field studies, using methods of semi-structured interviews, on-site direct observations, and desk research. The article also provides information about the context of operation of contemporary community archives in Poland, especially the phenomenon of professionalization of community archives and its impact on methods of their archival work. As a key finding, the study stresses the importance of knowing the community archive’s context in understanding its archival practices.
Impact of Project Financing on the Operation of Community Archives as a Possible Research Problem Community archives are grassroots documentative initiatives including the collection, storage, development, and sharing of archival materials. The paper contains a description of the project-based activities of six community archives. The data was obtained through interviews, observation, and analysis of secondary sources. The issue of the projectification of the work of community archives was included in the research project as a by-product, when it emerged while the author was exploring the research questions concerning the employees of community archives as well as how such initiatives are funded and what challenges they have to face. In the archives under examination, the issue of projectification appears in the context of how it impacts employment and archivist works and what problems are generated by project management.
Following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, millions of refugees have fled Ukraine for safety in neighbouring countries, including Poland. This movement of people has been facilitated by, and has produced, documentation that will have significant afterlives as evidence and memory. The records refugees have carried with them, the records they have made during flight, and the records created in their encounters with states and communities beyond their homeland, will be important in the prosecution of war crimes, the reconstruction of events, the reconstitution of communities and the protection of rights and entitlements. This article sets out the findings of a pilot study into the documentary experiences of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Interviews conducted by and with Ukrainian refugees consider the removal of records, the documentation of the refugee experience, the documentary requirements of border crossings, and the informational requirements of life beyond the border. Although drawing on a limited study population, the research surfaces some significant issues related to the preservation of memory and culture, exclusionary and hostile government information systems, and research ethics. This article could help to inform archival solidarity with Ukraine; it underscores the need for trauma-informed archival research and practice; and finally suggests the need for a person-centered approach to this work.
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