Archives, records, and information
This paper is a lightly revised version of a talk that I gave as part of the seminar cycle Rethinking the Archive(s) / Repensar o(s) Arquivo(s) in Lisbon in March 2024. The organisers of the seminar asked me to speak about three terms that are central to our professional discourse: archives, record...
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Coimbra University Press
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Boletim do Arquivo da Universidade de Coimbra |
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| Online Access: | https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/boletimauc/article/view/15654 |
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| author | Geoffrey Yeo |
| author_facet | Geoffrey Yeo |
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This paper is a lightly revised version of a talk that I gave as part of the seminar cycle Rethinking the Archive(s) / Repensar o(s) Arquivo(s) in Lisbon in March 2024. The organisers of the seminar asked me to speak about three terms that are central to our professional discourse: archives, records, and information. These terms give rise to a number of questions that I sought to address. What are the concepts that underlie them? How might they be related? How are the terms used in different languages and how are they understood in different linguistic cultures? Is there still a place for distinct understandings of archives and records in a world increasingly dominated by ideas about information? In attempting to answer these questions, it seems best to begin by considering the terms themselves. Each of them has a diverse range of meanings, and this paper aims to examine how the three words have been used in the past as well as how they are understood today. It begins by discussing historical and current understandings of archives. It examines the origins of the word records, its transformation from a purely Anglophone to a largely global term, and the challenges that arise in translating records from English into other languages. It then considers how ideas about information intersect with our comprehension of records and archives, and offers some concluding thoughts on the importance of records and record-keeping in the digital era of the twenty-first century.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-937d693629694acbbbc5e9c5bae32dd4 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0872-5632 2182-7974 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Coimbra University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Boletim do Arquivo da Universidade de Coimbra |
| spelling | doaj-art-937d693629694acbbbc5e9c5bae32dd42025-08-20T03:18:05ZengCoimbra University PressBoletim do Arquivo da Universidade de Coimbra0872-56322182-79742025-04-0138110.14195/2182-7974_38_1_5Archives, records, and informationGeoffrey Yeo0University College London, United Kingdom This paper is a lightly revised version of a talk that I gave as part of the seminar cycle Rethinking the Archive(s) / Repensar o(s) Arquivo(s) in Lisbon in March 2024. The organisers of the seminar asked me to speak about three terms that are central to our professional discourse: archives, records, and information. These terms give rise to a number of questions that I sought to address. What are the concepts that underlie them? How might they be related? How are the terms used in different languages and how are they understood in different linguistic cultures? Is there still a place for distinct understandings of archives and records in a world increasingly dominated by ideas about information? In attempting to answer these questions, it seems best to begin by considering the terms themselves. Each of them has a diverse range of meanings, and this paper aims to examine how the three words have been used in the past as well as how they are understood today. It begins by discussing historical and current understandings of archives. It examines the origins of the word records, its transformation from a purely Anglophone to a largely global term, and the challenges that arise in translating records from English into other languages. It then considers how ideas about information intersect with our comprehension of records and archives, and offers some concluding thoughts on the importance of records and record-keeping in the digital era of the twenty-first century. https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/boletimauc/article/view/15654ArchivesRecordsInformation |
| spellingShingle | Geoffrey Yeo Archives, records, and information Boletim do Arquivo da Universidade de Coimbra Archives Records Information |
| title | Archives, records, and information |
| title_full | Archives, records, and information |
| title_fullStr | Archives, records, and information |
| title_full_unstemmed | Archives, records, and information |
| title_short | Archives, records, and information |
| title_sort | archives records and information |
| topic | Archives Records Information |
| url | https://impactum-journals.uc.pt/boletimauc/article/view/15654 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT geoffreyyeo archivesrecordsandinformation |