Articles

Re-membering the Future: Organizational Change, Technology, and the Role of the Archivist

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Abstract

A nonarchivist, one with background as a computer systems designer and business management consultant, views the choices facing the archival profession in the computer age. Archivists are challenged to embrace change but to avoid the trap of believing that embracing technology per se is the correct transformation. Rather, it is archivists' skills as interpreters and communicators that are the foundation of our work. Our work is not, the article argues, founded in the ability to classify records or to design systems that store, locate, retrieve, and deliver records. Our critical skills lies, rather, in our ability to listen to the needs of our clients, to mediate between their needs and the resources available to us, and to help our clients navigate in the world they are making by categorizing and guiding them to records and distinctions that will make them better leaders.

How to Cite:

Bell, C., (2000) “Re-membering the Future: Organizational Change, Technology, and the Role of the Archivist”, Archival Issues 25(1), 11–31. doi: https://doi.org//archivalissues.10885