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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Archives

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According to Cambridge dictionary, Archive is an accumulation of historical records or a place where historical records are kept. Archives are the sources of historical references. Since it is an accumulation of historical records, of the ancient period, signs, drawings, carvings, clay engravings etc. could be considered as earlier forms of archiving. As civilizations arose, the method of storing data also evolved. People started using writings to record about an event or something of significance. These materials are used to learn or understand about the history of the particular community that the writings represent. Modern Archival thinking developed when the Frenchmen established the first Modern archive, French National Archive , as a …show more content…

On one hand we are trying to compress the data; on the other hand the materials are increasing. But the increase in sample size does not always mean that we have more quality sources. Comparing the quality of physical archives and digital archives is not an easy task. While using a digital source, a historian or an academician encounters huge randomness in a single search. It seems that most of the materials provided by our computer are irrelevant to our interest or inquiry. Therefore one could not say that digital forms of archives always satisfy the …show more content…

At this point, it is important to mention that digital space has changed the concept authority (along with authenticity). Archives are no longer under the control of certain groups or privileged communities. During the medieval period, Archives were under the control of the Church. Later, the nation states started gaining control over them. The importance significance of both the groups is that Archives were arranged and provided access in such a way that it protected and promoted their welfare. There was a power structure involved in drafting the content of the Archives. Only those materials which benefited the ruling authority were included as archive sources. One can say, in a way this project was biased (content). The imperial powers were able to draw the history of their colonies by collecting only the required data which concluded in making them superior to the colonies. Up to some extend, this role of authority has changed when it comes to digital Archiving. New academic groups started developing new kinds of narratives of Historiography, that are different from the usual historiographies, with the help of flexibility in authority.
Digitalization has reduced the restrictions over archives. At the same time, there is also a probability of disappearance of Digital sources due to various economical, political and technological reasons. Cyber data can be removed by a professional

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