“As part of this eco-system, description is also uniquely suited to mobilizing records for evidentiary purposes as well as for collective memory. In destabilizing descriptive standards, we need to leverage the expertise of human rights activists, survivors, descendants and other stakeholders as well as the expertise of archivists, records managers and institutions for emancipatory purposes.
How can archivists describe records in ways that not only reflect the contexts of the record’s creation but that open up spaces for those mentioned in or related to the records to contribute their voice? How can archival description allow and make room for the multiplicity of voices in archives to speak? How do we re-conceptualize regimes of evidentiary value and archival authority that are inclusive and at the same time divergent? How can institutions foster trust by rethinking their protocols, policies and practices with respect to description?”
Kathy Carbone, et. al. 2014. “Mobilizing Records: Re-framing Archival Description to Support Human Rights.” Arch Sci 14, 415.