Medium Rare: Exploring Archives and Their Conversion from Original to Digital Part Two— The Holistic Knowledge Arsenal of Paper-based Archives

Abstract This paper is the second installment in a two-part series on the physicality of archival material in the context of the digital age. The first part reviewed key lessons in the history of new technologies that have affected archival practice. Part two will explore a holistic understanding of paper-based knowledge transmission in the context of the digital access movement. The intent is to provide a more expansive context to the shift from a physically, place-based activity to one of ubiquitous access to secondary materials. The investigation emphasizes two notions: archives as thing and archives as experience. Issues of authenticity, evidence, and sensory engagement are seen as potential knowledge elements of original material. Furthermore, physical archives are considered in their environmental context, through physical processes in the embodied act of using, and through their meaning to the user. The purpose of this article is to highlight the tacit, assumed and taken-for-granted aspects of using original archival material to better understand the conversion from physical to digital. The Holistic Knowledge Arsenal Of Archives The quest for knowledge rather than mere information is the crux of the study of archives...All the key words applied to archival records...imply a sense of understanding, of "knowledge," rather than the merely efficient retrieval of names, dates, subjects, or whatever, all devoid of context, that is "information"...Quite simply, archivists must transcend mere information, and mere information management, if they wish to search for, and lead others to seek, "knowledge" and meaning among the records in their care (Cook, 1984-5, p. 49). This quote from Terry Cook profoundly and succinctly sums up a very important issue in the archive and manuscript profession. It forces us to ask the question: Are we interested in the "information" or the "knowledge" associated with archival material? Although it may seem inconsequential to some, it is an important distinction to make, for many reasons. One of these reasons has to do with successful retrieval, access and preservation of original material by users of the world's archives and manuscript collections. It also relates to what we define as "knowledge" in that context. Cook points out that "Knowledge...comes from the free mind foraging in the rich pastures of the everywhere-past, finding order and meaning in the whole human experience," (Boorstin, cited in Cook, 1984-5, p. 48). Knowledge is defined as the "sum of what is known" (Oxford Dictionary, 2001) and knowing is achieved through multiple forms of communication, including affective and sensory modes. To aid in this discussion, knowledge can be roughly divided into two forms: explicit and implicit. Explicit communication is more direct, generally referring to things we say or write. Implicit communication is typically understood as tacit knowledge that cannot be explicitly represented (Linde, 2001). Archives, like museum objects, are material expressions of human communication (Foote, 1988) and potentially contain both explicit and implicit forms of knowledge. Traditionally, archivists have been concerned with the "information" found in collections where the focus has fallen more heavily on explicit knowledge. But to what extent do archivists, particularly those with active digitization programs, consider implicit forms of knowledge in the realm of archival research? In the midst of this great conversion process from the physical to the digital in paper-based archives, it is important to understand what happens-from a holistic perspective-when physical paper-based media are converted to a digital form. An understanding of the relationship between humans and physical objects is at the heart of this inquiry. Paper-based knowledge always has a physical form-a three-dimensional, textural quality-and this aspect of what occurs in the process of using the material must be considered. …