• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.51
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• pp.279-306
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• 2017

This study aims to identify issues with regard to practicing the current Korean Archives Law and, by doing so, to boost a community-wide discussion for revising it. Five researchers collaboratively interviewed five groups of stake-holders. Each group was consisted of practitioners in central government agencies, provincial governments, and educational district offices, as well as instructors of archival education programs. To uncover diverse issues from various perspectives, the interview was initiated by a common question: "Do you have any idea in terms of revising the current law?" After all interview sessions were completed, the researchers discussed among themselves and established a framework for analysis. The study is expected to provide a starting point for the Korean archival community to reinvent the law so that the archival culture and practice in Korea could open a new era.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.6
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• pp.225-262
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• 2002

Chief Consultant Archives Government Archives & Records Service -table of contents- 1. Introduction 2. Relationship of Historical Studies and Archive 3. Relationship of Archives and Archives 4. Conclusion; Historians, Archives, and Archivists, and Their Roles This essay is mainly written for historians who may have "little or limited experience" in dealing with archives and archivists in their course of historical research. It may sound very ridiculous to say that "historians have little or limited experience" in using archives but it is also true that many Korean historians have depended on various compiled editions of historical materials or personally donated and/or collected materials when they do research, rather than they would visit archives and search for the materials by themselves. This is the main reason for that the public archives in Korea have not served historians well and effectively, and vice versa, that historians have not visited archives sometime with no knowledge of archives, and have not requested opening of archives for their research. It is a simple fact that historian's study depends on the records he/she uses. Without records, there should be no history. Use of archives for historical research is a common thing and a must in modern archives. Records are selected to be preserved in archives for their preservation as well as their future use. Who select the records as archives? Archivists do mostly. Then, what are the criteria for the archivists to chose records as permanent preservable archives? Answers to this fundamental question have been provided by many historians and archivists. The closest answer may be that selecting archivists would be better trained and equipped with historical research and knowledgeable of the major trends in historical research. With his/her own experience of historical research and tracing the trends of historical studies and materials used in the historiography, they could chose better and appropriate records for future use using their prudence and discretion. It also means that historians have had influence on archivists in their selecting archives by providing the theme and context of historical studies of the time. Though not necessarily becoming a historian themselves, selecting or appraising archivists should understand the process of creating the records and should know how they become archives. This is a precondition to become a good archivist. But that's not all. They must know how the archives are used and what archives are used for what purposes. Among many other roles of modern archivists, selecting and describing the archives are the foremost tasks of an archivist. Archivists therefore developed modern methods to select future archives based on functional analysis and records series concept rather than a record file or item as a unit of selection. Historians are users or consumers of the archives held in the archives building or repository. The quality of their study depends on the "quality" of the materials they use. With the help of archivists not to mention of reference service, historians owe much to archivists in having an access to the materials they need, intellectually and physically. Too many closed archives and too long closed archives in the archives repository would benefit neither historians nor archivists. However, archivists can mostly react only to archive requests and demands made by historians for more wide accessibility. Using the FOIA, as in the U.S., or the Information Opening Act, as in case of Korea, historians can promote the use of historical materials as well as promoting accountability and transparence for the benefit to society as whole. In this context, it is vary desirable to establish a close professional relationship between historians and archivists even in the age of information society. At present, historians need more understanding of operation and importance of archives while archives administration need to realize the potential archival demands from research community and civil movement for clean government.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.23-42
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• 2004

Lenin's decree of 1 June 1918 'On the reorganization and centralization of archives in the RSFRS' is appreciated as an institutional and conceptional basis for Socialist archival theory and practice not only in USSR but also in most countries of the socialist community. In spite of its importance to the making role to build the 'landmark' in the history of russian archives. This paper focuses on the activities and achievements of archivists in 'RAD Union(Union of Russian archives activists)' in revolutionary situation of 1917-1920. To preserve documental heritage with historical values in difficult situation of 1917 historians and archivists in 'RAD Union' voluntarily cooperated with new governments. This special situation led them to make more efforts at reformulating national archival system, namely, the state Archival Fond (Gosudarstvennyi Arkhivnyi Fond) as a new base for the centralization and arrangement of all archival materials throughout the country. Their experience was reflected in every articles of the archival decree of June 1918.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-59
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• 2016

In archival discourse, social memory has been discussed for some time. Despite this, however, theoretical studies have not been prolific at all in the Korean archival community. Many Western scholars have argued that archivists should consider memory rather than records for archival preservation because the inclusiveness of the former will fill the gaps in the latter. Social memory that is shared and transmitted across generations in society would include the stories of marginalized groups of people who are often neglected in official documents. Archivists can reconstruct the diverse narratives of a variety of social groups based on social memory, and this would be their social responsibility. In this sense, it is archivists who exercise power regarding how history will be written in the future because they determine what would be preserved in archives: mainstream culture with official records or a broader spectrum of diverse stories of people in society. From this perspective, this paper intends to understand how memory is discussed in archival discourse and to review how archives and history are associated with memory in theories and practices.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.51
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• pp.175-208
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• 2017

This study aims to establish the definition of "event archive," which collects and manages records that focus on a specific event, in order to present a new perspective onto the collection and management of private records. As such, this study defines "event archive" and then identifies its characteristics by comparing it with community archives and locality archives. An event archive consists of person, spatiality, and temporality. As it puts an emphasis on temporality in particular, this study suggests a spiral model, which grafts person and spatiality onto a time axis. Moreover, this study suggests three considerations for the construction of an event archive. First, it presents different construction methods for different types of event archives depending on the time an event occurred. Second, it suggests records collection and management areas considering the three components of an event archive-person, spatiality, and temporality. Third, it supports a digital archive for an event archive to become an open archive.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.66
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• pp.229-265
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• 2020

This study examined the necessity of establishing a family archive as a means for the recovery of the family community and the direction for establishing the family archive as a social culture. With the lack of research on family archives worldwide, this study analyzed family archives focusing on three areas. The first is a review on the necessity of family archives. To this end first, studies in the fields of sociology and family studies were analyzed to understand the situation in which the crisis of the family community intensified in the recent social environment, and based on this analysis, the necessity of establishing a family archive using records in Korean society was suggested. The second is case studies of National Archives of advanced countries for social expansion of family archives. In the case of advanced countries in Western, family archives are closely related to family history or genealogy research, and more than half of visitors to archives are occupied by family history or genealogy researchers. This is because National Archives of Western countries provide a variety of services for building family archives. The third is an analysis of the meaning and characteristics of family archives. This is because in order for the family archive to become a pan-social recording culture, it is necessary to establish the values and roles of the family archive along with its own meaning and characteristics different from the existing public records. Accordingly, the aim was to establish the concept and goal of the family archive, and to explore the functions and values of the family archive in comparison with the existing theories of archives. As a result of the analysis focusing on these three areas, the family archive needs to focus on 'culture', not 'institution', and 'utilization' rather than 'management'. Theories and methodologies of archival science have been developed with an emphasis on systematically managing and preserving a vast amount of records like public records, and based on highly specialized knowledge, records management has been established as an institution. However, in order to spread the family archive socially, it must be established as a culture or lifestyle that can be practiced by all ordinary citizens in the process of daily life. Prior to the management and preservation of professional records, all members of the family must understand the meaning contained in the records. It is necessary to prioritize use so that they can be shared.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.41
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• pp.113-173
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• 2014

For the past few years, there has been active seeking of archival practices outside of public institutions. For example, there is oral history archive which has an actual field of its own, community archive, archives of everyday life, cultural resources archive, digital archive, and post-modern archive with its discourse practical character. In this reading, such flow is organized through everyday paradigm, and examines new archival methodology that is suitable for it. Through such critical mind, semiotic approach is taken and the need, direction and alternative of archival methodology is offered. Especially, archival methodology, which can be applied to archives is thoroughly observed. Also, the way how sign practices can be executed in the archival field is explained through specific examples. Of course, it is clearly stated that this is an instance, and that it is an archival methodology that can be applied to public institutions. We hope this would be a discuss that would enable a comprehensive understanding of records.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.44
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• pp.217-241
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• 2015

The sinking of the Sewol ferry has not only induced an intense conflict in Korean society but also been developed into a sociopolitical issue. This paper divides this accident into five stages and examines the records produced at each stage. The Sewolho Citizen Archive Network and the Ansan Citizen Record Committee began the archiving of Sewol and created the 416 Archives. The records of Sewol are social and political records that hold envidencial and historical value. They can be used to rebuild and recover the wounded community as well as to investigate the truth behind the case. Accident archiving collects materials different to the ones which public archiving does, allowing people to view the incident from a different standpoint. It is also characterized as an archiving of the current issue, social movement and regional community. Accident archiving is a method which ensures credibility and impartiality in memory. In light of Sewol archives, accident archiving can contribute to form mature democracy.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.67
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• pp.267-318
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the "memory approach" has affected archival methodology and activities, and suggest the directions of archival activities in each field. Although there have been many discussions on the memories and collective memories in Archival Studies, it is necessary to analyze them more practically from the viewpoint of archival activism. In this study, the memory approaches in archival discourse are classified into four categories in terms of archival activism; i) the role of archives as social memory organizations, ii) the memory struggle for finding out the truth of the past, iii) archival activities of restorative justice for people who suffer from trauma memories after social disasters and human rights violations, and iv) the memory process of communities' archiving for strengthening community identities. The meaning and issues are analyzed for each category, and the practice based on archival expertise and political and social practices are examined together as necessary competencies for archival activism.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.68
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• pp.205-241
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• 2021

This article explores how to incorporate the topic of the global environmental crisis called the "anthropocene" into archives studies and connect it to ecological practical reasons. In order to encourage discussion of archival studies, which puts the environmental crisis at a kind of archive constant value, this study seeks to examine the possibility of a quality shift in archival studies based on ecology. This article aims to go beyond the pragmatism of preparing improvements to eco-friendly record management, which is recently claimed by the "Green Archive" in Western archival studies. It calls for a new concept called 'ecological archive', which theoretically combines a more archives-based and ecological paradigm, and its epistemological transformation. Specifically, the ecological approach of archives is first discovered in the discussion of archival studies and at the same time, through the "ecological turn" of archives emphasized by recent anthropocene discourses, the concept of "ecological archive" emphasized by this article is embodied. This study uses 'ecological archive' as a universal and theoretical framework for archives as a basic concept for building ecological 'living' archives. In other words, for the construction of ecological archives, we reinterpret and extend so-called democratic values for archives, i.e., post-custodianship, community archives, and archives of emotions. Finally, the records of foot-and-mouth disease killing burial sites, an important site and example of the anthropocene tragedy, exemplifies the methodology of the actual application of ecological living archives. The case analysis aims to seek a new qualitative shift in record management that adapts to global ecological transformation, while also emphasizing the documentation by archival activism in ecological field practices jointly organized by archivists and citizens.