By the end of this section, you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

• the importance and relationship between writing and the construction of individual and collective memory; and

• the importance of information in modern society and challenges involved in managing it.

Communication

Documentation of the activities of individuals, social groups and whole societies depends upon the methods and technologies of communication. The earliest forms of human communication were based upon painting, speech, hand motion and other methods for conveying information. While painting could be used to create a lasting format and many ancient cave paintings have survived until today, other early methods of communication could not be used to reliably and accurately communicate ideas over distance and time.

Early civilisations used speech successfully to communicate customs, religious rituals and some forms of knowledge between individuals and generations. The significance and effectiveness of speech as a way of communicating over distance and time, is still evident today in small, cohesive societies, which still have 'oral' traditions based upon 'remembrancers'. But as societies became larger and more complex, human memory became inadequate for business and government which require long-term rules and structures that can be understood and used across cultures. To accommodate inter-society relationships such as trade and conquest, human beings needed a new form of communications technology which enabled the standardised recording in a lasting format of transactions as they happened-we needed writing.

The invention of writing was a major advance in the history of civilisation. Standardised symbols and methods of recording could be used to communicate accurately and reliably over distance and time which enabled humans to convey complex ideas and subtleties of information much less ambiguously than before. Written things-records- attested to actual occurrences and could be retained as evidence of prior actions and decisions.

Because literacy was new and jealously guarded, only a privileged few could write. These officials, trained in the mysteries of records creation, storage and retrieval wielded great power and influence as conduits of royal authority. Thus systematic recordkeeping provided the essential infrastructure for the development of ancient empires and commerce across continents.

The reliable and accurate documentation achieved through recordkeeping attested to the pattern and outcomes of actions, decisions and transactions as they occurred at particular times and places. This critical knowledge permitted effective planning and evaluation and the development of the concept of progress which is considered to be integral to western notions of advancement and "civilisation."

• View #1 of The Oldest Profession

• do Workbook 1.1

The Nature & Importance of Collective Memory

The commitment to creating and maintaining an independent cumulative record is the hallmark of societies that value social continuity and accountability. Collective memory serves society in a number of ways which will unfold as you progress through this module.

Read James O'Toole's The Symbolic Significance of Archives which describes some of the underlying societal functions the cumulative record performs. Make a list with a brief explanation of at least four of them.

The Collective Memory & Accountability.

The potential uses of records and archives as evidence or proof of events or transactions are expanding as the world becomes more populous and complex. More people's needs and ambitions must be accommodated within limited living space and resources. Thus we are experiencing, at least in the developed west, a widespread demand governments and individuals to demonstrate for greater responsibility and accountability in the conduct and management of public and private affairs. Critical to the success of this movement is a new appreciation of the power and importance of recordkeeping in providing the necessary demonstrable "proof". Thus mandates for governments and organisations to manage their recorded information to ensure accountability to stakeholders and citizens, are being explicitly imbeded within policy, law and regulation.

The Impact of Societal Amnesia.

Have you ever stopped to consider what life would be like if we lost our collective memory? Having amnesia or losing one's vital records is at best inconvenient, at worst totally disabling. However, we can usually reconstruct our capacity to deal in the world by obtaining copies of key records from public archival repositories, like the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the Public Record Office. But what would happen if those institutions were attacked and destroyed, either intentionally or by some catastrophe? Both on a personal level and for the society?

The destruction of memory to serve the goal of "cleansing" society of alleged evil and subversive influences has been practised extensively throughout history. In Tsarist Russia the most severe penalty the state could exact against an undesirable person was to wipe out all records of his/her existence. Between 1933 and 1945, book and record burning was extensively practised in Germany to rid that society of 'Judaic' memory. In the 1970s' it was practised by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia (in concert with racial genocide) to rid that society of western liberal influences. [You might wish to view the video of "The Killing Fields," a feature film which deals with the Cambodian tragedy.]

Even more recently it has been practised in Croatia and Bosnia by Serbs, Muslims and Croats as part of 'ethnic cleansing'

In Killing Memory: The Targeting of Libraries and Archives in Bosnia and Herzogovenia, Andras Riedlmayer describes the destruction in 1992 of the National Library of Bosnia which contained some 1.5 million volumes including over 155,000 rare books and manuscripts; the country's national archives.

Read the Riedlmayer article and attempt the questions in your workbook

The Bosnian tragedy is not the only modern example of systematic erasure of collective memory contained in libraries and archives. The Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia involved a similar expungement. How records left by the Khmer Rouge have become important in the quest for accountability in the Cambodian genocide is described on The Cambodian Genocide Program Web site. If you have an Internet connection, click this hypertext link and further explore the centrality of archives and records to collective memory and accountability.

Now that you have been introduced to the importance of recordkeeping as the key to personal identity and the primary agent of public memory, let us expand our consideration of the nature of records and the regimes which create and manage them.

Required Readings:

O'Toole, James, M.(1993) "The Symbolic Significance of Archives," American Archivist 56/2 (Spring, 1993): 234-255.

Riedlmayer, Andras (1994) Killing Memory: The Targeting of Libraries and Archives in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Mela Notes: Newsletter of the Middle East Librarians Association. no. 61 (Autumn 1994), pp. 1-6

Optional reading:

These sources are not included in your course materials, but may be found at leading libraries, particularly those associated with colleges and universities that have information studies programs. Ask your local librarian to help you locate copies you can obtain on interlibrary loan.

Arfanis, Peter,(1994) Archives in Cambodia, The Asian Arts Society of Australia Review 3/3 (September, 1994): 18-19.

Foote, Kenneth E.(1990) "To Remember and Forget: Archives, Memory and Culture," American Archivist 53/3 (Summer, 1990) : 378 - 392.

Goody, Jack,(1986) The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society. Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

International Committee of the Blue Shield. The Radenci Declaration on the protection of Cultural heritage in emergencies and exceptional situations URL: http://www.ica.org/cgi-bin/ica.pl?04_e

McKemmish, Sue and Frank Upward,(1991) "The Archival Document: A Submission to the Inquiry into Australia as an Information Society," Archives & Manuscripts 19/1 (May, 1991)::19-31

Walter J. Ong, Walter J. (1988) Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. New Accents. Ed. Terence Hawkes. (New York: Methuen, 1988).

Challenge exercise:

Some people contend that formal accountability mechanisms are a symptom of social decay. What do you think? Has "accountability" replaced "trust"? If so, what does that say about us?