Monk,knight or artist? the archivist as a straddler of a paradigm |
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| Authors: | Håkan Lövblad |
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| Institution: | (1) National Archives, Postbox 125 41, SE 102 29 Stockholm, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | The contextual approach gives the impression that we are moving into the 21st century with three competing scientific traditions
of interpretation. Another understanding is the systemic view, which indicates a paradigm with complementing traditions of
interpretation, depending on ontological level. The paradigm of archival science is, like that of many other sciences, influenced
by positivism, systems theory and hermeneutics. The relevance of the paradigm depends on personal beliefs. The hermeneutic
understanding of archival science emphasizes the context and deconstructs central concepts. Hermeneutics emphasizes the influence
of conceptual changes and technological advances on perception. Hermeneutics stresses the need for a socio-cultural and historical
orientation of archival science. The positivistic tradition is coloured by the myths about an ideal science. This is reflected
firstly in the analogy comparing archives with nature, and secondly in the deductive method. Positivism is instrumental in
its demands for distinct definitions of concepts and its insistence on the record as the basis of archival science. The flexibility
of systems theory highlights the complex relations between context and record. Systems theory can, at its best, serve as a
meeting-place for researchers, archivists and users and accordingly form the basis for new knowledge and theory formation.
Systems theory enables a materialistic/dialectic epistemology based in reality and inspired by other relevant sciences. The
result may be the foundation of a systemic-functionalist archival science with activities, records creation and evidential
values in focus. |
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| Keywords: | archival science epistemology functionalism hermeneutics ontology paradigm positivism systems theory |
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