New archive blog discovery

I recently discovered a new blog, well new to me that is, the blog has been going since May 2010.  I've been enjoying having a sift through their old posts and would thoroughly recommend it as a 'follow'! It's called Reclamation and Representation - the boundaries of the literary archive.  Much like this blog was started as part of a project Reclamation and Representation was started to continue discussion and links that were part of the conference of the same name at the University of Exeter.

They help a really interesting sounding day at the University Archive yesterday 'In the Archive with Daphne Du Maurier' - an opportunity to see manuscripts of her most famous works including Rebecca and Jamaica Inn, led by Acting Head of Special Collections and Reclamation panelist Christine Faunch.

They've just posted a nice summary of some of the questions asked on #AskArchivists day.  I wish I could have taken part but we were moving office that day so I didn't think I could really give it the time it deserved.  I've really enjoyed catching up on the questions asked though.  One that is mentioned in Reclamation and Representation's summary is below:


Q: Is there a book or blog to explain how to use archives? E.g. when I don't know what box to order bec. I only know the topic.
A: Best way: look @ catalogue if available or email for advice - see our Special Collections catalogues & Special Collections 'Planning a Visit' for more info (Answer from the Bodlein)

It reminded me of problems I've had as a user of catalogues, only a few years ago it took me ages to work out the right reference numbers for items I wanted to reserve at the National Library of Scotland.  Now I'm sure a large part of my problem was purely impatience, yes, even me an archivist used to using archive catalogues, still expects everything set out for me, google style.  So in turn this reminded me now that we have to do everything we can to make our catalogues as easy to use as possible as - worst case scenario - people will just stop using if they can't find what they're looking for.  Although I think what a lot of people do, and what I did when faced with the same problems, was e-mail the archivist or special collections librarian and ask their help.  I think that #AskArchivists day is a fantastic way of showing that we're not intimidating, that we're 'here to help'!

Black Audio Film Collective

As usual the Glasgow Film Festival has come and gone with me only making it to one of the many wonderful sounding films that I meant to go to. However the night I did go to, a screening of two films by the Black Audio Film Collective was well worth it and was something I hadn't heard of before (although now I read that Tate Britain has acquired some of their work). The first film to be shown was Handsworth Songs, examining the causes and reflecting on the aftermath of the 1985 riots in Birmingham and London. The film is often cited as the beginning of a turn towards the archival and I think this holds out with the mixture in the film of historical footage, contemporary interviews, old photographs, music, newspapers headlines and news footage. The fluidity of memory and the reality that people can have such different perceptions of the same event was a major theme running through the film. It also highlighted the marginalisation of black history and the way that was continuing to happen even in the contemporary news footage and the press conferences after the riots. I also noticed a link to Lindsay Anderson and his early Free Cinema documentaries, specifically O Dreamland, set in the Margate funfair 'Dreamland'. At the beginning of the Handsworth film the camera moves a number of times to a shot of a dummy in a shop window. The dummy is waving his hand and there is an eerie tune playing in the background, giving the impression of dangers to come, a sinister undercurrent to the seemingly everyday. To me this was very reminiscent of a number of shots in O Dreamland, Lindsay Anderson's short film from 1953 where the mechanical dummies in the funfair are moving to the sound of repetitive, sinister laughter.

Seven Songs for Malcolm X (1993) was also a blend of different formats, including real footage of Malcolm X, interviews with family and friends and theatrical interludes which dramatised events in his life. There was footage of the premier of Spike Lee's Malcolm X biopic and interview clips with Spike Lee, relating the real man and history to more recent representations of Malcolm X. Once again there was a sinister atmosphere to the film, an unease that brilliantly conveyed the threat and anxiety that were a part of Malcolm X's everyday life. There were a number of more mystical elements to the film such as the importance of the number seven. In an interview with Malcolm's mother Louise she describes seven as the number of vision. The film is divided into seven segments, and Malcolm, a seventh son, was assasinated by Gabriel Prosser, a seventh son. Then there is also the connotations of Gabriel with the angel or archangel Gabriel. Both these films were moving, insightful, educational and haunting and I know they'll stay with me a long time.