New horizons: writing on records and archives from emerging scholars

Abstract

In February 2018, Archives & Manuscripts invited submissions for a special theme issue dedicated to research and writing from emerging scholars and new professionals. The call was broad, and the response was inspiring. We, the guest editors, Lise Summers, Laura Millar and Donald Force, are pleased and proud to see the fascinating and diverse articles published in this issue, which offer a small window into the high-quality scholarship underway right now by the next generation of recordkeeping and archives professionals around the world. The guest editors, all records and archives educators at one time or another in Australia, Canada and the United States, wanted to provide a forum for ‘emerging scholars’: new professionals who may have written essays or dissertations but perhaps never before published in a professional journal. To support the newest of the new, we set clear boundaries around the concept of ‘emerging scholar’. We welcomed submissions from undergraduate, graduate or postgraduate students, or recent graduates from archives, records, or information studies programs within Australia or around the world. Our definition of ‘recent’ was tight: the graduate should have completed study within the previous two years, with a similar constraint on time in the profession, either as a practitioner or educator. The topics available to consider were virtually limitless, though: authors were encouraged to write on any and all aspects of records, archives, and information concepts, theories and principles; from historical studies to digital preservation analyses; to discussions of theory and case studies from research initiatives. Even though we focused our target population precisely – current students, recent graduates and ‘new’ scholars, not long-time practitioners – we were thrilled to receive 73 submissions from every corner of the world: from Australia to Canada, the United States, Africa, Europe, Indonesia and beyond. The proposals were fascinating. The challenge of developing a shortlist was daunting. So many of the papers had resonances with the challenges facing archives and recordkeepers in today’s political climate, not just in Australia but internationally. As we worked through the adjudication process, we kept our focus clearly on emerging scholars. Some authors were more seasoned professionals who did not quite fit the ‘emerging scholars’ definition; we have encouraged them to consider submitting their proposals for another issue of Archives & Manuscripts. Some authors were undertaking very complex research, often dependent on case study research, computer analysis and other tasks that no one could guarantee would be finished in quick order. When we felt the author might not be able to complete their analysis within the time frame for the special issue, we urged them to submit to the journal again when their projects were finished. We hope they do! Other proposals, while fascinating, focused on a limited regional area or institutional matter. We felt that the scope of study would need to be ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPTS 2018, VOL. 46, NO. 3, 251–254 https://doi.org/10.1080/01576895.2019.1563467