Where is the line between hoarding and collecting, is the difference in value? The owner and people involved prescribe the value however.
Uses of archives/collections: teaching (usually involved handling and using); historical importance; research point for archeologists/artists/designers/etc.
Can we add layers to a collection rather than destroying and re-purposing, this must have importance rather than being fearful of destroying stuff, the materials saved must have new value.
The archivist is putting a certain amount of their own perspective and bias into the archive by making decisions of what goes and stays.
Archivists have historically been bad, and must learn to be more transparent about the decisions that are made. Ideally local communities and more people could input into those decisions.
[We should try to gather some local opinions and memories of the building, right now we are projecting our own version of the buildings importance onto the materials]
Can we add something to an existing archive with what we’ve got/something layered on top of what we’ve got. How do we get the work back into the community of Rhyl?
[Contact the library about the bits they are getting from the demolition]
Is it wrong as outsiders to go in and take these pieces that mean something to local people (even how jealous Jimmy is), how are we going to deal with this and give back to Rhyl somehow?
Consider how ‘precious’ the materials are, does it matter if they’re used/damaged. Does it have to stop being physically used/damaged the moment it is archived? The purpose of the object changes, objects don’t go to die in archives but their use just changes.
We place priority on physical things that can be archived, yet we strive to digitise them (for preservation and accessibility). Digitisation increases accessibility, this helps to decolonise education and re-distribute historical information more fairly.
Archives and collections are usually something that is hidden away, how can we counter this? Using public spaces and increasing accessibility.
What is the role of the archivist/collector, what responsibility do they have?
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