Community archives, preservation and practice

This paper uses Brighton, as a case study, to provide important examples of how communities generate and reinforce identity through archival practices. Projects like BrightonOurStory (a now-defunct physical archive), Queer in Brighton (Oral histories, LGBTQ History Club), Into the Outside (Photographic exhibitions), Brighton Transformed (Oral Histories) create memory and meaning through work that captures and records a specific community memory. This presentation considers the tension between these community-driven endeavours and their capacity to support projects in the long-term, especially with regards to digital preservation. It uses the loss of the BrightonOurStory Archive (1989-2013) as a reminder of our responsibilities as researchers to these archival projects, and to think further about ‘community requirements [in] the digital age’. Part of 'Critical Theory + Empirical Practice: “The Archive” As Bridge' panel with Dr. James William Baker, Dr. Ben Jackson, Prof. David Berry and Dr. Rebecca Wright