The Quest for Permanence and Impermanence: A Comparison of Traditional and Social Media Photo Albums

Authors

  • Sarika Kelm University of British Columbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/sa.v0i2.187911

Keywords:

archives, archivists, social media, photographs, photo albums, personal archives

Abstract

The personal photograph album has always lived on the blurry boundary between public and private. The article examines challenges in preserving and providing access to photo albums, both physical and digital. These formats share many similarities in that they are a branch of personal records that have not been treated with deserved seriousness by traditional archival theory, rely extensively on original order to communicate meaning, and are problematic because they both involve some degree of performance that requires recognition and interpretation. These formats differ in that, while physical albums are usually static unless the order of photos are tampered with, digital albums, specifically social media albums, accumulate valuable meaning from their dynamic nature.

Author Biography

Sarika Kelm, University of British Columbia

Sarika is a Dual Master of Archival Studies and Master of Library and Information Studies student at UBC’s iSchool. She is currently a technical services student librarian at Xwi7xwa Library at UBC. Her interests include taking pictures and writing stories.

References

Bushey, Jessica. “Convergence, Connectivity, Ephemeral and Performed: New Characteristics of Digital Photographs.” Archives & Manuscripts 42, no. 1 (2014): 33-47.

Bushey, Jessica. “Web Albums: Preserving the Contemporary Photographic Album.” In The Photograph and the Collection, edited by Graeme Farnell, 196-229. Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc., 2013.

Chalfen, Richard. Snapshot Versions of Life. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1987.

City of Vancouver Archives. “File -- [Jamieson family photograph album].” City of Vancouver Archives. Accessed August 6, 2015. http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/index.php/jamieson-family-photograph-album.

Douglas, Jennifer, and Heather McNeil. “Arranging the Self: Literary and Archival Perspectives on Writers’ Archives.” Archivaria 67 (2009): 23-39.

Hobbs, Catherine. “The Character of Personal Archives: Reflections on the Value of Records of Individuals.” Archivaria 52 (2001): 126-135.

Kaplan, Elisabeth, and Jeffrey Mifflin. ““Mind and Sight”: Visual Literacy and the Archivist.” Archival Issues 21, no. 2 (1996): 107-127.

Langford, Martha. Suspended Conversations: The Afterlife of Memory in Photographic Albums. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001.

Mashable. “Facebook Unveils Shared Photo Albums.” Mashable. Accessed August 7, 2015. http://mashable.com/2013/08/26/facebook-shared-photo-albums.

McKemmish, Sue. “Evidence of Me.” The Australian Library Journal 45, no. 3 (1996): 174-187.

Sandbye, Mette. “Looking at the Family Photo Album: A Resumed Theoretical Discussion of Why and How.” Journal of Aesthetics & Culture 6 (2014): 1-17.

Schwartz, Joan M. “Coming to Terms with Photographs: Descriptive Standards, Linguistic “Othering,” and the Margins of Archivy.” Archivaria 54 (2002): 142-171.

Society of American Archivists. “Original Order.” A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Accessed August 1, 2015. http://www2.archivists.org/glossary/terms/o/original-order.

van Dijck, José. “Flickr and the Culture of Connectivity: Sharing views, Experiences, Memories.” Memory Studies 4, no. 4 (2010): 401-415.

Downloads

Published

2016-03-29

Issue

Section

Articles