Archival knowledge in the field of personal archiving: an exploratory study based on grounded theory
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework to illustrate the archival knowledge applied by archivists in their personal archiving (PA) and the mechanism of the application of archival knowledge in their PA.
Design/methodology/approach
The grounded theory methodology was adopted. For data collection, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 archivists in China. Data analysis was performed using the open coding, axial coding and selective coding to organise the archival knowledge composition of PA and develops the awareness-knowledge-action (AKA) integration model of archival knowledge application in the field of PA, according to the principles of the grounded theory.
Findings
The archival knowledge involved in the field of PA comprises four principal categories: documentation, arrangement, preservation and appraisal. Three interactive factors involved in archivists' archival knowledge application in the field of PA behaviour: awareness, knowledge and action, which form a pattern of awareness leading, knowledge guidance and action innovation, and archivists' PA practice is flexible and innovative. The paper underscored that it is need to improve archival literacy among general public.
Originality/value
The study constructs a theoretical framework to identify the specialised archival knowledge and skills of PA which is able to provide solutions for non-specialist PA and develops an AKA model to explain the interaction relationships between awareness, knowledge and action in the field of PA.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to the 21 respondents for their insightful knowledge in PA practice, as well as Professor Zhiying Lian and Yuxian Liu for their constructive suggestions, which greatly enhanced the quality of this paper.Funding: This work was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation Project of the Educational Bureau of Yunnan Province, China [grant number 2018JS895]; the Innovative Spark Project Library of Sichuan University, China [grant number 2019hhs-06]; and the Full-time Postdoctoral Research and Development Fund of Sichuan University, China [grant number skbsh2019-06].
Citation
Huang, T., Nie, R. and Zhao, Y. (2020), "Archival knowledge in the field of personal archiving: an exploratory study based on grounded theory", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 77 No. 1, pp. 19-40. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-04-2020-0071
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