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1 – 10 of over 7000
Article
Publication date: 4 April 2022

Dalton Campbell, Kelly Anne Griffin and Andrew Elliott

The archival records of Canadian corporations held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are a rich source of primary documents for the study of the history of marketing and…

Abstract

Purpose

The archival records of Canadian corporations held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are a rich source of primary documents for the study of the history of marketing and advertising in Canada. The paper discusses the records of iconic department store Sears Canada, steel manufacturer Stelco, and Canadian National, the country’s largest railway, provide primary source material on marketing, sales, catalogues, promotions, celebrity endorsements, sponsorship of charitable causes and other areas of publicity. Additionally, discussing archival records provides a case study of the major archival processes involved in making historical documents available to researchers and the general public, including appraisal and evaluation, archival processing, preservation and digitisation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses and highlights primary source archival records for the study of marketing history. These archival fonds are unique primary source records that document three historically significant Canadian corporations and their roles in Canadian history.

Findings

The archival records of Canadian corporations held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are a rich source of primary documents for the study of the history of marketing and advertising in Canada. The records of iconic department store Sears Canada, steel manufacturer Stelco, and Canadian National, the country’s largest railway, provide primary source material on marketing, sales, catalogues, promotions, celebrity endorsements, sponsorship of charitable causes and other areas of publicity. Additionally, discussing archival records provides a case study of the major archival processes involved in making historical documents available to researchers and the general public, including appraisal and evaluation, archival processing, preservation and digitisation.

Originality/value

The archival records of Canadian corporations held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are a rich source of primary documents for the study of the history of marketing and advertising in Canada. The records of iconic department store Sears Canada, steel manufacturer Stelco, and Canadian National, the country’s largest railway, provide primary source material on marketing, sales, catalogues, promotions, celebrity endorsements, sponsorship of charitable causes and other areas of publicity. Additionally, discussing archival records provides a case study of the major archival processes involved in making historical documents available to researchers and the general public, including appraisal and evaluation, archival processing, preservation and digitisation.

Details

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-750X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2019

Robert B. Riter

This paper aims to investigate the role of documentary editions in supporting the development of historical collections in libraries, their function as evidential and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the role of documentary editions in supporting the development of historical collections in libraries, their function as evidential and informational objects and considerations for their evaluation in collection development. Framed as objects possessing bibliographic and archival characteristics, attention is given to the evaluative challenges these objects present during collection development.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper provides an archival and bibliographic analysis of documentary editions through examining and discussing their archival and bibliographic elements. Consideration is given to how these elements are expressed as information and evidence, how they operate as scholarly and archive-like objects and how they acquire value as collected objects. This approach clarifies the informational and evidential characteristics of these works, offering a framework for their evaluation in libraries.

Findings

Documentary editions possess archival and bibliographic characteristics, requiring that evaluators critique the scholarly value and archival integrity of their content. This has implications for the curation of archival objects in library collections, where library and archival expertise can support a more nuanced assessment of these works.

Originality/value

The blurred documentary character of these works has been identified by scholars (Cox, 1991). This paper presents evaluative considerations. Here, these characteristics are clarified, and an approach for evaluating these works is offered.

Details

Collection and Curation, vol. 39 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9326

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2020

Sigal Arie Erez, Tobias Blanke, Mike Bryant, Kepa Rodriguez, Reto Speck and Veerle Vanden Daelen

This paper aims to describe the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) project's ongoing efforts to virtually integrate trans-national archival sources via the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) project's ongoing efforts to virtually integrate trans-national archival sources via the reconstruction of collection provenance as it relates to copy collections (material copied from one archive to another) and the co-referencing of subject and authority terms across material held by distinct institutions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is a case study of approximately 6,000 words length. The authors describe the scope of the problem of archival fragmentation from both cultural and technical perspectives, with particular focus on Holocaust-related material, and describe, with graph-based visualisations, two ways in which EHRI seeks to better integrate information about fragmented material.

Findings

As a case study, the principal contributions of this paper include reports on our experience with extracting provenance-based connections between archival descriptions from encoded finding aids and the challenges of co-referencing access points in the absence of domain-specific controlled vocabularies.

Originality/value

Record linking in general is an important technique in computational approaches to humanities research and one that has rightly received significant attention from scholars. In the context of historical archives, however, the material itself is in most cases not digitised, meaning that computational attempts at linking must rely on finding aids which constitute much fewer rich data sources. The EHRI project’s work in this area is therefore quite pioneering and has implications for archival integration on a larger scale, where the disruptive potential of Linked Open Data is most obvious.

Details

Records Management Journal, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-5698

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2014

Deborah L. Morowski and Theresa M. McCormick

This study analyzed the experiences of elementary teachers who engaged in archival research with primary sources, then used their new knowledge and materials to create elementary…

Abstract

This study analyzed the experiences of elementary teachers who engaged in archival research with primary sources, then used their new knowledge and materials to create elementary curriculum. The teachers located and identified primary source material then determined its reliability. They placed the source and its author in the correct historical context and evaluated perspectives and biases. By engaging in this process, teachers developed a greater understanding of primary sources, a key component of historical thinking, advancing their subject content and pedagogical knowledge. The teachers developed lessons centered on primary sources rather than using them in a more superficial manner. They came to view primary sources as tools to: develop historical empathy, advance the teaching of multiple perspectives, and construct meaning. Further, they developed meaningful lessons that not only motivate their students, but also enhance their students’ higher order thinking skills and ability to conduct historical research.

Details

Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1933-5415

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2019

Jason Russell

The purpose of this paper is to reveal something about a turn that occurred in Canadian management from the 1960s to 1980s through an empirical analysis of three different…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reveal something about a turn that occurred in Canadian management from the 1960s to 1980s through an empirical analysis of three different archival research sources. It considers three sub-themes that collectively help to reveal empirically major changes in management identity that happened in Canada from the late 1960s to the early 1980s.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is divided into several sub-sections and uses social history methodology, although it is principally intended to be an empirical analysis. The rationale for selecting three specific sources and how they relate to each other is discussed. The sources are different in terms of form and periodization, yet they collectively provide coherent insights into the management experience in Canada from the 1960s to 1980s.

Findings

As a methodology paper, this analysis reveals the unique nature of archival sources that are not often found in management history and also shows how they relate to each other.

Research limitations/implications

This paper may seem specific to Canadian management history, but it is intended to present sources and methodology that are applicable regardless of locale.

Originality/value

This paper seeks to present the value of using new methodologies in the study of management history and, while building on existing literature, it helps to reveal the complexity of the management experience in important decades in post-Second World War Canada.

Details

Journal of Management History, vol. 25 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Sheila Anderson and Tobias Blanke

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the steps taken to produce new kinds of integrated documentation on the Holocaust in the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure…

1551

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the steps taken to produce new kinds of integrated documentation on the Holocaust in the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure project. The authors present the user investigation methodology as well as the novel data design to support this complex field.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on the scholarly primitives framework. From here, it proceeds with two empirical studies of Holocaust archival research and the implementation steps taken. The paper employs key insights from large technology studies in how to organise such work. In particular, it uses the concepts of social-technical assemblages and intermediation.

Findings

The paper offers a number of findings. First from the empirical studies, it presents how Holocaust researchers and archivist perceive the way they currently do research in archives. It then presents how the intermediation and digital transformation of such research can be enabled without violating its foundations. The second major insight is the technical research into how to use graph databases to integrate heterogeneous research collections and the analysis opportunities behind.

Originality/value

The paper is based on existing work by the authors but takes this work forward into the world of real-life existing historical research on archives. It demonstrates how the theoretical foundations of primitives are fit for purpose. The paper presents a completely new approach on how to (re)organise archives as research infrastructures and offers a flexible way of implementing this. Next to these major insights, a range of new solutions are presented how to arrange the socio-technical assemblages of research infrastructures.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 71 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 February 2018

Roshni Das, Kamal K. Jain and Sushanta K. Mishra

Archival research is a much under-rated and under-utilized method of research in management studies. Yet multi-disciplinary undertakings being observed in recent times, such as in…

4104

Abstract

Purpose

Archival research is a much under-rated and under-utilized method of research in management studies. Yet multi-disciplinary undertakings being observed in recent times, such as in knowledge management (KM) systems, business history and social network studies, among others, indicate that there is a lot of potential to be explored. The purpose of this paper is to highlight this point and make a case for its inclusion in the researcher’s toolkit in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors follow a two-stage method here: the first stage being an improvised process to benchmark articles for this review; while the second stage involves content analysis and synthesis of the same.

Findings

The authors have dealt with the intricacies of the archival research methodology by minutely examining the fieldwork steps, proxies generation, other related processes of triangulation, etc. With the discussion on “multi-disciplinary undertakings,” the authors offer not only a selective bibliography of works that have effectively harvested this family of methods, but also critique the nuances involved. Finally, coming into more contemporary concerns and developments, the authors undertake an in-depth look at technological applications in the domain of KM, in case study mode. Methodological richness leads to substantive granularity. As such, the authors argue that archival methods contribute to the robustness, contextuality and holism of any research endeavor, more so in the study of business and organizations.

Research limitations/implications

This paper is based on the literature review.

Practical implications

This paper makes a case for archival method’s contribution toward the robustness, contextuality and holism of any research endeavor, more so in the study of business and organizations.

Originality/value

This paper re-positions the method of archival research as a viable and sophisticated tool for researchers to employ effectively in singular or mixed method studies.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 March 2021

Josephine May

The article sets out primarily to fill in some of the gaps in the biography of Lucy Arabella Stocks Garvin (1851–1938), first principal of Sydney Girls High School. As a reflexive…

Abstract

Purpose

The article sets out primarily to fill in some of the gaps in the biography of Lucy Arabella Stocks Garvin (1851–1938), first principal of Sydney Girls High School. As a reflexive exercise stimulated by this biographical research, the second aim is to explore the transformative work of digital sources on the researcher's research processes that in turn generate possibilities for expanded biographical studies in the history of education.

Design/methodology/approach

This article encompasses two approaches: the first uses traditional historical methods in the digital sources to provide an expanded biography of Lucy Garvin. The second is a reflexive investigation of the effects of digitisation of sources on the historian's research processes.

Findings

The advent of digital technologies has opened up more evidence on the life of Lucy Garvin which enables a fuller account both within and beyond the school gate. Digital sources have helped to address important gaps in her life story that challenge current historiographical understandings about her: for example, regarding her initial travel to Australia; her previous career as a teacher in Australia and the circumstances of her appointment as principal; her private and family life; and her involvement in extra school activities. In the process of exploring Garvin's life, the researcher reflected on the work of digital sources and argues that such sources transform the research process by speeding up and de-situating the collection and selection of evidence, while at the same time expanding and slowing the scrutiny of evidence. The ever-expanding array of digital sources, despite its patchiness, can lead to finer grained expanded biographical studies while increasing the provisionality of historical accounts.

Originality/value

The article presents new biographical information about an important early female educational leader in Australia and discusses the impact of digital sources on archival and research processes in the history of women's education.

Details

History of Education Review, vol. 50 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0819-8691

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 November 2022

Peggy Keeran

The tenets of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) allow librarians to assess their teaching effectiveness through an evaluation of student learning. For the author, the…

Abstract

Purpose

The tenets of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) allow librarians to assess their teaching effectiveness through an evaluation of student learning. For the author, the sudden reliance on digital primary source collections during the 2020 pandemic lockdown provided a catalyst to examine her digital primary source instruction as a research project. In this case study, the author aims to examine library instruction for a required course for third-year history majors.

Design/methodology/approach

The author collaborated with a history professor to identify “bottlenecks” related to digital primary source research, and to design two new library instruction sessions with in-class activities and assignments to address these bottlenecks. The professor and author then evaluated the assignments to determine if students had understood and incorporated the methods modeled during the research instruction classes.

Findings

Teaching undergraduate history majors digital primary source research skills that will lead to the habits of mind of historians cannot be done in one academic quarter, for it takes time to develop disciplinary ways of thinking. Providing select core concepts more systematically earlier in the history major curriculum could make the enculturation into the discipline less fraught and confusing later, so that students begin learning foundational skills in their third year to carry them forward into their senior year when they write their theses.

Originality/value

Little has been written on digital primary source library instruction, which intersects with a variety of other research literacies. Assessing library instruction through the lens of SoTL is relatively new for academic librarians and has not been used in evaluating student learning in the digital primary source environment.

Article
Publication date: 24 September 2019

Niall G. MacKenzie, Zoi Pittaki and Nicholas Wong

This paper aims to show how historical approaches can better inform understanding of hospitality and tourism research. Recent work in business and management has posited the value…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to show how historical approaches can better inform understanding of hospitality and tourism research. Recent work in business and management has posited the value of historical research and narrative frameworks to explicate business phenomena – here the authors propose an approach to hospitality and tourism studies could be similarly beneficial.

Design/methodology/approach

Three principal historical approaches are proposed: systematic study of historical archives, oral histories and biography and prosopography. The paper further proposes that such work should be aligned to Andrews and Burke’s framework of the 5Cs: context, change over time, causality, complexity and contingency to help situate research appropriately and effectively.

Findings

This paper suggests that historical methods can prove particularly useful in hospitality and tourism research by testing, extending and creating theory that is empirically informed and socially situated. The analysis put forward shows that undertaking historical work set against the framework of the 5Cs of historical research offers the potential for wider and deeper understandings of hospitality and tourism research by revealing temporal and historical dynamics in the field that may hitherto be unseen or insufficiently explored.

Originality/value

Much of the existing work on the benefits of historical approaches in business and management has focussed on the why or the what. This paper focuses on the how, articulating how historical approaches offer significant potential to aid the understanding of hospitality and tourism research.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

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