Routledge Landmark Essays on Archival Research (Landmark Essays Series)

Landmark Essays on Archival Research gathers over twenty years of essays addressing archival research methodologies and methods. They give readers a sense of how scholars have articulated archival research over the last two decades, providing insight into the shifts research methods have undergone given emerging technologies, changing notions of access, emerging concerns about issues of representation, fluid definitions of what constitutes an archive, and the place of archival research in hybrid research methods. This collection explores archival research involving a range of disciplinary interests, and will be on interest to scholars working on topics related to postmodern, feminist, working class, and cultural issues. With archival research now ubiquitous, illustrated by the recent number of published collections, journal articles, conference sessions, and pedagogical treatises devoted to the topic, this volume appeals to a broad range of scholarly fields and areas of study. Primary, archival investigation leads to novel insights and publications, and has a place in most of the research being conducted by compositions and rhetoric scholars. This volume will chart the recent historical trends of archival methodologies and suggest future directions for research. Review A must read for both those new to the archives and seasoned researchers. What a boon to our discipline (as well as a joy!) to have these rich, provocative, and ground-breaking essays placed in conversation with one another. Lisa Mastrangelo, Associate Professor, Centenary College of New Jersey   An invaluable sourcebook that belongs on every researcher’s desk, traces the history of archival research in rhetorical studies, and illustrates the major shifts that have taken place over the last three decades. The collection contains the important "Octalog" panels on the politics of historiography that mark each decade, highlighting how conversations and key players have shifted over time. This book will serve as a key text for graduate seminars and points toward the future of archival research with the emergence of digital archives and new ways of curating, collecting, and representing our rich rhetorical heritage. Gesa Kirsch, Bentley University, co-editor of Beyond the Archives: Research as a Lived Experience   A history, a heuristic, and a how-to, this collection outlines a chronology and a set of useful perspectives and methodologies for new, working and seasoned scholars who use archival material for writing studies research. Liz Rohan, Associate Professor of Composition and Rhetoric, University of Michigan-Dearborn   In this impressive volume of essential readings, newcomers to the field will find a comprehensive, accessible orientation to archival research methods and the perspectives on historiography that inform scholars’ use of those methods. At the same time, seasoned researchers will benefit from the book’s wide-ranging retrospective of approaches to archival work and the robust understanding of current issues in archival research that results. Wendy Sharer, Professor of English, East Carolina University