New Book Champions Archival Science

Defining a Discipline: Archival Research and Practice in the 21st Century – Essays in Honor of Richard J. Cox, a new book edited by Jeannette A. Bastian (Simmons College) and Elizabeth Yakel (University of Michigan), was published by the Society of American Archivists in March 2020.

The book presents a mosaic of the research that represents the current state of archival science and introduces themes that will carry the profession into the future as a complex academic discipline. As the archival profession in the United States continues to evolve, Defining a Discipline honors one of its most prolific and influential thinkers and writers, Richard J. Cox, who retired from the profession in 2017 after a 45-year career.

The book is divided into four sections that address archival themes championed by Cox: accountability and evidence, ethics and education, archival history, and memory. Incisive essays pay tribute to Cox while interpreting these themes in ways that speak to the archival future, guiding readers toward an understanding of archival science as a discipline in its own right. Contributors include Janet Ceja Alcalá, Simmons University; Joel A. Blanco-Rivera, National School of Conservation; Gracen Brilmyer, University of California, Los Angeles; Kathy Carbone, University of California, Los Angeles; Michelle Caswell, University of California, Los Angeles; Wendy Duff, University of Toronto; Luciana Duranti, University of British Columbia; Joyce Gabiola, AAPI LGBTQ+ Archiving Collective in Los Angeles; Patricia Galloway, University of Texas at Austin; Anne J. Gilliland, University of California, Los Angeles; Alison Langmead, University of Pittsburgh; Heather MacNeil, University of Toronto; Eleanor “Nora” Mattern, University of Pittsburgh; Lindsay Kistler Mattock, University of Iowa; James M. O’Toole, Boston College; Robert B. Riter, University of Alabama; Donghee Sinn, University at Albany; Heather Soyka, Kent State University; Jefferson Sporn, University of Toronto; Tonia Sutherland, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa; David A. Wallace, University of Michigan School of Information; Jimmy Zavala, University of California, Irvine.

Defining a Discipline demonstrates the importance of the role of archivists, archives, and archival institutions in communities, organizations, and the digital environment. It looks forward—a direction that the pioneering Cox promoted throughout his career.