The Silence of the Archive

This new book provides a groundbreaking discussion of a major but little considered issue: Why do archives, sometimes seen as the repositories of truth, often fail to satisfy users because they do not contain information which they expect to find? Silences range from details of individuals' lives to records of state oppression or of intelligence operations. The book brings together ideas from a wide range of fields, from contemporary history through family history research to Shakespearian studies. The authors describe why these silences exist, discuss their impact, and survey how researchers have responded to them in the digital age. Marking the first time that the question of silence in the archives has been discussed holistically and from a broad perspective, this book examines the causes, responses, and implications both for researchers and for the archive itself. Key topics include: enforced silences; inappropriate selection; dealing with the silence; possible solutions; and the meaning of the silences.