Archival Memory on the Web: Web 2.0 Technologies for Collective Memory

Archives have directly and indirectly served for memory. What is collected in archives, how it is presented to users, and how users understand and use the documents affects how a given society remembers its past. Some archival scholars see that how users interpret documents from their perspectives and by social interests may play a central role in constructing social memory because memories are often triggered by individual and social concerns of the present time. Therefore, knowing what causes users to seek for a certain materials, how they use those materials and why can offer a clue to learn how archives serve for social memory. In the Web space, the interaction between users and archives/archival materials can be easily observed. Beyond making access simple for users and promoting archival documents using Web technology, archives can serve the broader purpose of memory by skillfully exploiting the characteristics of Web 2.0 and digital cultures in a way to observe how users engage in and contribute to archival contents available on the Web. This study examines the discourses on memory in the archival context, and in particular, how archives can serve as platforms for memory within the new environment of Web 2.0 technologies. It surveys discussions on memory in relation to archives, history, and evidence, focusing on the user and use context as it is represented in the archival literature. This paper discusses how that technology provides features that allow us to see collective memory being constructed in the archives, and presents examples of how the Web 2.0 technology can structure the way users share their memories in building a larger narrative around the archive.