At the 2017 Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) conference in Melbourne, Michaela Hart, Nicola Laurent and Cate O’Neill hosted a discussion session on trauma, affect and archives. Starting with a presentation into their experiences of vicarious trauma and emotional labour within archives, it ended with a call for a community of practice to support each other. The session also included a wide-ranging discussion where many participants shared their emotional experiences in archives for the first time. Others reflected on the impact these experiences could have on them, their work, and archives users.
Following the session, it was clear that resources and support for archivists around issues of trauma were necessary. Many archivists did not feel that their organisations were able to provide the support they needed, particularly if they were the only archivist on staff or were working in a small team. As the professional association, it was seen that the ASA was in a position to provide assistance, and an online course, A Trauma-Informed Approach to Managing Archives, was developed. Following the positive response to the course, a complimentary workshop was developed by the ASA called Implementing trauma-informed archival practice.
The last five years have also seen an increase of discussions around topics of affect, emotions, grief, and the need for cultural safety in archives, in the international archival literature and at conferences. Alongside this has been the establishment of an online worldwide trauma-informed archives community of practice.
Five years on from the 2017 conference, this interactive discussion session will ask what has changed for archivists regarding issues of trauma, affect and emotional labour. Has the increase of resources available led to any changes in their work? Are archivists experiencing more support from their organisations? What do we still need to do? And are discussions of trauma - and emotions in the archives more broadly - still seen as taboo, or are we on our way to normalising these concepts?
Please come prepared to share your views and experiences about these questions and issues, what you would like to see in this space, and to consider who else needs to learn about these topics, so that archives can become safe and empowering spaces for all.