ABSTRACT

In South Africa, public archives repositories are operating with limited resources and under strenuous circumstances due to low profiles in the public arena. Advocacy as a tool to raise the archival profile in South Africa for the purpose of lobbying support has not been adequately explored by archivists and civil society in the country. The purpose of this study is to examine the archival advocacy initiatives of civil society organizations in South Africa to determine where and how advocacy can be improved. Data were collected through document analysis, interviews and a literature review to examine archival advocacy approaches by archivists and civil society in South Africa. It was established that the role of civil society organizations in raising the archival profile in South Africa had not been adequate. Furthermore, archivists are conspicuous in their absence in the discourse involving archives. Advocacy has the power to influence constitutional, legislation, and policy reformation. The archival community in South Africa needs advocacy in different forms to challenge those in influential offices to serve their (archival community) interests. Unless archivists become advocates for archives, they risk reducing themselves to arid functionaries.

摘要

在南非，由于公共领域的低调，公共档案库在资源有限和艰苦的情况下运作。该国的档案工作者和民间社会尚未充分探索倡导作为提高南非档案形象以游说支持的工具。本研究的目的是检查南非民间社会组织的档案宣传倡议，以确定可以在何处以及如何改进宣传。通过文件分析、访谈和文献回顾收集数据，以检查南非档案工作者和民间社会的档案宣传方法。已经确定，民间社会组织在提高南非档案知名度方面的作用并不充分。此外，在涉及档案的讨论中，档案工作者的缺席是显着的。宣传有权影响宪法、立法和政策改革。南非的档案界需要以不同的形式进行宣传，以挑战那些在有影响力的办公室中为他们（档案界）利益服务的人。除非档案工作者成为档案的倡导者，否则他们就有可能沦为干巴巴的工作人员。