ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on relevant theoretical developments in the field, looks at those immense changes brought by the Internet, considers their impact on the role of archives in society, and seeks to set archives in ultural, political and social context. At the same time, the social and political role of the archive and the text have become prominent discourses in academic disciplines concerned with cultural studies, with politics, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, history and literary criticism. Some indication of intellectual activities which focus upon archives can be gauged by number and nature of transdisciplinary conferences concerned with philosophy of the archive, ontology of the archive and with the nature and relevance of archival narrative, taking place in 2008. At the centre of all this, the archivist stands at something of crossroads: the familiar world of paper documents is fast giving way to electronic born-digital records.
