Defining a discipline: archival research and practice in the twenty-first century; essays in honor of Richard J Cox

摘要

When I first picked up this book I immediately questioned the title: why do research and practice define a discipline? What about theory? And what about the social and cultural context of a discipline too? In fact, the editors, Jeannette Bastian and Elizabeth Yakel, open the book's Introduction with a discussion about this very issue, stating that 'the outstanding hallmark of a discipline's maturity may be in the recognition and honoring of its own distinguished scholars' (vii) linking this statement to the explanation that this book is in honour of Richard Cox, an archival scholar and 'a foremost contributor to the development of the archival discipline in the United States' (vii). Cox is indeed a towering figure in archival thought and practice, not just in the US, but this construct felt a little forced.