Global archive and record-keeping research agendas: Encouraging participation and getting over the hurdles

The International Council on Archives Section for Archival Educators and Trainers (ICA/SAE) has had a research agenda as one of its projects for eight years, but to date there has been little contribution and no real outcomes. A research database has also been developed by ICA/SAE, with the purpose of documenting research projects of any size from dissertations to collaborative projects. It remains to encourage researchers and research students to record their projects and keep them up to date. One of the main barriers to developing strong research programmes in universities is the difficulty of developing a research culture in small programmes where academics carry heavy teaching and administrative loads. A learning community of potential researchers must be developed, as well as ways to encourage connections for future partnerships between experienced and novice researchers as well as between university-based researchers and practitioners. A few very successful collaborative research programmes have been developed and we can learn from them. These include InterPARES, the Records Continuum Research Group and the Cedars Project. They are exemplified by a clear focus for their research; collaboration between universities and industry partners; a clear management structure and sound documentation; a well-managed website for dissemination of research products.