Challenges in the Archives of the Afrikaans Language Museum, Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa: a Case Study

Abstract

All archives, irrespective of size, have their challenges. The archival collection of the unique Afrikaans Language Museum, grew over 43 years and has its fair share of challenges. The archival project commenced in late 2017 and was completed by the middle of 2018. This article illustrates how it commenced, progressed, the decisions taken and evaluating the project after completion. To understand the nature and scope of the work it is necessary to understand the founding history of the museum as this constitutes a large part of the collection. Over a period of time, many curators worked on the collection with varying results. Challenges included the following: the nature of the records, non-current administrative records vs archival collections, original documents vs copies, physical condition, respect des fonds, the problematic retrieval system and evaluation of the current database, identification of unknown material, sorting and arrangement, compilation of finding aids, questions around the handling of photographs, drawings, publications and oversized material. Policies and procedures received attention. The ever present issues of time and budget constraints had to be dealt with.