“Always Follow the Money”: A Call to Investigate Financial Records

  • Victoria L. Lemieux

Abstract

This article surveys the literature on financial records and finds that very little has been written on the subject. Noting that as much as twenty years ago the Association of Canadian Archivists called for course content that would increase archivists’ awareness of these records, the author calls for research into financial records and the records of financial institutions. The article describes how the newly formed UBC Centre for the Investigation of Financial Electronic Records (CiFER) aims to conduct research on financial records and the records of financial institutions. The article argues that new studies on financial records and the records of financial institutions will both better prepare archivists to preserve these types of records and provide opportunities to test and explore archival theory, as well as provide greater insight into the factors leading to economic stability and the stability of financial institutions, showing how archival studies can make practical and very relevant contributions to society. The article discusses a number of CiFER’s research initiatives and how these will contribute to filling knowledge gaps and testing theory. The paper concludes with an invitation to interested archivists to become involved in the CiFER research network.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article fait un survol de la littérature sur les documents financiers et conclut qu’on a très peu écrit à ce sujet. Remarquant qu’il y a au moins vingt ans l’Association of Canadian Archivists recommandait que des cours soient donnés aux archivistes pour les sensibiliser à ce genre de documents, l’auteure réclame que de la recherche soit faite sur les documents financiers et les documents d’institutions financières. L’article décrit comment le nouveau UBC Centre for the Investigation of Financial Electronic Records (CiFER) vise à mener de la recherche sur les documents financiers et les documents d’institutions financières. L’article soutient que de nouvelles études sur ce genre de documents permettront aux archivistes de mieux les préserver, tout en favorisant la mise en pratique de la théorie archivistique. De plus, ces études offriront aux archivistes une meilleure compréhension des facteurs qui contribuent à la stabilité économique et à la stabilité des institutions financières, ce qui montrera comment les études en archivistique peuvent contribuer de façon pratique et pertinente au développement de la société. L’article présente un nombre de projets de recherche du CiFER et montre comment ceux-ci contribueront à notre connaissance, tout en mettant à l’épreuve la théorie. L’article termine en invitant les archivistes intéressés à participer au réseau de recherche du CiFER.

Author Biography

Victoria L. Lemieux

Victoria Lemieux is the Director of the Centre for the Investigation of Financial Electronic Records (CiFER) and an assistant professor of archival studies at the School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia. She traces her interest in financial records to her 1999–2001 doctoral research on the information-related causes of the Jamaican Banking Crisis (University College London, 2002). Following com­pletion of her doctoral research, Dr. Lemieux joined Credit Suisse as a vice-president in charge of global records policy management, later taking charge of aspects of IT security policy development and managing the risk and secur­ity components of the bank’s 1.6 billion Swiss francs network outsourcing in 2007 (for which she received a “One Bank” award). She then went on to lead the bank’s European infrastructure technology risk team. Dr. Lemieux joined UBC in July 2008 and established CiFER. In 2009 she was among ten new academics at UBC to be presented with the Peter Wall Institute’s Early Career Scholar Award, which recognizes scholarly excellence and interdisciplinary research. She is the author of numerous publications. Her Archivaria article exploring the nature of the record won the 2001 W. Kaye Lamb Prize. Dr. Lemieux has also been a designated Certified Information Security Systems Professional since 2005.

Archivaria 69 cover
Published
2010-05-19
How to Cite
Lemieux, Victoria L. 2010. “‘Always Follow the Money’: A Call to Investigate Financial Records”. Archivaria 69 (May), 173-88. https://www.archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13265.
Issue
Archivaria 69: Special Issue on Archives and the Law (Spring 2010)
Section
Notes and Communications

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