New frameworks for community engagement in the archive sector: from handing over to handing on.

This article uses ethnographic research methods to explore the various forms of engagement between mainstream publicly-funded archives in the UK and independent 'community archives'. Shifts in the understanding of the role of archives in society, combined with pressure from historically marginalised groups for greater visibility for their histories, have led mainstream organisations to develop more flexible working practices. These practices cover custodial arrangements, collections policy, curation and dissemination, training and consultancy. The most successful allow communities to combine the retention of control over their material with provision for its long-term preservation. Where once community-based groups were under pressure to hand over their archives, now the emphasis is on the handing on of knowledge to future generations and the sharing of expertise between organisations. However, working with community archives also presents challenges to dominant professional assumptions and practices and archivists need to be more sensitive to the motivations and experiences of their community-based partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]