Stories on Skin: A Librarian's Guide to Tattoos as Personal Archives

Helping expand archival studies into impermanent media like body art, this book suggests that archiving must be considered a form of storytelling. Tattoos are not merely decorative; they contain deep meaning for individuals and communities.They document their wearers’ personal histories and position in families or society, and they engage with a communal understanding of symbols. This unique book makes the case that archivists who want to preserve as full a human story as possible must recognize the rich documentation provided by tattoos.It also argues, in a broader sense, that traditional archives are not representative of the ways human beings transmit information through time and that they must be augmented by other types of storytelling to provide a more complete record of our species.Authors Baxter and Coyner touch on timely topics such as historical narratives, storytelling, cultural traditions, the body as a text, social control, and memorialization by considering tattoos as a p