• Dr Ilaria Scaglia from Aston University and Dr Valeria Vanesio at the University of Malta co-edited Archives and Emotions, published in 2024
• They won the Society of American Archivists’ Waldo Gifford Leland Award for excellence and usefulness in archival history, theory, and practice
• The book aims to bridge the gap between historians and archivists and includes chapters by authors on both sides from multiple countries.

Dr Ilaria Scaglia at Aston University and Dr Valeria Vanesio at the University of Malta have won a prestigious international award for their book, Archives and Emotions: International Dialogues Across Past, Present, and Future.

They are the 2025 recipients of the Waldo Gifford Leland Award, given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA), for their work as editors of the book, published by Bloomsbury in 2024. The award is given for writing of superior excellence and usefulness in the fields of archival history, theory, and practice.

Archives and Emotions investigates the many ways in which emotions have influenced and continue to influence archival history and practice. The volume brings together a wide range of contributors from numerous countries, traditions, and types of archives to explore how emotions affect the construction and management of archives, as well as the individuals and communities that engage with them. The cover is meant to reflect this – it is an original work of art made specifically for the book by Nunzia Spadolino, who dubbed the piece ‘Pagine di emozioni’ (Pages of Emotions).

SAA praises the book for its “excellent, accessible writing,” and describes it as “a welcome addition to the literature on archives in the humanities, bringing archival practitioners and theorists to the conversation.”

The SAA says that the authors’ willingness to engage with contemporary currents of historical and archival thought, including critical archival studies and notions of radical empathy, trauma-informed practice, and ethics of care in archives, demonstrates an admirable level of diligence and attention.

One reviewer celebrated the authors and editors for “bringing new dimension and understanding to important conversations happening in the field” in a way that makes archivists feel “truly seen.”

Aston University has recently opened its own Aston University Archives, preserving artefacts and documents from its predecessor institutions since 1895, and its undergraduate history degree includes a focus on archives with a bespoke module that takes students to conduct practical work in various repositories in the region. The course was ranked eighth in the UK in the 2025 Times/Sunday Times University Guide.

Dr Scaglia says:

“Valeria, an archivist, and I, a historian, found it important to bring our respective professions together and to involve both academics and practitioners from different countries and at all stages of their careers, from people just starting out to established professors. We also wanted to connect cutting-edge research on archives and emotions with each other, to explore societal implications. Archives are not just for a few! They document everybody’s history, and they should engage society at large. At the Aston University Archives, we try to do just that by making connections with individuals, businesses, and institutions in the region and beyond, which have been part and parcel of our work and of who we are for 130 years.”

Established in 1959, the Waldo Gifford Leland Award is named for one of North America’s archival pioneers and SAA’s second president. Past recipients include Eira Tansey for A Green New Deal for Archives (CLIR, 2023), James Lowry for Disputed Archival Heritage (Routledge, 2022), and Jason Lustig for A Time to Gather: Archives and the Control of Jewish Culture (Oxford University Press, 2021).