Archival Silence: n. The unintentional or purposeful absence or distortion of documentation of enduring value, resulting in gaps and inabilities to represent the past accurately. 

"Archival Silence," Dictionary of Archives Terminology, Society of American Archivists, accessed September 17, 2021, https://dictionary.archivists.org/entry/archival-silence.html.

"As part of the analysis of available resources, [a person knowledgeable in the use of primary sources can] identify, interrogate, and consider the reasons for silences, gaps, contradictions, or evidence of power relationships in the documentary record and how they impact the research process."

"Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy," SAA-ACRL/RBMS Joint Task Force on Primary Source Literacy, approved June 2018, https://www2.archivists.org/standards/guidelines-for-primary-source-literacy. 

• Carter, Rodney G.S. “Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence”. Archivaria 61 (2006): 215-33. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12541.

• Cook, Terry. “‘We Are What We Keep; We Keep What We Are’: Archival Appraisal Past, Present and Future.” Journal of the Society of Archivists. 32, no. 2 (2011): 173–189.

• Jimerson, Randall. "Embracing the Power of Archives." The American Archivist, 69, no. 1 (2006): 19–32. doi.org/10.17723/aarc.69.1.r0p75n2084055418.

• Sheffield, Rebecka T. "More than Acid-Free Folders: Extending the Concept of Preservation to Include the Stewardship of Unexplored Histories." Library Trends 64, no. 3 (2016): 572-584. doi:10.1353/lib.2016.0001.