Archival Appraisal: Theory and Practice

226 Pages·2004·1.25 MB·English

by  Barbara Craig

Archival_cover.qxd 29.12.2004 14:21 Seite 1
Collection appraisal is an integral part of C
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archival work and this unique professional
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reference source provides detailed g
Barbara Craig
information on the most recent techniques

and recommendations. This book is aimed at
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information specialists, records managers,
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knowledge managers, and archivists. c
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Archival
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This is the essential reference work for a
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anyone who has responsibilities for archives A Appraisal
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and their management and use. It is the only
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source to provide examples of: acquisition r
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planning processes; acquisition policies; i
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a Theory and Practice
acquisition procedures; appraisal criteria and
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appraisal report forms. It is an excellent
introduction to the subject and is clearly laid
out, giving sound explanations of theory and
explaining the practices of archive appraisal.
There is also a glossary of terms with detailed
explanations of their meanings.
Barbara Craig is Associate Professor at the
Faculty of Information Studies, University of
Toronto.
K·G·Saur K·G·Saur

Barbara Craig
Archival
Appraisal
Theory and Practice
K· G·Saur München 2004
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek
Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.ddb.de.
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Printed on acid-free paper
© 2004 K. G. Saur Verlag GmbH, München
All Rights Strictly Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Typesetting by Florence Production Ltd., Stoodleigh, Devon, Great Britain.
Printed and Bound by Strauss Offsetdruck, Mörlenbach, Germany.
ISBN 3-598-11538-5
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Contents
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61 Acknowledgements ix
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8 Introduction 1
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20 Chapter One: An overview of appraisal: What is it?
1 Who does it? Why is it done? 7
2 1.1 Appraisal – choosing information to keep 7
3 1.2 Reasons for choice in personal appraisal 10
4 1.3 Physical person and corporate person 12
5 1.4 Perspectives of the organization or group 12
6 1.5 Why appraise? 14
7 1.6 What factors shape appraisal in organizations? 15
8 1.7 Information systems and records systems 17
9 1.8 Professionals who need to be knowledgeable
30 about appraisal 18
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2 Chapter Two: Appraisal and archival appraisal in
3 modern organizations – purpose, participants,
4 roles and responsibilities 23
5 2.1 Managing records in an organization 23
6 2.2 Appraisal as an organizing concept for general
71111 management 28
vi Contents
2.3 Perspective on appraisal in an organization: the
importance of points of view 30
2.4 Role of the archivist in records appraisal in a
company or other types of organization 32
2.5 Archival programmes and institutions in their
unique role 34
2.6 Appraisal from the perspective of archival
repositories 35
2.7 Appraisal as a function in an archive programme
or institution 37
Chapter Three: The many views on appraisal in
archive programmes 41
3.1 Appraisal in the economy of archives 41
3.2 Orienting appraisal to its role in an archive
programme 42
3.3 The special relation of appraisal to acquisitions 44
3.4 Acquisition in archives programmes and
institutions – dependence and independence 47
3.5 Passive versus active implementation of acquisition
mandates 48
3.6 Relationship to source affects appraisal 49
3.7 Coherent schemes to relate acquisition to appraisal 51
3.8 Appraisal in an electronic environment 54
3.9 Appraisal as test 55
Chapter Four: Archival appraisal briefly reviewed
in historical context 59
4.1 Appraisal in modern times 60
4.2 The archivist as advisor and preserver 61
4.3 Registries, decentralized records keeping and
bureaucracies 63
4.4 The independent role of the archives 65
4.5 Archives as a reflection of society 67
4.6 Appraisal as a key archival activity, its links to
acquisition, and the emergence of functional
analysis and memory 70
4.7 Electronic records revitalize interest in appraisal 74
Contents vii
1111 Chapter Five: Practicing appraisal – common grounds
2 and common problems 81
3 5.1 Agreements about appraisal 81
4 5.2 Important to develop and then articulate a
5 theory of appraisal 82
6 5.3 A systematic, archive-directed appraisal is
7 favoured as a strategy 86
8 5.4 Tools should be used and developed further as
9 needed 92
10 5.5 Appraisal based solely on locating values in
1 specific records is largely unworkable 94
2 5.6 Appraisal shaped by a group may better reflect
3 values and support more rational, co-operative
4 acquisitions 96
5 5.7 Re-appraisal, retro-appraisal, the idea of
61 continuing appraisal, and collection assessment/
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self-knowledge 98
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5.8 Locating appraisal in the contexts of situation –
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the constraints on an ideal 99
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5.9 The archivist’s internal context of appraisal work 103
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5.10 The “situateness” of appraisal 106
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Chapter Six: Architecture of responsible appraisal –
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a foundation and a framework 111
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6.1 Our knowledge of appraisal 111
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6.2 The components of an appraisal architecture
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sketched 115
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6.3 Procedures express professional competence and
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obligations 121
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6.4 Benefits of procedure 122
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6.5 Choosing and accounting for choices 126
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4 Chapter Seven: A brief general summary 129
5 7.1 Living with ambiguity and qualitative
6 judgements 129
71111 7.2 The common ground upon which appraisal rests –
records and human actions 134
viii Contents
An introductory study guide 139
Appendixes 161
Appendix 1 Some definitions with explanations 161
Appendix 2 Archival appraisal and the preservation of
audio-visual records at Concordia University Archives,
Montreal, Canada. By Nancy Marrelli. 165
Illustration A: Selection for reformatting 182
Illustration B: Sources of information 184
Appendix 3: CCA Acquisitions Planning Process
(CCA Building a National Acquisition Strategy (1995)
Adapted with modifications from James Lambert and
Louis Côté “Les outils de travail en archivistique: la
politique d’acquisition: pourquoi, comment, critères et
examples” Archives 23/3 (Winter 1992): 7) 187
Appendix 4: Mandate of City of Toronto Archives.
City of Toronto Bylaw No. 458–1999 “To authorize the
acquisition of non-government records and collections of
documents of historical value or interest for the City of
Toronto Archives.” 189
Appendix 5: Acquisition policy and procedures,
appraisal criteria, and glossary of terms for the City
of Toronto Archives. 193
Appendix 6: Appraisal report form: City of Toronto
Archives. 213
Index 219
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Acknowledgements
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61 I have been blessed with many stimulating conversations on the
7 topic of appraisal and its many related issues with colleagues in
8 archives and more recently with my students. My debt to them
9 is large and cannot be fully acknowledged in the detail that
20 each person deserves. The archival community may be small
1 compared to other information professionals but its intellectual
2 energy is intense. Despite its size, the community is still an
3 extensive source of knowledge about records and archival prac-
4 tices. Informal professional discussions in the workplace are
5 often as richly stimulating as the growing number of high quality
6 papers and addresses at archives conferences. As a relatively
7 young profession archivists are extraordinarily enthusiastic
8 about learning and welcome new ideas to enrich their discourse.
9 I have been privileged to participate in three advanced institutes
30 on appraisal run by the Association of Canadian Archivists in
1 1999, 2000, and 2002. Terry Cook shared his vast experience and
2 research on appraisal with me and the group – he will see the fruits
3 of many discussions reflected in these pages, but of course, not
4 in the fullness or detail they would warrant in a deeper,
5 more advanced discussion of appraisal theory and archival theory.
6 I have also learned from my colleagues on the InterPARES Task
71111 Force on Appraisal and especially thank Terry Eastwood (chair),
x Acknowledgements
Normand Fortier (National Archives of Canada), Ken Hannigan
(National Archives of Ireland), Phil Eppard (SUNY Albany),
Mark Giguerre (National Archives of the United States),
Peter Horsman and Agnes Jonkers (Netherlands Institute of
Archival Education and Research) and Gigliola Fioravanti
(Central Direction of Archives, Italy). Our many sessions were
stimulating and for me always a time to learn of the nuances in
traditions that collectively forge the larger enterprise of archives.
An experts meeting in Winnipeg in 2001 provided me with an
opportunity to talk about appraisal with John Roberts (National
Archives of New Zealand), Gordon Dodds (Provincial Archives
of Manitoba), Rick Brown (National Archives of Canada),
Mark Greene (Western Heritage Centre, Wyoming), Bruce
Breummer (Cargill Corporation) and Richard Cox (University of
Pittsburgh). These meetings explored current ideas in appraisal –
while the discussions at times were lively, the depth of real experi-
ence that currently is abroad in the community is impressive and
the collective commitment to archives transcends differences that
drive discussions and thought. I hope that similar sessions in the
future will become a hothouse for research and writing on
appraisal.
Tom Nesmith, Brien Brothman, Frank Upward and Luciana
Duranti have opened doors onto new or previously overlooked
vistas that invite exploration. While I may have stepped across
the threshold in places, I recognize fully that this is only a brief
introductory foray, albeit one in which I have tried to abstract
the essence of ideas and concepts. Nancy Marrelli at Concordia
University Archives, and Mike Moir and Karen Teeple at the
City of Toronto Archives provided information for appendixes.
Finally, I want to thank many others for their help, both witting
and unwitting, and for their forbearance with my preoccupa-
tions, especially Candace Loewen, Bernadine Dodge, Carolyn
Heald, Jim Suderman, Anastasia Rodgers, Barry Cahill, Rick
Klumpenhouwer, Joan Schwartz, Phil Eppard, and Peter Wosh.