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WHAT IS A RECORD?WHAT IS A RECORD?Week Two

(September 9, 2010)

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Organic by-product of human activity created to

capture meaningful information preserved for longvalue

that may be used as evidence or proof

Data or information in a fixed form that is created or

activity and set aside (preserved) as evidence of thatactivity for future reference

recor as xe con en , s ruc ure an con ex .***Last three are from

the Society of American Archivists website

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UNDERSTANDING ARCHIVES &UNDERSTANDING ARCHIVES &

MANUSCRIPTSMANUSCRIPTS

Record Latin Roots

Heart (cor) with verb to give (dare) To give back to the heart and mind after the

The Oral World

The Rise and Spread of Literacy

Reasons for Recording Information

The Impulse to Save

ec no ogy o ecor a ng Characteristics of Recorded Info in the Modern Age

The Usefulness of Archives

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THE ORAL WORLD/THE ORAL WORLD/

THE RISE OF LITERACYTHE RISE OF LITERACY

Humans are natural s eakers.

Oral communication exists only as it is going out ofexistence.

Inescapable fallibility of human memory.

Techniques had to be developed. r ng s ex erna an ec no og ca .

In a fixed form.

,

Reliability, legality and proof depended on writing

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REASONS FOR RECORDINGREASONS FOR RECORDING

Personal

Social Economic

Legal

Instrumental Symbolic

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Wh do we save records after the ori inal usefulness

has ceased? They might be useful in the future?

Information might be needed again?

Unpredictability of the future makes us want to

Saved because they are a form of individual or

collective memory?

Relics personal or symbolic meaning?

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TECHNOLOGY OFTECHNOLOGY OF

Paper

Writing Materials Printing

ec an ca ecor a ng

Copying Machines

Filin S stems

Photographic Records

Altered Record Formats

Recording Sound Computerized Information

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CHARACTERISTICS OF RECORDEDCHARACTERISTICS OF RECORDED

Abundance rather than Scarcit

Collective rather than Individual More Decentralized and Democratic

Interrelatedness of Records More Apparent & Real

Shifting Usefulness

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Lar e Numbers of Peo le with a Great Ran e of

Interests Source of Personal, Individual Identity

Larger Society Benefits

Corporate & Legal Benefits ver s ng romo ona or s

Pure Research

, , ,

No Archives, No History

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SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE OFSYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE OF

ARCHIVESARCHIVES

Practical Values & S mbolic Values

Record Form and Symbolic Meaning Recordmaking and the Record Made

Ceremonial and Religious Uses of Records

Records Revered as Objects Hostility Toward Records

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No lon er ust kee ers but active selectors

Integration of Modern Institutions Integration of Modern Information

Effects of Integration of Institutions and

Information o ec on eve opmen s o ec on anagemen

Defining Collecting Strategies

Documentation Strategies

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Four Main Activities:

Choosing and defining the topic to be documented. Selecting the advisors and establishing the site for

the strategy.

Structuring the inquiry and examining the form.

Selecting and placing the documentation.