INFO 6800 (Winter 2013) Week Five: Archival Appraisal

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February 4, 2013 1INFO 6800 Archives – Week Five

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1995-02-23/


Archival Appraisal

February 4, 2013 2INFO 6800 Archives – Week FiveDiscards at the Dalhousie University Archives

What is archival

appraisal?Resource Allocation

Archival Appraisal


What is the purpose of appraisal?

Identify records to be accessioned

Reduce backlog

Meet mandateComprehensive

but compact

Appraisal Practice


Practice

Methods

Theory

Appraisal Practice


Processing a fonds at the Dalhousie University Archives

Resource Allocation

Appraisal Practice


1. Provenance and content

2. Values

3. Authenticity and reliability

4. Order and completeness

5. Condition and preservation costs

What should an archivist

consider?

$$$ ?

Appraisal Theory


Practice

Methods

Theory

??

Appraisal Theory


Historical Context

– Impartiality– Integrity

– Functions– Activities– Society

Contemporary Archives

Tomorrow's Archives? ?

Appraisal Theory


Respect des fonds

Appraisal theorySociety

Creators and

records

Redefining Provenance

Appraisal Theory


?

Jenkinson


What is the moral defense of archives?

Protect evidentiality

Protect integrity

CustodianshipLegal and moral

responsibility

Jenkinson


“The primary duty of the archivist was to the evidentiary nature of archival material, and the activities supporting this duty, which came to be known as the “moral defense of archives,” were seen as central to the professional ethic of archivists.”

Duranti (1994)

Schellenberg


How does Schellenberg depart from Jenkinson?

Selection is essential

Use for researchRole of

archivists Primary and secondary value

Schellenberg


“Can we, faced with these modern accumulations, leave any longer to chance the question what Archives are to be preserved? Can we…attempt to regulate them without destroying that precious characteristic of impartiality which results . . . from the very fact that their preservation was settled…?”

Schellenberg

Schellenberg’s Primary Values


Primary ValueDerived from

original use for creator

Administrative value Fiscal value

Legal value Operational value

What are the primary values?

What are the secondary values?

Schellenberg’s Secondary Values


Secondary Value

Primary concern for archivists

Evidential Informational

Uniqueness Form ImportanceWhat is informational value?

Intrinsic Value

February 4, 2013 17INFO 6800 Archives – Week FiveLeo Cullum, April 21, 2008 (New Yorker Magazine)

http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/With-the-doubloon-you-ve-got-the-intrinsic-value-of-the-metal-plus-the-n-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8546263_.htm



Luciana Duranti


What are the characteristics of archival records?

Interrelationship and uniqueness

Impartiality

Naturalness

Authenticity

Luciana Duranti


“…the role of the concept of accountability in archival theory … was undermined by Schellenberg’s desire to promote the cultural identity of archival repositories and the role of archivists as appraisers of records.”

Duranti (1994)

Richard Cox


How do we understand

records collected in the past?

Richard Cox


“Appraisal seems to have drifted into a world of confused, conflicting, or complacent methods, theories, and practices—at least when seen by the typical archival practitioner. Some archivists in the field embrace specific guiding concepts, but others seem to operate with little knowledge of changing perspectives concerning this archival function.”

Cox (2004)

Maynard J. Brichford


“An archivist cannot rely on principles, laws, and schedules to determine what should be kept. It is most important that he [sic] read widely and well and interview.”

Brichford

Maynard J. Brichford


Redefining Provenance

Hans Booms


“Archivists must bring with them the concepts they need in order to make the judgment: this belongs to the documentary heritage, while that does not. But where do archivists get these value concepts, and how are such ideas developed?”

Booms

Hans Booms


Archives

Values

Society

Hans Booms


Begin appraisal

Investigate registries

Functional analysis

Chronicle of key dates and events

Tom Nesmith


“A kind of archival “appraisal” is thereby going on in society long before most archivists can intervene in the process. These forces determine which … activities will be documented at all and which ignored, and which will be documented well, adequately, or poorly …”

Nesmith (2011)

?Report on appraisal methods

Tom Nesmith


“…documenting appraisal as a societal-archival process involves recasting the theory of appraisal, seeking out practices reflecting that, and addressing the ethical issues arising from it.”

Archival Accountability

Documentation of Appraisal

Archives and the Internet

Ethnographic Archives

Tom Nesmith


What should an archivist

document?

Research and decision-making

processes

Approach to descriptionHistorical and

current methods Nature of contextual info

Appraisal Methods


Practice

Methods

TheoryResource Allocation

Appraisal Methods


Macro-Appraisal Black Box Archival

Sampling

Minnesota Method

Documentation Strategy

More Product Less Process

Sources (in order of appearance)


Adams, Scott (1995). Dilbert comic. http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1995-02-23/.

Writings of Sir Hilary Jenkinson cover image. http://thesocietyofqualifiedarchivists.blogspot.ca/2005_02_08_archive.html.

Modern Archives cover image. http://www.archivalmediaconsulting.com/blog/rise-and-consequences-of-the-digital-information-age.

Cullum, Leo (2008). Intrinsic value cartoon. http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/With-the-doubloon-you-ve-got-the-intrinsic-value-of-the-metal-plus-the-n-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8546263_.htm.

Wysocki, Charles. Remington the Well Read. http://gallery4collectors.com/CharlesWysocki-RemingtontheWellRead.htm.


http://thesocietyofqualifiedarchivists.blogspot.ca/2005_02_08_archive.html

http://thesocietyofqualifiedarchivists.blogspot.ca/2005_02_08_archive.html

http://www.archivalmediaconsulting.com/blog/rise-and-consequences-of-the-digital-information-age

http://www.archivalmediaconsulting.com/blog/rise-and-consequences-of-the-digital-information-age




http://gallery4collectors.com/CharlesWysocki-RemingtontheWellRead.htm

http://gallery4collectors.com/CharlesWysocki-RemingtontheWellRead.htm



Brainstuck.com (2008). Corporate hierarchy diagram. http://www.brainstuck.com/2009/03/21/corporate-hierarchy-2/. Cox, Richard J. “The End of Collecting: Toward a New Purpose for Archival Appraisal.” In No Innocent Deposits: Forming Archives by Rethinking Appraisal, p. 22. Letterhead. http://bottledmonsters.blogspot.ca/2010/04/more-letterhead-from-collection.html.Ruth Bader Ginsburg Autograph. http://washburnlaw.edu/library/collections/autographs/showjustice.php?who=ginsburg-ruthbader. Lee Line Steamers. http://leelinesteamers.com/?page_id=93. Wizard of Oz letterhead. http://centeredlibrarian.blogspot.ca/2010/04/delightful-collection-of-letterheads.html.

http://www.brainstuck.com/2009/03/21/corporate-hierarchy-2/

http://bottledmonsters.blogspot.ca/2010/04/more-letterhead-from-collection.html

http://bottledmonsters.blogspot.ca/2010/04/more-letterhead-from-collection.html

http://washburnlaw.edu/library/collections/autographs/showjustice.php?who=ginsburg-ruthbader

http://washburnlaw.edu/library/collections/autographs/showjustice.php?who=ginsburg-ruthbader

http://leelinesteamers.com/?page_id=93

http://centeredlibrarian.blogspot.ca/2010/04/delightful-collection-of-letterheads.html

http://centeredlibrarian.blogspot.ca/2010/04/delightful-collection-of-letterheads.html



Booms, Hans. “Uberlieferungsbildung: Keeping archives as a social and political activity.” Archivaria 33 (1991-1992): 25; 31-32.

Photographs of Dalhousie University Archives and the Killam Library were taken by Dalhousie Archives staff

INFO 6800 (Winter 2013) Week Five: Archival Appraisal

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