INFO 6800 Archives (Winter 2013) – Week Four Seminar | 1

INFO 6800 Archives – January 28, 2013 Week Four – Arrangement and Description

Objectives

1. Examine current and emerging practices for archival processing 2. Become familiar with information systems used to create multi-level archival

descriptions 3. Understand the similarities and differences between organizational archives and

personal archives 4. Understand the current debates on provenance and their impact on archival

description and other core functions

Activities: Seminar presentations

Required Readings

Deodato, Joseph. “Becoming Responsible Mediators: The Application of Postmodern Perspectives to Archival Arrangement and Description.” Progressive Librarian 27 (Summer 2006): 52-63. http://www.progressivelibrariansguild.org/PL_Jnl/pdf/PL27_summer2006.pdf.

Yeo, Geoffrey. “The Conceptual Fonds and the Physical Collection.” Archivaria 73 (Spring 2012): 43-80. http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13384/14691.

Wurl, Joel. “Ethnicity as Provenance: In Search of Values and Principles for Documenting the Immigrant Experience,” Archival Issues 29.1 (2005): 65–76.

Optional Readings

Krawczyk, Bob. “Cross Reference Heaven: The Abandonment of the Fonds as the Primary Level of Arrangement for Ontario Government Records.” Archivaria 48(1999): 131-153. http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12720/13899.

Meissner, Dennis, and Mark A. Greene. “More Product, Less Process: Revamping Traditional Archival Processing.” American Archivist 68.2 (2005): 208-263. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/c741823776k65863/fulltext.pdf.

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Prepare for Discussion

1. What are some of the ways Deodato suggests postmodern ideas can be applied

to arrangement and description?

2. What are some of the implications (e.g., practical, financial, administrative,

research, etc.) of the encroachment of postmodernism into archival theory and

practice?

3. Early archival theorists saw the fonds as a physical construct, with visible and

definable boundaries. Contemporary theorists frequently refer to the fonds as an

“intellectual” entity, more of a “concept” than a physical reality. What prompted

this shift and what are the implications for archival practice?

4. Archival collections are typically seen as “artificial” constructions of records, while

fonds are viewed as “organic” accumulations of records. What is implied by this

distinction? Are these assumptions valid in today’s recordkeeping

environments?

5. The records of many organizations, families, and individuals are spread across

multiple archives, many of which describe their holdings as a fonds even though

it cannot possibly be considered the “single entity” which constitutes the entire

records of the creator. What does this say about traditional archival theory?

What are the possible effects of this treatment on archives users?

6. Helen Creighton was a folk song collector who made audio recordings of

countless individuals across the Maritimes. Her records are stored in at least six

different archives in two different countries; there are at least three “fonds” and

one “collection.” In all cases, the records document the cultural expressions of

countless individuals that have not been described as “creators.” What

challenges do fonds like this pose for archivists? For researchers? How can

archivists arrange these materials according to the principle of respect des fonds

while also acknowledging the provenance of the tradition bearers and the

tradition?

7. Joel Wurl has argued that archivists should perceive ethnicity as a form of

provenance. How does he suggest archivists make this shift? What are the

implications for the various core functions?

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8. What are some of the financial and administrative considerations an archivist

must make when planning arrangement and description activities? How can

archivists increase their productivity when processing records?

More Product, Less Process image from the Derangement and Description blog (2009):

http://derangementanddescription.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/more-meme-less-process/.