INFO 6800 (Winter 2013) Week Six: Archival Appraisal
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Transcript of INFO 6800 (Winter 2013) Week Six: Archival Appraisal
INFO 6800 - Archives
• Announcements• Archival appraisal• Seminar presentations• Appraisal exercises (Killam 2616)
February 11, 2013 1INFO 6800 Archives – Week Six
http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1994-11-16/
Archival Appraisal
February 11, 2013 2INFO 6800 Archives – Week SixDiscards at the Dalhousie University Archives
?Resource Allocation
Archival Appraisal
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What is the purpose of appraisal?
Identify records to be accessioned
Reduce backlog
Meet mandateComprehensive
but compact
Appraisal Theory
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Practice
Methods
Theory
Schellenberg’s Primary Values
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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
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Secondary Value
Primary concern for archivists
Evidential Informational
Uniqueness Form ImportanceWhat is informational value?
Appraisal Methods
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Practice
Methods
TheoryResource Allocation
Appraisal Methods
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Macro-Appraisal Black Box Archival
Sampling
Minnesota Method
Documentation Strategy
More Product Less Process
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What should archivists consider
when making appraisal decisions?
Societal values (provides basis)
How records are created
Organizational structure Functions and
Activities
Macro-Appraisal
Societal Values
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Archives and the Internet
Societal Values
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Societal Values
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Societal Values
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Ethnographic Archives
Macro-Appraisal
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“While no one can objectively know or state with complete assurance what the elements of societal value(s) are or have been within any given generation, archivists can develop appraisal strategies and methodologies that are most likely to provide a comprehensive documentary memory of what has transpired in society over time.”
Cook
Functional Analysis
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A technique that sets priorities for appraising and processing materials based on the relative importance of the functions performed in an organization
Archivist uses knowledge gained by functional analysis to make appraisal decisions
Cook’s Appraisal Questions
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• What are the mandated functions and activities?
• How important are these functions and activities?
• How important are these functions and activities within the broader context of Canadian society?
Cook’s Appraisal Questions
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• What aspects or features need to be documented if a function or activity has importance?
• What constitutes sufficient documentation from an archival perspective?
Cook’s Appraisal Questions
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• Where in government is the Office of Primary Interest for a particular function or activity?
• Is the Office of Primary Interest the location of the best archival record which documents the function or activity?
Appraisal Methods
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Macro-Appraisal Black Box Archival
Sampling
Minnesota Method
Documentation Strategy
More Product Less Process
Documentation Strategy
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Documentation Strategy
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“Challenged by the abundance of materials, the scarcity of the resources to care for them, and the decentralized nature of contemporary society and its records, archivists must develop new intellectual frameworks to guide them.”
Helen Samuels
Resource Allocation
Documentation Strategy
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What are the components of a documentation
strategy?
Choosing and defining topics
Structure and conduct inquirySelecting the
advisors and site Select and place documentation
Documentation Strategy
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How can archivists choose and define
documentation strategies?
Define chronological boundaries
Think of posterityTopical and
geographic scope Understanding today’s values
Documentation Strategy
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How should archivists
approach the chosen topic?
Consider what documentation doesn’t exist
Detailed investigationDesign analytical
process Collaborate with other archivists
Participatory Archiving
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“The “power to represent” has been wielded by information institutions throughout history, and the manifestations of this power have helped to build societal definitions of culture.”
Shilton and Srinivasan
Ethnographic Archives
Ethnographic Archives
Participatory Archiving
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“…memory institutions have ignored experiences outside of the history of the powerful, creating collecting gaps… archives have appropriated the histories of marginalized communities, creating archives about rather than of the communities…”
Shilton and Srinivasan
Participatory Archiving
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Ethnographic Archives
Documentation Strategy
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“Archival collections may have roots in one institution, but their limbs reach out and touch others. A common soil and water source enriches and binds collections together. Archivists should offer the future not individual trees, but a forest.”
Samuels
Resource Allocation
Appraisal Methods
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Macro-Appraisal Black Box Archival
Sampling
Minnesota Method
Documentation Strategy
More Product Less Process
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• The process of selecting items from a collection to stand for the collection as a whole
• Sampling techniques• Probability or statistical sampling• Purposive or judgmental sampling
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Archival Sampling
Appraisal Methods
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Macro-Appraisal Black Box Archival
Sampling
Minnesota Method
Documentation Strategy
More Product Less Process
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• A strategy for appraising materials that combines aspects of collection analysis, documentation strategy, macro-appraisal, and functional analysis
• Developed at Minnesota Historical Society by Mark Greene and Todd Daniels-Howells
Minnesota Method
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Economy
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Healthcare
Transportation
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Minnesota Method - Sectors
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Agriculture Sector
Industry Leader
Top 5
Top 25
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Minnesota Method - Categories
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Minnesota Method – Documentation Levels
Do Not Collect
Level D
Level C
Level B
Level A
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Minnesota Method
Select Records
Assign Documentation
Level
Assign Category
Assign Sector
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What are the problems with
Minnesota Method?
Extremely time-consuming
Difficult to assess
Focused on categorization Does not address
item-level issues
Minnesota Method
Appraisal Methods
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Macro-Appraisal Black Box Archival
Sampling
Minnesota Method
Documentation Strategy
More Product Less Process
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• Concept originally outlined for archival processing
• MPLP maintains that traditional processing is not efficient use of staff resources
• Collections should receive minimal processing to help eliminate backlog
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More Product, Less Process
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How does processing relate to
appraisal?
Appraisal helps create or
eliminate backlog
Many archivists appraise during
processingMany archivists do not appraise before
acquisition
More Product, Less Process
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Requires Acceptance
Collections are too large
Don’t waste time on junk
Requires Planning
Shifts Locations Appraisal at home/office
More Product, Less Process
Makes Compromises
Balance resources
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What are the problems with
MPLP?
No framework exists
Not clearly defined
Difficult to measure
effectiveness
More Product, Less Process
Appraisal Methods
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Macro-Appraisal Black Box Archival
Sampling
Minnesota Method
Documentation Strategy
More Product Less Process
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Appraisal as a Black Box
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Appraisal as a Black Box
“Archivists mix together a variety of values and record characteristics and pull from the box a determination of the records’ value”
Boles and Young
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Appraisal as a Black Box
Value of Information
Circumstances of creation and
analysis of content
Storage and core functions
Cost of Information
Implications of Recommendation
Politics and precedent
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Appraisal as a Black Box
• The components and elements are not of equal value
• The relative weight is based on institutional policies
• Modules, components, and elements are dynamic and interactive
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What are the problems with the Black Box method?
Does not always reflect archivists’
judgments
Universal policies are badInherently
flawed! Universal appraisal is not possible
Appraisal as a Black Box
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• Many archivists still have insufficient training and guidance
• Electronic records challenge core appraisal principles• Difficult to determine values• Different methods of creation and
use• Appraisal can still be a mystery! February 11, 2013 INFO 6800 Archives – Week Six
Archival Appraisal Today
Sources (in order of appearance)
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Adams, Scott (1995). Dilbert comic. http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1994-11-16/.
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.
Karson, Ted Roger (2009). Moon image. http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedsla/3422530873/sizes/o/.
Occupy Wall Street image. http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/31/25-best-occupy-photos-of-2011-2/.
Assange/Zuckerburg image. http://occupymedfordoregon.org/photo/occupy-the-world/#axzz2IHpaFI5w.
Sources (in order of appearance)
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Drone image. http://mashable.com/2012/12/11/student-tweets-drone-strikes/.
Idle no More image. http://www.torontosun.com/2013/01/05/idle-no-more-protest-blocks-canada-us-border-traffic.
Black box image. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box.
Photographs of Dalhousie University Archives and the Killam Library were taken by Dalhousie Libraries staff