A STUDY OF THE THEORY OF APPRAISAL FOR SELECTION By ...

legal value.43
In 1984, Harold Naugler proposed his now widely accepted
guidelines, which instituted a two-tiered approach that combined
structural and content analysis with technical analysis.44
Schellenberg's evidential and informational values were augmented
by electronic values such as manipulability and linkage
possibilities. The new addition of technical analysis assessed
readability of the data file, the availability of documentation,
and cost factors. Catherine Bailey concludes that the appraisal
of electronic records is not conceptually different from the
appraisal of paper records: "Their apparent intricacy is merely
a reflection of the increased complexity of the electronic
medium, not the nature of the information it holds."45
Since 1984, there have been two notable attempts to develop
appraisal theory by Bailey, and the United Nations Advisory
Committee for the Co-ordination of Information Systems (ACCIS).46
Both studies support the traditional North American emphasis on
content analysis, but both also demonstrate the importance of
43 The evolution of electronic records from non-record to
record status is surveyed in Thomas E. Brown, "The Evolution of
ah Appraisal Theory for Automated Records," Archives & Museum
Informatics 1, 3 (Mall, 1987): 49-51.
44 Harold Naugler, The Archival Appraisal of Machine-
Readable Records: A RAMP Study with Guidelines (Paris: UNESCO,
1984).
45 Catherine Bailey, "Archival Theory and Electronic
Records," Archivaria 29 (Winter 1989-90): 182.
46 Advisory Committee for the Co-ordination of Information
systems. Management of Electronic Records: Issues and
Guidelines. New York: United Nations, 1990.
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