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

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electronic records in flat file format to dodge problems of electronic incompatibility and obsolescence. Bailey raises an interesting problem that is inherent in such a practice: "If archives insist on combatting problems of hardware and software incompatibility or obsolescence by accepting only flat files in ASCII or EBCDIC format, are they not losing some valuable evidential information about the records?"50 The Jenkinsonian insistence on the moral defence of the evidential nature of archives will propel archivists to eventually accept Bailey's suggestion to preserve, not only information, but also the dynamic structure of the entire information system. The United Nations report notes that technological obsolescence forces archivists to regularly move electronic information from one format to another. Because of the Costs involved, the report makes the practical recommendation that this point of migration is the most logical time for the appraisal function to be performed.51 An understanding of the form of electronic records forces a re-evaluation of several aspects of traditional appraisal practice. As recent studies have indicated, appraisal must be an integrated process that spans the life history of records from creation to final disposition. For this to occur, the entire process requires extensive cooperation with the records creator. What remains to be re -evaluated is the North American focus on 50 Ibid, 188. 51 ACCIS, Management, 40-41. 113
content analysis as the primary method of identifying value. With the identification of the record status of electronic records, the primary focus of appraisal must remain the preservation of their archival nature. In order to be used as evidence for administrative, legal or historical purposes, the impartiality and authenticity of the records and the creation process must be preserved. American traditions of appraisal centre on use as the primary arbiter of value that traps selection in the inescapable and conflicting subjectivities of past, present and future perspectives. Such an understanding is based on an incorrect premise that the context of creation is peripheral to the subject content of the records. But, the fact that records are used for other reasons than those for which they were created does not mean that the circumstances of creation are invalidated. For the meaning of records is inexorably connected to provenance throughout their life history, regardless of use. Most North American archivists maintain a broad acceptance of structural analysis, but they pay only lip service to the importance of maintaining the impartiality of records. Because lip service is not supported by logic, it is inevitably subverted by methodology. In the final analysis, the pervasive acceptance of the arbitrary bifurcation of knowledge into categories of evidential value and informational value does not help archivists preserve the probative and archival nature of archives. The Canadian contribution to appraisal theory is found in 114
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A STUDY OF THE THEORY OF APPRAISAL
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ABSTRACT Appraisal for selection is
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I gratefully acknow
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the troublesome question of the rel
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principle of pertinence is commonly
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problems such as the availability o
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theoretical framework.^In this mann
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CHAPTER 1: THE PROBATIVE NATURE OF
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doctrine of stare decisis.3 The hie
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The courts thus enter the realm of
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the conduct of society, but to expl
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lives."16 Because the present inesc
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judiciary has developed a complex s
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creation, is inherently reliable. 2
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authority. "31^Public records can t
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whole or any part of any book, docu
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consist of all documentary records
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issue. German archivists have been
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information.2 It is, however, the F
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Importance of historical value as a
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intuitive ability to appraise recor
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objectivity is irrelevant. Content
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is supported by the many examples o
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that documented important historica
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ecords through a structural analysi
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is, the political issue of extent a
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appraisal. But, instead of rejectin
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provide archivists with the necessa
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theory of appraisal, which, in his
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For it is the task of archivists in
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the European understanding of the n
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to appraisal theory, the following
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of the Rolls has been required 'fro
Page 67 and 68: Schedule."13 In 1889, rules regardi
Page 69 and 70: their legitimate successors.17 His
Page 71 and 72: the administrator.22 Their meaning
Page 73 and 74: the connexion in which they were or
Page 75 and 76: fears, archivists and historians wh
Page 77 and 78: diminished from its previous absolu
Page 79 and 80: that had been used since the mid-ni
Page 81 and 82: preserved."52 Thus, the Report main
Page 83 and 84: series.59 The Report also notes tha
Page 85 and 86: The Grigg Report concludes its asse
Page 87 and 88: in the equation of historical value
Page 89 and 90: paradigms created by European theor
Page 91 and 92: seriously challenged since it was a
Page 93 and 94: the usefulness of existing resource
Page 95 and 96: CHAPTER 4: NORTH AMERICAN TRADITION
Page 97 and 98: ecords, from creation to dispositio
Page 99 and 100: possess it not as individual docume
Page 101 and 102: accomplished. As Hans Booms has cle
Page 103 and 104: and activities of the creating orga
Page 105 and 106: the next logical step: the identifi
Page 107 and 108: that they are needed for an underst
Page 109 and 110: archivists bring to research by the
Page 111 and 112: unarticulated."35 ^ In the American
Page 113 and 114: Cook's emphasis on relating the pro
Page 115 and 116: oader concept of information data s
Page 117: provenance. They also offer an inte
Page 121 and 122: CONCLUSION After all is said and do
Page 123 and 124: the intervention of archivists in t
Page 125 and 126: ecords. The analysis seeks to ident
Page 127 and 128: according to an ideological underst
Page 129 and 130: previously, Hans Booms projects tha
Page 131 and 132: administrative and historical value
Page 133 and 134: BIBLIOGRAPHY Advisory Committee for
Page 135 and 136: Cook, Terry. "Improving our Disposi
Page 137 and 138: Haas, J. et al. Appraising the Reco
Page 139 and 140: Raffel, Stanley.^Matters of Fact: A
Page 141 and 142: GLOSSARY OF ARCHIVAL TERMS ACQUISIT
Page 143: PUBLIC RECORDS: Documents issued by
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