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

The stringent requirements of the courts for proof are an
informal guide to society for the logical requirements for proof
whenever records are used as evidence.
Given the importance to society of having access to reliable
documents as administrative, legal and cultural evidence of its
functions and activities, the first responsibility of archivists
engaged in the appraisal process must be to ensure that the
impartiality of the records is preserved. The Jenkinsonian
notion of the moral defence of archives reflects the primacy of
the probative nature of records, and directly links the notion of
impartiality to use. The future usefulness of records as
evidence is directly dependent on the preservation of their
archival nature, through the application of principles such as
respect des fonds and original order, which respect the external
and internal integrity of each fonds. If archivists fail to
perform this fundamental task, the records will be rendered
valueless as evidence, except as discrete historical artifacts.
The principle of impartiality must, therefore, be the primary
principle that guides all archival functions, including the
appraisal process.
The principle of provenance provides an objective framework
for structural analysis, the purpose of which is to identify and
preserve the records series that most accurately document the
primary functions and activities of the records creator.
Structural analysis is a comprehensive analysis of the contextual
relationships that exist between a records creator and its
119