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

previously, Hans Booms projects that use of this principle as a
corollary of provenance, can eliminate a further 25* of records
being appraised.
For example, native land claims in the 1990s would clearly
form part of the contemporary chronicle of our society. Using
this model, future archivists who are appraising records will
evaluate them primarily by a structural analysis of functions and
activities of the records creator. When this is done, a more
extensive selection of records for preservation can be done by
reference to the relationship between the records creator and
contemporary events that relate the subject of land claims to the
functions and jurisdiction of the records creator.
Modern research questions relating to native land issues in
records created before the current widespread interest in land
claims can still be answered by thoughtful provision of
intellectual access to the new trends in research. If, however,
archivists re-appraise historical records on the basis of their
significance to current research trends, the dangers of the
distortions inherent in content analysis are re-invented.
Several archivists have argued that the process of appraisal
can be assisted by three measures. The first measure is the
Jenkinsonian notion of vital records as the "The Golden Rule of
Archive Making". Because vital records enable an organization to
continue to function, they are the core of records that provide
evidence of the organization, authority, functions, and policies
and procedures of a records creator. These records can provide
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