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

consist of all documentary records made or received by a body in
the course of its practical activities, and preserved as evidence
of its mandate, functions and activities. Archival documents
provide evidence of their creator because they are interrelated
as to meaning, authentic as to procedure, and impartial as to
creation. From this guarantee of reliability, intentions and
actions can be compared, the accuracy of the evidence can be
determined, and its historical meaning can be derived.
Because documents are inherently unreliable and prone to
charges of hearsay, the most pressing need for all interpretive
uses of archival documents is the preservation of the probative
nature of documentary evidence from the genesis of records to
their permanent preservation. Appraisal literature must be
reviewed in order to establish whether or not the theoretical
framework of appraisal adequately provides for the research
requirement of the preservation of the probative value of
documentary evidence.
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