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

theory of appraisal, which, in his understanding, is supported by
the complementary methodologies of social science and
hermeneutics.48 He forcefully presents the relativity problems
inherent in the process of ascribing value, and clearly
establishes the need for an objective framework for appraisal.
His most important contribution is his focus on the creating
society, and the formulation of the principle of contemporary
value.
Throughout his first proposal, Booms argues that reliance on
the principle of provenance for the identification of value is
derived from the romantic belief that accepts unquestionably the
significance of public records. In his understanding, the
"truth-value of the documentary material was, in principle, never
questioned."49 His words indicate that he fails to see that
"truth-value" is beside the archival point, for an analysis of
provenance provides the key to the meaning and significance of
records in the context of their creation. He rejects any attempt
to use the principle of provenance as a means of providing an
objective framework for appraisal. He argues that provenance is
an ephemeral and unproductive value principle, for it
obscured the need for the concrete, binding
value principles archivists seemed unable to
define, and offered surrogate appraisal
methods. In this way, Provenienzprinzip,
indispensable as it was for archival
arrangement, also provided a formal,
ideological basis for undertaking records
48 Ibid, 103.
49 Ibid, 87.
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