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

For it is the task of archivists in advising
researchers to transform their subject-based
inquiries into administrative jurisdictions,
in order to determine those provenances in
which the desired source material exists.53
In this manner, preserving the archival nature of records ensures
their future usefulness.
The third step in Booms' plan is the formal process of
appraisal. The archivist identifies the primary responsibility
of the agency under investigation, judges the extent to which the
responsibility is documented in the records, and identifies the
extent to which other agencies contributed to its implementation.
Booms notes that the formal process of structural analysis
rejects about 604. of records. As a secondary measure, the
selection process can then be augmented with reference to the
contemporary chronicle by selecting for preservation series of
records that adequately document important events. Booms adds
that this step could lead to the rejection of another 254 - of
records.54
Booms' clarification of the central role of provenance in
the appraisal process alludes to the possibility that, instead of
relegating provenance to an evaluation of subject content, the
principle of provenance can be adapted by using a structural
analysis of an archival fonds to evaluate the accuracy of its
documentation of the activities of a records creator. In this
manner, provenance becomes an empirically verifiable method
53 Ibid.
54 Ibid.
54