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

CHAPTER 3:
BRITISH TRADITIONS OF APPRAISAL
The public records of England and Wales . . .
. are vitally important for the knowledge and
understanding of British society, its
organisation and functioning.
The Wilson Report, 1981.1
Traditions of appraisal in England have developed from the
mid-nineteenth century to the present, and are remarkably
cohesive, unlike traditions in continental Europe. Central to
appraisal theory is the concept of the preservation of the
archival nature of records, the use of administrative value to
identify historical value, and an abiding concern for the
research interests of the user community. As in the traditions
in continental Europe, questions are raised about the relativity
of value, and calls are made for the need to maintain the
impartial perspective of the archivist. While the principle of
provenance is never referred to, the use of structural analysis
is evident in the British insistence on defining "administrative
value" as the key to select records for permanent preservation.
The following discussion will focus on the two most important
theorists who developed these ideas, Sir Hilary Jenkinson and Sir
James Grigg. Because of the significance of their contribution
1 U.K. Modern Public Records: Selection and Access, Sir
Duncan Wilson, Chair, Qnnd. 8531 (1981), 3, paragraph 1.
Hereafter referred to as Wilson Report.
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