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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CHAPTER 3: BRITISH TRADITIONS <strong>OF</strong> <strong>APPRAISAL</strong> 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. 57
to appraisal theory, the following textual analysis of their writing will be developed in a careful and detailed manner. The analysis will trace the development of ideas about the appraisal of government records in order to understand the historical context in which the theories of Jenkinson and Grigg originated. The discussion will then focus on Jenkinson's articulation of the nature of archives and his resulting theoretical framework for appraisal. Building upon Jenkinson's ideas, Sir James Grigg presents a carefully prescribed methodology that identifies the administrative and historical value of records through a structural analysis of the records creator. The purpose of the discussion will be to evaluate theories of appraisal in the British tradition with regard to their ability to preserve the archival and probative nature of records for administrative and historical research use. Two historical events reflect the evolution of contemporary British ideas: the passage of the 1838 Public Record Office Act,2 which established the legal authority for the permanent preservation of government legal records, and the 1958 Public Records Act,3 which implemented the recommendations of Sir James Grigg presented in his 1954 report.4 2 U.K. Laws, Statutes, etc., Public Record Office Act, 1838, 1 & 2 Victoria, c. 94. 3 U.K. Laws, Statutes, etc., Public Records Act, 1958, 6 & 7 Eliz. 2, c. 51. 4 U.K. Committee on Departmental Records Report, Sir James Grigg, Chair, Ciond. 9163 (1954). Hereafter referred to as Grigg Report. 58
Page 1 and 2:
A STUDY OF THE THEORY OF APPRAISAL
Page 3 and 4:
ABSTRACT Appraisal for selection is
Page 5 and 6:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I gratefully acknow
Page 7 and 8:
the troublesome question of the rel
Page 9 and 10:
principle of pertinence is commonly
Page 11 and 12: problems such as the availability o
Page 13 and 14: theoretical framework.^In this mann
Page 15 and 16: CHAPTER 1: THE PROBATIVE NATURE OF
Page 17 and 18: doctrine of stare decisis.3 The hie
Page 19 and 20: The courts thus enter the realm of
Page 21 and 22: the conduct of society, but to expl
Page 23 and 24: lives."16 Because the present inesc
Page 25 and 26: judiciary has developed a complex s
Page 27 and 28: creation, is inherently reliable. 2
Page 29 and 30: authority. "31^Public records can t
Page 31 and 32: whole or any part of any book, docu
Page 33 and 34: consist of all documentary records
Page 35 and 36: issue. German archivists have been
Page 37 and 38: information.2 It is, however, the F
Page 39 and 40: Importance of historical value as a
Page 41 and 42: intuitive ability to appraise recor
Page 43 and 44: objectivity is irrelevant. Content
Page 45 and 46: is supported by the many examples o
Page 47 and 48: that documented important historica
Page 49 and 50: ecords through a structural analysi
Page 51 and 52: is, the political issue of extent a
Page 53 and 54: appraisal. But, instead of rejectin
Page 55 and 56: provide archivists with the necessa
Page 57 and 58: theory of appraisal, which, in his
Page 59 and 60: For it is the task of archivists in
Page 61: the European understanding of the n
Page 65 and 66: of the Rolls has been required 'fro
Page 67 and 68: Schedule."13 In 1889, rules regardi
Page 69 and 70: their legitimate successors.17 His
Page 71 and 72: the administrator.22 Their meaning
Page 73 and 74: the connexion in which they were or
Page 75 and 76: fears, archivists and historians wh
Page 77 and 78: diminished from its previous absolu
Page 79 and 80: that had been used since the mid-ni
Page 81 and 82: preserved."52 Thus, the Report main
Page 83 and 84: series.59 The Report also notes tha
Page 85 and 86: The Grigg Report concludes its asse
Page 87 and 88: in the equation of historical value
Page 89 and 90: paradigms created by European theor
Page 91 and 92: seriously challenged since it was a
Page 93 and 94: the usefulness of existing resource
Page 95 and 96: CHAPTER 4: NORTH AMERICAN TRADITION
Page 97 and 98: ecords, from creation to dispositio
Page 99 and 100: possess it not as individual docume
Page 101 and 102: accomplished. As Hans Booms has cle
Page 103 and 104: and activities of the creating orga
Page 105 and 106: the next logical step: the identifi
Page 107 and 108: that they are needed for an underst
Page 109 and 110: archivists bring to research by the
Page 111 and 112: unarticulated."35 ^ In the American
Page 113 and 114:
Cook's emphasis on relating the pro
Page 115 and 116:
oader concept of information data s
Page 117 and 118:
provenance. They also offer an inte
Page 119 and 120:
content analysis as the primary met
Page 121 and 122:
CONCLUSION After all is said and do
Page 123 and 124:
the intervention of archivists in t
Page 125 and 126:
ecords. The analysis seeks to ident
Page 127 and 128:
according to an ideological underst
Page 129 and 130:
previously, Hans Booms projects tha
Page 131 and 132:
administrative and historical value
Page 133 and 134:
BIBLIOGRAPHY Advisory Committee for
Page 135 and 136:
Cook, Terry. "Improving our Disposi
Page 137 and 138:
Haas, J. et al. Appraising the Reco
Page 139 and 140:
Raffel, Stanley.^Matters of Fact: A
Page 141 and 142:
GLOSSARY OF ARCHIVAL TERMS ACQUISIT
Page 143:
PUBLIC RECORDS: Documents issued by
show all

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?