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

the administrator.22 Their meaning is derived from the fact that
archives constitute an "artificial memory" of the
administrator,23 by providing "written memorials of its
activities in the past. . . ."24 Archives thus provide to the
administrator proof of past transactions, and information to plan
future ones. Jenkinson's insistence on administrative
preservation a9 essential to the formation of archives assumes an
explicit, organized, ongoing process of administrative review
that is not always practically achieved by a wide variety of
organizations and persons.
Jenkinson argues that the administrator's need of accurate
information guarantees the custody and safekeeping of authentic
documents. He concludes that not only are archives "by their
origin free from the suspicion of prejudice in regard to the
interests in which we now use them: they are also by reason of
their subsequent history equally free from the suspicion of
having been tampered with in those interests."25 He notes that,
while forgeries do exist, they are a rare occurrence in
archives.26 His words implicitly acknowledge the strength of
internal checks on accuracy exercised through forms control, as
well as the external checks of accountability procedures that
22 Ibid, 8-9.
23 Ibid, 23.
24 Ibid, 39.
25 Ibid, 12-13.
26 Ibid, 15.
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