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

ecords, from creation to disposition.3 His major contribution
to appraisal theory is his insistence on the development of
records management strategies that control the flow and creation
of information at the source:
The whole appraisal function is one
undertaking, and it can best be performed
with a complete understanding of the records
of an agency in their relationships to each
other as they are created rather than after
they have lain forgotten and deteriorating
for twenty years.4
He insists that "the earlier in the life history of the documents
the selection process begins, the better for all concerned."5
Brooks also advocates an extensive two-fold analysis of the
administrative structure and functions of the records creator,
and the relationship of the records to each other. Such a study
would provide evidence of the substantive functions and
activities of the creator. Unlike European archivists who
advocate the use of the principle of provenance to identify the
significance of the administrative structure, Brooks focuses on
the relationships that exist between records as written evidences
of functions and activities of the creating agency. Although he
does not belabour the point, Brooks applies provenantial
information in such a way as to create an objective framework in
which value is related, not to perspective, but to the accuracy
3 Philip Brooks,^"The Selection^of Records for
Preservation," American Archivist (1940): 221-234.
4 Ibid, 226.
5 Ibid.
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