INFO 6800 Archives (Winter 2013) – Week Five Seminar | 1

INFO 6800 Archives – February 4, 2013 Week Five – Archival Appraisal

Objectives

1. Introduce the fundamental concepts of appraisal theory 2. Explore the implications of selecting archival materials 3. Examine the documentation of archival appraisal

Activities: Seminar presentations

Due: Neptune Theatre production history assignment

Required Readings

Duranti, Luciana. “The Concept of Appraisal and Archival Theory.” American Archivist 57.2 (1994): 328-344. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/pu548273j5j1p816/fulltext.pdf.

Library and Archives Canada. “Appraisal Methodology: Macro-Appraisal and Functional Analysis. Part A: Concepts and Theory,” prepared by Terry Cook. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/government/disposition/007007-1035-e.html.

Nesmith, Tom “Documenting Appraisal as a Societal-Archival Process: Theory, Practice, and Ethics in the Wake of Helen Willa Samuels.” In Controlling the Past: Documenting Society and Institutions – Essays in Honor of Helen Willa Samuels, p. 31-50.Terry Cook, ed. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2011.

Cox, Richard J. “The End of Collecting: Toward a New Purpose for Archival Appraisal.” In No Innocent Deposits: Forming Archives by Rethinking Appraisal, p. 19-46. Lanham, Md., and Oxford: Scarecrow Press, 2004.

Optional Readings

Tschan, Reto. “A Comparison of Jenkinson and Schellenberg on Appraisal.” American

Archivist 65.2 (Fall-Winter 2002): 176-195.

http://archivists.metapress.com/content/920w65g3217706l1/fulltext.pdf.

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Prepare for Discussion

1. What is archival appraisal and what are its objectives?

2. What is the problem with basing appraisal decisions on the needs of historians

and other researchers?

3. What are the characteristics of archives? What are some of the practical

challenges involved with observing and respecting these characteristics?

4. How does Duranti examine the theoretical concept of archival appraisal? How

does the digital environment challenge this approach? Are there other means of

examining appraisal theory?

5. What is the “moral defense” of archives? How does this concept relate to

archival appraisal? How does it affect the work of today’s archivists?

6. How did Schellenberg depart from Jenkinson’s theory of archives? What were

the implications for archival theory?

7. Can archivists reliably and consistently rank or assign value to records? Which

is more important, the evidential or informational value of a record?

8. What tools should archivists have in place to carry out archival appraisal?

9. What is documentation strategy and how does it depart from traditional ideas

about archival appraisal?

10. What is the societal-appraisal process outlined by Nesmith? How does he

suggest archivists fulfill their ethical obligation for greater archival accountability

in the appraisal process?

11. What are the challenges involved with documenting archival appraisal? What

kind of information about appraisal policies and procedures should be made

available to the public?

12. Is macro-appraisal appropriate for electronic records? Or would a content-based

analysis of the documents (diplomatics) be a better means of appraised

electronic records?

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13. What is the relationship between the concept of respect des fonds and archival

appraisal theory? How does the shifting definition of provenance affect archival

appraisal?