Genres and genre repertoires of user and use information sources in U.S. state archival and records management appraisal practice

Many archival researchers and practitioners have claimed that appraisal practitioners should utilize users and use of records as a factor in appraisal practice. However, little is known about what sources appraisal practitioners utilize to collect user and use information. This study is the first to explore and analyze the genres of user and use information sources utilized as appraisal tools. It applies the concepts of genre, genre repertoire, and structuration theory to examine the relationships between the sources of user and use information and the organizational structure and function of U.S. state archives and records management programs. This study recommends ways to improve sources of user and use information for appraisal practice, and it also presents some topics in need of further study.     

Public records and minorities: problems and possibilities for Sámi and Kven

The Kven and Sámi peoples of northern Norway have been represented as groups without a voice in public records. Through the project ‘National Minorities in Public Records in Norway,’ however, hundreds of documents written in the Sámi and Kven languages were found inside the public archives. These documents were neither labeled, nor cataloged in any way as non-Norwegian-language documents. This essay raises a number of questions related to how a lack of knowledge has influenced our understanding of ethnic minorities both in archives and in research related to minorities. Furthermore, recent experience leads us to a few more questions concerning the usage of sources. How do Norwegian ministries treat requests for access to official documents less than 60-years old related to the Kven and Sámi peoples? How were documents in minority languages arranged and archived by archival personnel? How can an oppressed collective memory serve as a counter-memory for minorities? How can archival documents change our understanding of minorities? What might archivists do to make minorities more visible in archives? This paper describes my personal experiences and reflections in connection with the project.     

On the crest of a wave: transforming the archival future

The profession of digital archivist is crystallising, fundamentally challenging traditional archival roles. The very nature of digital records also challenges the sustainability of archival systems and collections. Records that used to stay stable for decades in an analogue world now risk being lost or damaged within moments of creation. How should archivists react to these changes? Archivists have to lift ourselves out of our analogue environment and focus more effort on forging a new path, to reposition archives, archival institutions and archival practitioners more strategically for the future. To do this, archivists must resist the temptation to think that we and we alone – as people, as archivists or as today’s archivists as opposed to yesterday’s archivists – can come up with the ultimate solution to the world’s recordkeeping problems. Archivists must keep innovating, absolutely. But we also need to be agile and flexible, remembering that anything we come up with today will be superseded at some point in the future – increasingly, in the very near future. Archivists need to forge links with archives, systems and people in order to come up with approaches to records and archives care that remain usable now and flexible well into the future.     

Break the rules,save the records: human rights archives and the search for justice in East Timor

How do distinctive historical experiences and political regimes shape human rights archives? How do those archives and those experiences in turn influence the way painful pasts are remembered or forgotten? And what can historical accounts tell us about the wisdom of prevailing norms and practices regarding the management and control of human rights records? This paper explores these questions through a close analysis of the history and politics of the principal archive documenting human rights abuse in East Timor. It underscores the work of archival studies scholars who argue that human rights archives are always in some degree shaped by the historical and political context in which they emerge and that conflicts over matters of content, mandate, and rules of access are virtually inevitable. Noting that such conflicts typically pit political authorities against victims and their advocates, it argues that successful human rights archival programs hinge critically on sensitive historical and political analysis and that, under certain conditions, human rights archivists should play a more active role in facilitating the pursuit of justice for victims of human rights abuse. It also makes the case for a move away from large, state-controlled archives toward multiple, smaller archives with varied mandates. Finally, it proposes the adoption of a new hierarchy of interest in the management of archives; away from the long-accepted principles of national sovereignty and inalienability, and in the direction of access to the survivors of human rights violations and their advocates.     

Search for tomorrow: The electronic records research program of the u.s. national historical publications and records commission

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) is a small grant-making agency affiliated with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. The Commission is charged with promoting the preservation and dissemination of documentary source materials to ensure an understanding of U.S. history. Recognizing that the increasing use of computers created challenges for preserving the documentary record, the Commission adopted a research agenda in 1991 to promote research and development on the preservation and continued accessibility of documentary materials in electronic form. From 1991 to the present the Commission awarded 31 grants totaling $2,276,665 for electronic records research. Most of this research has focused on two issues of central concern to archivists: (1) electronic record keeping (tools and techniques to manage electronic records produced in an office environment, such as word processing documents and electronic mail), and (2) best practices for storing, describing, and providing access to all electronic records of long-term value. NHPRC grants have raised the visibility of electronic records issues among archivists. The grants have enabled numerous archives to begin to address electronic records problems, and, perhaps most importantly, they have stimulated discussion about electronic records among archivists and records managers.     

司法视角下的档案保管期限表设置思路研究

档案保管期限表是指导档案价值鉴定工作的标准性文件。笔者通过实地调研和问卷调查发现,由于档案保管期限表的司法地位较弱,档案工作人员受潜在心理负担影响,使得在实际工作中未能完全地依照档案保管期限表开展实践工作。基于上述现状,本文从档案处置权、司法追诉期和司法凭证性三方面研究了司法视角下的档案保管期限表的设置思路,认为：（1）应赋予档案保管期限表相应的法律地位,以减轻相关档案工作人员的心理负担;（2）在保管期限的设置与档案销毁方面,应参考司法追诉期,既不能让还在发挥凭证作用的档案被销毁,也不要无限期地保存所有档案;（3）应从司法角度审视档案的有机联系性,尽最大可能保证档案的完整性与凭证性。     

真的假的:档案真伪鉴辨论

档案真伪的鉴辨,关键在于对档案来源的甄别,同时要根据档案的其他原始要素确定档案的“形制过程”的真实,任何误判和管理失误,都可能造成档案之“伪”.档案是我们真实的历史脚印,也许并不都很光彩,但却是历史事实.档案工作者的责任就是维护历史的真实.     

后现代档案学理论的主要内容

后现代档案学理论泛指自20世纪80年代以来,档案学界在后现代主义思潮影响下探索新的研究领域、主题,产生的新的档案观念、思想。其主要内容是：反思档案与文件的定义;反思档案价值和鉴定理论;反思档案的主观性和客观性;反思档案工作者的角色与职能。     

社会记忆理论视角下档案鉴定的本质回归与理论突围

档案价值鉴定论作为档案鉴定理论是诞生以来认可最普遍的档案学思想,从档案的保存价值、价值判别主体、判别标准、价值内容等多个方面,逐步揭示了档案鉴定的一般规律,在中外档案鉴定的历史实践和现实工作中得到普遍遵循。但是,价值鉴定论把档案的“保存价值”建立在档案“未来用户需求”的基础上,不仅超出了档案工作者的能力极限和实践操作的可行性,而且使档案鉴定陷入“主观臆测”的悖论。对此,档案鉴定应立足于鉴定环节的基本职能,从档案作为“社会记忆”的本质出发,以档案的社会记忆作用为鉴定依据和标准,判别文件的“保存价值”,从主客体和主客观方面建构档案记忆鉴定理论。     

Culture and evidence: or what good are the archives? Archives and archivists in twentieth century England

Archives have the potential to change people’s lives. They are created to enable the conduct of business and accountability, but they also support a democratic society’s expectations for transparency and the protection of rights, they underpin citizen’s rights and are the raw material of our history and memory. This paper examines these issues in the context of the historical development of archives and archivists in twentieth century England. The research lays the foundations for understanding how and why the modern archives and records management profession developed in England. This paper will investigate the historical conflict (or is it a continuum?) between archives as culture and as evidence. The story identifies and highlights the contributions made by many fascinating individuals who established archives services and professional practice in England in the twentieth century. They shaped the archive in a very real way, and their individual enthusiasms, interests and understandings set the course of the English archival profession. To a great extent, it was these individuals, rather than government or legislation, that set the boundaries of English archives, they decided what was included (acquired) and what was not (of archival value.) The conclusion will consider the more fundamental questions: what are archives and what are they for, or perhaps, ‘what good are the archives’?     

The end of collecting: Towards a new purpose for archival appraisal

In this essay, the author ruminates on the relationship between collecting and archival appraisal. He argues that collecting does not necessarily equal appraisal, although society and even archivists value it as an important function. The author stresses that the critical need is for archivists to have a clear perspective, whether highly theoretical or immensely practical, of what it is they hope to accomplish in appraising and that they need to document this process so that future researchers and archivists can understand what archival appraisal meant. As it is, archives might become more valued as important cultural symbols than for the records they actually hold. The notion of an “end” of collecting is in the sense that collecting is appraising, but appraising elevated to a professional function requiring more care, deliberate thought, and self-evaluation.     

论不同时代档案真实性及其挑战

不同时代背景下,档案真实性具有不同的内涵,也面临着各种挑战。本文通过对20世纪90年代末的档案真实性、信息技术时代电子文件的真实性、记忆理念下的档案真实性及其面临的挑战进行论述,提出在考察档案真实性的过程中需要加以思考的一些问题,希望学者和档案工作者不要囿于某种情况档案的真实性问题,而是结合文物、遗迹等其他形象化物体来追溯历史,从而最大程度地发挥档案的价值。     

Oral culture, written records and understanding the twentieth-century colonial archive. The significance of understanding from within

The educational institutions that train archivists and records managers in Europe and North America have not engaged with the challenges of orality until very recently. As their counterparts in Africa are modelled on the earlier version of European and North American practice, they do not address the relationship between oral cultures and written records either. This article attempts to address this significant omission. It is grounded on evidence gathered during a fellowship at Chancellor College in Malawi and arises from the author??s work in preparing courses on archives and records management for a planned postgraduate degree. The methodological limitations imposed by the author??s lack of the appropriate African language skills are acknowledged. It is observed that the colonial archive has been subjected to vociferous criticism and that oral history programs have been advocated to fill perceived gaps. Yet, paradoxically the colonial archive is itself largely the product of a process of turning oral communications into written records. The nature of the processes and of the products is discussed. It is argued that these archives, like all archives, need to be interpreted as products of their historical and cultural setting. If users can read them ??with the grain??, then they may be able to utilise them for a range of purposes never envisaged by the creators of the records.     

Content and use of colonial archives: an under-researched issue

Namibians often find themselves in situations of litigation where they need person-related records to defend their rights and privileges. Such person-related records include birth, adoption, marriage, or divorce or deceased estates. It has been observed that the institution where such records should be expected, the National Archives of Namibia often cannot retrieve person-related records of persons previously classified as non-whites under colonial and apartheid laws. Many native Namibians end up losing property or have problems claiming their constitutional rights due to lack of evidence. The purpose of this paper was to explore whether the existing archival literature can guide National Archives of new and emerging African nations on how to handle challenges brought about by gaps in inherited colonial archives. Using a literature survey to explore the state of what is written on the content and usage of colonial archives in post-colonial era, this article argues that the content and use of colonial archives in Africa do not feature prominently in the literature of archival science. Although there has been a rising interest on the subject during the last decade, none of this emerging literature has systematically studied archives in depth with a view on what these archives contain for the non-academic user, what they neglect and what they lack altogether in serving the needs of all citizens in post-colonial states. It recommends that archival scholars as well as archival institutions increase research into this neglected area. Raising awareness may produce academic discourse to help archivists in newly decolonised countries to competently support users whose inquiries currently cannot be answered by the inherited colonial archives collections.     

档案上云安全吗?—政务云环境中的档案安全风险分析

档案上云既是政务信息系统集约化建设的必然趋势,也是实现档案工作提质增效的战略举措。在探索过程中,档案工作者既满怀期待,又心存顾虑,安全问题已成为制约档案行业采用云计算服务的关键因素。文章聚焦我国政务云环境,遵循风险管理基本流程,首先基于现有学术文献和政策文本,参照风险构成三要素,从风险因素、风险事件和风险损失三个维度探讨政务云环境中的档案安全风险;然后采用面向档案工作者的问卷调查法和面向专家的德尔菲法对风险因素进行排序和分级,评估风险发生的概率和危害的程度,以期为制定档案云安全保障策略提供参考,推动档案事业融入社会信息化和数字政府建设大局。     

The Development in Germany of Archival Processing – The Vertical and Horizontal Appraisal

Based on a discussion about appraisal which has been going on for over a 100 years, the so-called vertical and horizontal appraisal have been developed and tested since the middle of the 1990s. During this process the tasks, functions and competences of the agencies, which are to be appraised were analysed. The appraisal of the content itself is undertaken only when multiple archival processing has been eliminated by this method and the most significant records identified. Actual tasks and functions of single administrative branches of different institutions (federal government, states, counties, and municipalities) are appraised, apart from already closed records. In this way, agencies creating archives and records today receive written decisions on the appraisal of records, which will be offered to the archives in future. Archivists of different institutions are involved in this appraisal procedure. The experience gained here has continually developed the techniques of vertical and horizontal appraisal. This appraisal procedure is being further developed in a constant balance between theory and practice.     

The German appraisal discussion since 1990: an overview

The development of German archival appraisal theory since 1990 has been little discussed in the English-speaking world. This article provides an introductory overview of the Federführungsmodell developed by the Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives), the horizontal and vertical appraisal approach of the Landesarchiv (State Archives) of Baden-Württemberg, and the documentation plans typical of municipal and university archives. It also examines the new focus on records management and calls for collaboration in appraisal between different archives, levels of government and heritage institutions.     

程长源档案学思想述评

程长源是我国早期档案学家,他参与了20世纪30年代民国地方政府的档案工作改革,首次提出了档案十进分类法,并在档案编目、档案行政、档案保管、档案人员等方面提出了独到的见解。程长源的档案学思想是近代中国档案学思想体系的一个重要组成部分,对当前的档案学理论研究和实践工作仍具有借鉴价值。