Questions
- Two articles discuss Jenkinson’s four characteristics of archives (impartiality, authenticity, naturalness, interrelationship of records). Do like these characteristics? What was the core disagreement between Duranti and Boles/Greene over these?
- In selection of records, who is more important to consider the records creator or the research that might use them? (Tshan)
- What are your thoughts on Duranti’s vision of archival theory? (Duranti, 342-343)
- Did you think that Duranti fairly assessed the pricinples of both Jenkinson and Schellenberg? Do you think Boles and Greene fairly assess the argument of Duranti?
- Boles and Greene call the archvial profession an applied profession. Is archives an applied discipline? Is utility of records the most important idea?
- Is it wise to be judicial in pruning? (Boles)
- Are we the keepers of the Orwellian Memory Hole(Samuels quotes Orwell in her opening)? What is the power of this memory hole? (Samuels)
- Do you think that a documentation strategy as defined by Samuels is an effective method for collection archival records? (Samuels)
- Samuels emphasizes collaboration among archives to ensure topics are documented completely. Is this something that we can do? What might inhibit archives from collaborating with one another? (Samuels)
Works Discussed:
- Maher, William J. “Lost in a Disneyfied World: Archivists and Society in Later Twentieth-Century America.” American Archivist 61 (Fall 1998), p. 259-265
- LaBerge, Danielle. “Information, Knowledge, and Rights: The Preservation of Archives as a Political and Social Issue,” Archivaria 25 (Winter 1987-1988), p. 44-50.
- Tshan, Reto. “A Comparison of Jenkinson and Schellenberg on Appraisal,” American Archivist 65:1 (Fall/Winter 2002), p. 176-195.
- Boles, Frank. “Why Archivists Select,” in Archival Appraisal (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005).
- Helen Willa Samuels, “Who Controls the Past,” American Archivist 49 (spring 1986): 109-24.
- Boles, Frank, and Mark A. Greene. “Et Tu Schellenberg?,” American Archivist 59:3 (Summer 1996).
- Duranti, Luciana. “The Concept of Appraisal and Archival Theory,” American Archivist 57:2 (Spring 1994), p. 328-344