Re:
.."Because there is no universal mandate about what must preserved and
for what purpose (for example, an archivist's emphasis on records that
bear evidence vs. a librarian's emphasis on content that could serve
multiple purposes over time)..."
I would just like to comment that while archivists are indeed interested
in "records that bear evidence" we are just as interested in--and take
into account during appraisal-- records that serve a purpose beyond
what their originator intended--they do "serve multiple purposes over
time." The identification and preservation of records that meet these
multiple puposes, I think, is just one of the shining and wonderful
things archivists do for posterity, and I personally am tired of hearing
how the expressed perception of archives and archivists implies that
what we do has limited value compared to a library (or a librarian) for
that matter.
I agree with Elizabeth Fairfax that records serve a purpose beyond what
their originators intended; and in addition, there is another aspect to
serving multiple purposes over time. Over the last couple years I have
seen quite a few posts on this list that take a high-handed approach to
preservation of records, and place it second to user's needs (implied:
PRESENT users' needs). I think we need to keep overarching archival
criteria in place and have some understanding of the long-term use of
archival documentation. This doesn't mean only saving what is
"fashionable" to talk about now - look at a complete run of the American
Archivist and you will see that (as in any other area of human endeavor)
topics run in waves. People talk about something for 10 or 15 years and
then new topic trends come into play. We have a responsiblity to the
users of tomorrow (in the broadest sense), as well as whoever happens to
be trotting into the archives or hitting on the website to use our
materials today. There may be something we can't use today which will
be invaluable tomorrow.
An example (just to pick one) is medically-related records which are
totally off limits today because of HIPPAA and so forth. I remember a
fairly recent posting which suggested that since we are here to "serve
our users," these are useless because "users" don't have access to them
[right now]. My answer was that these need to be saved regardless of
what we think about utility in the present. They are unique and have
information that could be extremely valuable, notwithstanding that they
are closed at the moment. What a short-sighted suggestion to get rid of
them! I see this train of thought again and again. I think we need to
remember that things are not always going to be as they are. Also, we
are the institutional, and societal, memory. Perhaps someone in the
future can use the records in ways we haven't yet thought of?? What a
novel idea. Sometimes a little more weight needs to go on the
preservation side, whether or not the documentation appears to be easy
to use at the moment. This is where the overarching archival criteria
are necessary. Theory may not be interesting to a lot of information
professionals, but we need it to temper our tendencies to go with the
flow of the moment, and to provide a framework into which we can put our
decisions (in this case appraisal). Of course it can be tweaked
somewhat to fit individual circumstances, but I think at this point
there needs to be more longitudinal thinking. It has been abandoned by
the rest of society (each one of us take a look at our own institution
or organization), and it is important that we be able to provide it by
taking the long view. Our documentation will "serve multiple purposes
over time," and we, of all people, need to be less myopic about this.
Now I am jumping off the soapbox. Have a great weekend!!
Fred Lautzenheiser
Cleveland Clinic Archives
tel: 216/444-2929
fax: 216/445-6868
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