Week II: Selection & Appraisal

February 2, 2011
What is Appraisal?
(Hunter, Chapter 3)
 Process of determining the value, and thus
the disposition, of records based upon…
◦ Their operating, administrative, legal and fiscal
values
◦ Their evidential and informational value
(research or historical value)
◦ Their arrangement and physical condition
◦ Their intrinsic value
◦ Their relationship to other records….
Three Main Categories
 Definitely having enduring value
 Definitely NOT worth preserving
 Those whose preservation will be a
second priority if resources (time, space,
etc.) permits
How to Dispose???
 Transfer to records center for low-cost
temporary storage
 Transfer to an archival repository within the
agency or institution
 Donation to a suitable outside repository
 Reproduction on microfilm or other
alternate media (digital???)
 Destruction

“In a typical business, only 1 or 2 percent of the

records are worthy or archival preservation”
The Values of Records
 Operating Value
 Administrative Value
 Fiscal Value
 Legal Value
 Archival Value
Classic Appraisal Theory
 Who is Theodore R. Schellenberg?
◦ Father of American Archival Appraisal
◦ Published "Modern Archives“
◦ Modern records management as a
separate but related discipline was born
due to his methods
 Concepts of Evidential and
Informational Value
 Evidential
◦ The Origin of Each Entity
◦ The Substantive Programs of Each Entity
 Informational
◦ Persons, Things or Events
◦ Three Tests: Uniqueness, Form or Importance
Refinements of American Appraisal
Theory
 Problems with Schellenberg (mainly from
background in government archives)
◦ Evidential value may assume greater
importance than it would in private sector
◦ Schellenberg advocated preserving a
completeness of documentation for all gov
functions and activities (impossible in private
sector)
Discussion Question???
(From Charlie Dahan)
 I have heard and read that an archivist / curator
develops a feel for their collection / their area of
expertise. Feel indicates decisions are made
based on „gut instinct‟ or an innate knowledge of
what is relevant. However, Schnellenberg states
absolutely in his fourth conclusion (pg 68) that
“appraisal should not be based on intuition or
arbitrary suppositions of value; they should be
based instead on thorough analyses of the
documentation bearing the matter to which the
records pertain.” Is appraisal really this definite?
Refinements of American Appraisal
Theory (Continued)
 The “Black Box” Concept
 Intrinsic Value
 Sampling
 Functional Approach
 The “Minnesota Method”
The “Black Box” Concept
(Frank Boles & Julia Marks Young)
 The Value of Information
◦ Circumstances of Creation
◦ Analysis of Content
◦ Use of the Records
 The Cost of Retention
◦ Storage
◦ Processing
◦ Preservation
◦ Reference
 The Implications of the Appraisal
Recommendation
◦ Political Consideration
◦ Procedural Precedents
The Minnesota Method
 Define institution‟s mission and goals.
 Analyze its extant holdings
 Survey the broader documentary universe
(input/advice outside of the repository)
 Define a set of criteria for organizing and prioritizing
records creators into broad groups
 Establish a range of documentation levels to permit
flexibility
 Define “Decision Points” for refining prioritization
 Link the priority group levels, the decision points and
the documentation levels
 Use this framework to guide acquisition and appraisal
 Revise framework over time to reflect evolution of
repository's mission and goals.
Discussion Question???
(From Dallas Hanbury)
 When implementing an appraisal policy, is
it really possible to take personal bias out
of the process? Even when following
methods of record appraisal like the Black
Box concept, does human fallibility still
come into play?
Discussion Question???
(From Christine Harmer)
 Taking into account the variety of
methods used to appraise different types
of documents that we examined in this
week‟s readings what are the element that
makes the “Black Box” method unique.
Which element makes the Minnesota
Method unique?
The Appraisal of Modern Public
Records (T. R. Schellenberg)
 Distinction Between Primary & Secondary
Values
◦ Primary – Originating Agency
◦ Secondary – Other Agencies & Private Users
 Distinction Between Evidential &
Informational Values
◦ The evidence they contain of the organization
and functioning of the government body that
produced it
◦ The information they contain on persons,
corporate bodies, things, problems, conditions
and the like for the government body dealt
Why Test for Evidential Value???
 Accountability (must preserve a minimum of
evidence on how a body was organized and
functioned)
 Give Consistency & Continuity
◦ Help set precedents for policies & procedures
 Practical
 Helps Evaluate Significance of Records from
Other Point of View
 Helps Preserve Records of Other Value
(Steps on Page 3 of PDF)
Informational Values…
 Uniqueness
◦ The uniqueness of the information
◦ The uniqueness of the record that contains the
information
 Form
◦ The form of the information in the record
◦ The form of the records
 Importance
◦ “Who can say definitely if a given body of records
is important, and for what purpose, and to
whom?”
General Observations/Conclusions
 No exact standards
 No absolute consistency
 Standards should be applied with moderation and
common sense
 Appraisal NOT based on intuition or
guesses…should be based on thorough analysis
 If the analysis does not yield needed info for
appraisal, find an expert!!!
 Should do analytical work before consulting the
experts (give them everything you can so they do
not have to reduplicate your efforts)
 Among experts/scholars, your job is moderator
Who Controls the Past…
(Helen Willa Samuels)
 No longer just “keepers” but active
selectors…
◦ Integration of Modern Institutions
◦ Integration of Modern Information
◦ Effects of Integration of Institutions and
Information
◦ Collection Development Vs Collection
Management
◦ Defining Collecting Strategies
◦ Existing Models – The Discipline History Centers
◦ Documentation Strategies
Documentation Strategies
 Four Main Activities:
◦ Choosing and defining the topic to be
documented
◦ Selecting the advisors and establishing the site
for the strategy
◦ Structuring the inquiry and examining the
form and substance of available
documentation
◦ Selecting and placing the documentation
Discussion Questions???
(From Abby Hathaway)
 Samuels seems to argue that due to the integration of both
institutions and records, it might be best to go against the
traditional organizing principles of archivists and separate
records of the same provenance, prioritizing subject matter
instead. With such a long precedent of keeping records by
provenance, do you think such a dramatic change would be
beneficial or detrimental their accessibility to users? Why or
why not?
 The Samuels article further suggests that it is necessary for
repositories to make all major decisions on their collections
policies in conjunction with multiple organizations and/or
individual experts. Do you see any potential risks in involving
so many people in this decision-making process? Are these
cooperative/collaborative efforts too idealistic and
impractical to be achieved?
Acquisitions & Accessioning
(Hunter, Chapter Four)
 Acquisitions
◦ Physical Custody (possession)
◦ Legal Title (ownership)
 Five Bases for Acquisition
◦ Statue
◦ Administrative Regulation
◦ Records Retention Schedule
◦ Permissive Policy Statement
◦ Acquisition Policy Approved by a Governing
Body
Three Methods of Acquisition
 Transfer Within An Agency or Institution
 Purchase
 Gift
◦ A Clear Offer
◦ Acceptance of the Offer
◦ Delivery of the Item(s)
Why Develop An Acquisition Policy?
 Collection might be so scattered as to
have no internal unity (chaos reigns)
 Might not be a critical mass of
information in any one area to support
research
 Might squander scarce resources on
collections it probably should not have
acquired in the first place
 Several repositories may compete in one
collecting area ignoring other areas
Maynard Brichford‟s Five Ideals
An institution should collect in areas that…
 Extend research strengths, interests and
needs in a logical manner
 Anticipate future research needs
 Support the institution‟s extensive holdings
of published or unpublished materials
 Show a high ratio of use to volume and
processing costs (high research value)
 Do not directly compete with another major
collection in the same region
Maynard Brichford is University Archivist Emeritus at
The University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Six Other Questions from Hunter?
 What are the financial resources of the
archives?
 How much space do you have?
 What is the quality of the staff?
 Who are the patrons (both now and in
the future)?
 What formats or types of materials would
the archives like to collect?
Discussion Questions???
 (From Dana Staley) Should the collection policy
of an archive be revisited on a regular basis to
make sure it is still applicable?
 (From Rachel Drayton) McCree‟s article is a case
study of an institutions librarian being forced to
take on an archival selection, and as such has to
make an appraisal policy. Would it generally be the
librarian in charge in hiring a qualified person, or
would that be left to an administrator? If the
librarian were in control of hiring, would a
librarian inherently know to hire an archivist, as
opposed to another librarian who perhaps has
experience handling rare or expensive records?
Would the librarian not be predisposed to hire a
fellow librarian?