Closing an Era: Historical Perspectives on Modern Archives and Records Management

Mary Ellis (Department of Information and Library Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK)

Journal of Documentation

ISSN: 0022-0418

Article publication date: 1 August 2002

565

Keywords

Citation

Ellis, M. (2002), "Closing an Era: Historical Perspectives on Modern Archives and Records Management", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 58 No. 4, pp. 486-487. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd.2002.58.4.486.3

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited


Richard J. Cox is a professor in Library and Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Information Sciences where he is responsible for archival education. This book, a collection of nine essays which are mainly the result of re‐working and re‐writing material written over the previous decade during his time at the University of Pittsburgh, explores the importance of records in modern society by re‐examining some of the historical antecedents for the critical functions in the modern record keeping professions. Cox acknowledges the new challenges faced by archivists and records managers as they grapple with the impact of new technologies and he stresses the importance, in his view, of records and records professionals in organizations and society. He also emphasises, and this is perhaps the strongest and most important theme of the book, the benefit for today’s archivists and records managers of mixing new thinking and approaches with those that have stood the test of time in the management of archives and records.

The nine essays provide in turn: an outline of the origins and development of record keeping, records management and archives in the USA during the twentieth century; an overview of record keeping in ancient civilisations, medieval Europe and the USA before the twentieth century; an assessment of the impact of technology on the creation of records and on records management in the twentieth century; a critical view of the pattern of archive keeping in the USA and the legislative provisions which underpin this system; an outline of the development of professional practices and techniques such as appraisal and scheduling; an examination of the impact of archives and records management on public memory; a discussion of the education of archivists in the USA, regretting the lack of teaching on the history and development of the professional to students. Finally, Cox considers the continuing value or otherwise of the publication of edited texts as a means of access to archives and discusses the role of technology and the World Wide Web in providing access to archives.

Having read all of the essays the reader cannot help but be struck by the breadth of the discussion. Each of the essays makes a contribution to a particular area in its own right but, taken as a whole, the book brings together an invaluable and thought‐provoking overview of almost all of the professional issues which are currently facing archivists and records managers. Although the book is based mainly on the US situation the issues will be equally familiar to UK archival educators and practitioners. The book is a valuable reminder to us, at a time when the profession is perhaps having to evolve more rapidly than at any time in the past, that archivists and records managers have always faced new challenges and problems and that the professional discipline has always developed to meet these challenges. The pace of change can sometimes seem overwhelming and this book is reassuring in demonstrating the past ability of the profession to evolve – as is discussed in chapter 5 “Shifting strategies in appraisal, scheduling and maintaining records”. It is also a timely reminder that it may be useful for the profession in seeking solutions to new problems to have a knowledge and awareness of the history and development of record keeping and archival administration. Cox makes a strong case for the inclusion of this as part of the educational experience of archivists and records managers.

The final chapter is a discussion of “archival culture” in the USA which Cox believes is characterised by the word “stasis”. Cox rounds on archivists for an attitude of “business as usual” in their approach to technology and the World Wide Web. Cox claims that digitisation is treated as just a replacement for microform, Web sites as a substitute for print publications, EAD as just another form of finding aid, and that archivists continue to concentrate their efforts on the provision of information to historians – their traditional constituency. He makes a plea for archivists and records managers to work with other professions such as journalists and writers so as to engage the public in an on‐going debate about the importance of records, and for a broadening of archival education into areas which require students to consider the value of records and archives and which does not simply concentrate on the acquisition of the necessary technical skills. He also draws attention to the lack of research activity in the discipline of archives and records management.

For anyone concerned about the future of archives and records management in the UK – and there have been intense debates recently about perceptions of the profession, the profile of the profession and recruitment into the profession – then this book is essential reading. The historical review provided by Cox is an excellent summary of how we have arrived at our present point of professional development. The issues which he raises and discusses as he provides this historical perspective are exactly those issues which the archive and record keeping professional in the UK needs to consider if the profession is to continue successfully to evolve and meet the new challenges.

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