Archives and Recordkeeping: Theory into Practice

Citation

Ross Harvey (2015), "Archives and Recordkeeping: Theory into Practice", Library Management, Vol. 36 No. 4/5, pp. 384-384. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-04-2015-0017

The aim of Archives and Recordkeeping: Theory into Practice is “to demonstrate the value of thinking about theory and its relationship with the practical world. We want our readers to stop and think ‘Why?’” (Introduction, p. xi). This book provides an excellent statement of archival principles and theories, surprisingly difficult to find in a single text. It has been written by a stellar international cast: Jeannette Bastian, Alan Bell, Anne Gilliland, Rachel Hardiman, Eric Ketelaar, Jennifer Meehan and Caroline Williams, big names in the archives and recordkeeping firmament. They have produced a very approachable book – not always the case with archives and recordkeeping texts.

Caroline Brown’s highly readable introduction asks two questions: “what is archival theory […]?” and “why is it important?” Archival theory, it seems, is fluid and evolving; it is important because it makes us better at what we do. The chapters present the archival theory in the areas of archival appraisal, arrangement and description, ethics; archives, memories and identities, the impact of philosophy on archives and records management, and the effect of technological change on recordkeeping theory. Each chapter, plus a preliminary chapter with the title “Records and archives: concepts, roles and definitions,” clearly and concisely summarizes current thinking in its area.

Should archives and recordkeeping theory be of interest to librarians? Definitely. The value of archival principles as the basis for effective ways of working with digital objects is increasingly being recognized. This is in contrast with librarianship’s relative paucity of applicable theory that can be applied to this area. We see this in digital curation/preservation, where archival principles such as provenance and practices such as appraisal are proving helpful in developing workable practices. Librarians can certainly read this book profitably.

This book is set to become one of the key texts for the archives and recordkeeping professions. The blurb on the publisher’s web site is accurate: Archives and Recordkeeping: Theory into Practice is a “groundbreaking text [that] demystifies archival and recordkeeping theory and its role in modern day practice […] essential reading for students and educators in archives and recordkeeping and invaluable as a guide for practitioners who want to better understand and inform their day-to-day work. It is also a useful guide across related disciplines in the information sciences and humanities.”