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HISTORY OF ARCHIVAL AND RECORDS
ENTERPRISE
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Epochs in the Development ofArchival and Records Enterprise
• Antiquity
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CHINA
Dang An
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CHINA
Practice • Compiled chronicles
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Epochs in the Development ofArchival and Records Enterprise
• Antiquity
• Development of the Concept of Archives, c. 400 B.C. – c. 500 A.D.
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GREECE
Αρχείο “Archeion”
That which belongs to an office.
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GREECE
Practices • Deposit gives private documents a public authority
• Authoritative record was the most public record
• The Notary
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ROME
Adopted concepts of the Greeks and added concepts of their own.
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ROMETerms
• Filium• Tabula• Regesta
• File• Tablet• Register
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ROME
Practices • Registration conveys official status
• Keeping minutes• Emperor destroyed
records of predecessor• Residencia • Regard for provenance
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MEDIA
• Papyrus
• Wood and wax tablet
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Epochs in the Development ofArchival and Records Enterprise
• Antiquity
• Development of the Concept of Archives, c. 400 B.C. – c. 500 A.D.
• Dormancy, c. 500-1500
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Dormancy
Practices • Memory and objects replaced written record as authority
• Authenticated with wax seal
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Dormancy
Term • “Clerk” derived from clerics who staff chanceries
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Dormancy
Practices and Concepts • Records schedule, 800s
• Case file, c. 1200• Records as property of
the office, 1331• Distinguish current
from records of long-term value
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Epochs in the Development ofArchival and Records Enterprise
• Antiquity
• Development of the Concept of Archives, c. 400 B.C. – c. 500 A.D.
• Dormancy, c. 500-1500
• Re-emergence of Archives, 1500-1789
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RE-EMERGENCE
• Establishment of well-defined archives
Archivo General de Simancas
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RE-EMERGENCE
• Establishment of well-defined archives
Archivo General de Simancas
• Diplomatics, De Re Diplomatica, 1681
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Epochs in the Development ofArchival and Records Enterprise
• Establishment of Modern Archival Practice, 1789-1898
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ESTABLISHMENT OF MODERN ARCHIVAL
PRACTICE• Archives Nationales (France), 1794
• Concept of “current” and “historical”
• Archives as expression of nationalism
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ESTABLISHMENT OF MODERN ARCHIVAL
PRACTICE• Basic principles
Respect des fonds
Provenance—original order
• Ecole des Chartes, 1832
• Dutch manual of practice, 1898
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ESTABLISHMENT OF MODERN ARCHIVAL
PRACTICE
American contribution• Collecting documents
• Printing documents to facilitate use and preservation
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Epochs in the Development ofArchival and Records Enterprise
• Establishment of Modern Archival Practice, 1789-1898
• Redefining Archives and Managing Bulk: Archival Administration and Records Management, c. 1900-continuing
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REDEFINING ARCHIVES AND MANAGING BULK
Factors
• New Media
• Growth of business and government
• Spread of literacy
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REDEFINING ARCHIVES AND MANAGING BULK
Growth in Quantity of Records
• 1789-1861 = 100,000 cubic feet
• 1865-1914 = 500,000 cubic feet
• 1930s decade = 3.5 million cubic feet
• 1940s per year = 2 million cubic feet
• 1960s per year = 4 million cubic feet
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REDEFINING ARCHIVES AND MANAGING BULK
New kinds of records
• Memorandum
• Chart and Graph
• Directive
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REDEFINING ARCHIVES AND MANAGING BULK
New practices and concepts
• Defining archives as historical documents
• Archival appraisal
• Records management
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REDEFINING ARCHIVES AND MANAGING BULK
Records Management
• Records Disposal Act, 1943
• General schedule, 1945
• Records Center, 1950
• Developed concepts to promote office efficiency, protection
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REDEFINING ARCHIVES AND MANAGING BULKProfessionalization of records work
• Royal Dutch Society of Archivists, 1891
• Society of American Archivists, 1936
• International Council on Archives, 1950
• Association of Records Managers and Administrators, 1955
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Epochs in the Development ofArchival and Records Enterprise
• Establishment of Modern Archival Practice, 1789-1898
• Redefining Archives and Managing Bulk: Archival Administration and Records Management, c. 1900-continuing
• Age of the Electronic Record, 1980s-continuing
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ELECTRONIC RECORDS AGE
• Machine-readable records
• Radically new form/media of record
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CONCLUSIONS
DEPTH AND EXTENT OF CHANGE• First: Writing as basis of authentic
information, c. 1000-c. 1300
• Second: Modern concepts of managing records, 1789-1898
• Third: Electronic record, 1990s-
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CONCLUSIONS
FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES• Defining and establishing ownership of “the
record”
• Authenticity, security, and preservation
• Adopting, adapting to, and controlling records in new media
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CONCLUSIONS
FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES• Role of archives in society
• Uses of the term “archives”
• Managing yet increasing volume of records
• Role of the archivist/records administrator