No Innocent Deposits: Forming Archives by Rethinking Appraisal

by Richard J. Cox

Overview

The public increase of interest in the past has not necessarily brought with it a greater understanding about how archives are formed. To this end, Richard Cox takes a serious look at archival repositories and collections. Cox suggests that archives do not just happen, but are consciously shaped (and sometimes distorted) by archivists, the creators of records, and other individuals and institutions. In this series of essays, Cox offers archivists rare insight into the fundamentals of appraisal, and historians and other users of archives the opportunity to appreciate the collections they all too often take for granted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810848962
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/10/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.57(w) x 8.74(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Richard J. Cox is a Professor of School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
1	Introduction: Treasures Everywhere	1
2	The End of Collecting: Toward a New Purpose for Archival Appraisal	19
3	The Archivist and Collecting: How Others Might See Archivists as Collectors	47
4	The Traditional Archival and Historical Records Program in the Digital Age: A Cautionary Tale	87
5	The Archivist and Collecting: A View from the Inside	115
6	Metascheduling: Rethinking Archival Appraisal and Records Management Scheduling	147
7	Evidence and Archives	165
8	Archives and the Digital Future	201
9	Appraisal as an Act of Memory	231
10	Archival Appraisal Alchemy	259
	Index	295
	About the Author	303

Editorial Reviews

...this volume contains rich examples of the various kinds of archival practices, dubious decisions, inadequate methods, and limited professional assumptions about the function of records in society. It is also replete with wide-ranging ideas taken from the literature on museums, libraries, and other memory institutions. Thus, this work references a vast array of fascinating studies and perspectives on 'collecting' from both within the archival profession and from institutions in other parts of the heritage sector....Cox makes some telling points about the importance, indeed, the urgency of appraisal. Cox is virtually unmatched in the sheer mass of information he collects and proffers to archivists through his published studies. He brings to his writing aseemingly inexhaustible storehouse of knowledge of instructive cases, histories, news, and stories about record keeping practice and the strategies and conventions of such preservation bodies as libraries, museums, and other memory institutions. A readerneed only glance at the footnotes and bibliographies in his numerous publications to appreciate wide reading. (When does he take time to sleep?) Indeed, Cox is a relentless documenter and an unabashed empiricist....No one has done more to educate America

Journal of Archival Organization

As we have come to expect from this author, the book is loaded with examples drawn from everyday life, which illuminate the connection between records and things society thinks (or should think) worth striving for. Some of these connections are profoundly enlightening, linking public issues with appraisal successes and failures in ways that are truly insightful for professional and lay person alike. This has always been one of Cox's strengths. Earlier case studies are repeated here, but this provides a valuable consolidation and exposes new cases...There is much here that is new, stimulating, challenging and profound. The chapters are based on a coherent position and illuminated by wide reading and considered judgments...

Journal Of The Society Of Archivists

As we have come to expect from this author, the book is loaded with examples drawn from everyday life, which illuminate the connection between records and things society thinks (or should think) worth striving for. Some of these connections are profoundly enlightening, linking public issues with appraisal successes and failures in ways that are truly insightful for professional and lay person alike. This has always been one of Cox's strengths. Earlier case studies are repeated here, but this provides a valuable consolidation and exposes new cases...There is much here that is new, stimulating, challenging and profound. The chapters are based on a coherent position and illuminated by wide reading and considered judgments...--Journal Of The Society Of Archivists

...this volume contains rich examples of the various kinds of archival practices, dubious decisions, inadequate methods, and limited professional assumptions about the function of records in society. It is also replete with wide-ranging ideas taken from the literature on museums, libraries, and other memory institutions. Thus, this work references a vast array of fascinating studies and perspectives on 'collecting' from both within the archival profession and from institutions in other parts of the heritage sector....Cox makes some telling points about the importance, indeed, the urgency of appraisal. Cox is virtually unmatched in the sheer mass of information he collects and proffers to archivists through his published studies. He brings to his writing a seemingly inexhaustible storehouse of knowledge of instructive cases, histories, news, and stories about record keeping practice and the strategies and conventions of such preservation bodies as libraries, museums, and other memory institutions. A reader need only glance at the footnotes and bibliographies in his numerous publications to appreciate wide reading. (When does he take time to sleep?) Indeed, Cox is a relentless documenter and an unabashed empiricist....No one has done more to educate American archivists about the history, practices, and institutional patterns of their own profession than Richard Cox. Few have done more to promote and explain to the outside world the unique value of archives and the challenges archivists face in accomplishing their mission. No one has been a more persistent advocate, critic, and publicist for the profession....those who are unfamiliar with Cox's previous contributions to the field as well as those who wish to learn about what matters have been preoccupying archival scholarship over the last decade will get a good sampling from these essays.--Journal of Archival Organization

From the Publisher

...this volume contains rich examples of the various kinds of archival practices, dubious decisions, inadequate methods, and limited professional assumptions about the function of records in society. It is also replete with wide-ranging ideas taken from the literature on museums, libraries, and other memory institutions. Thus, this work references a vast array of fascinating studies and perspectives on 'collecting' from both within the archival profession and from institutions in other parts of the heritage sector....Cox makes some telling points about the importance, indeed, the urgency of appraisal. Cox is virtually unmatched in the sheer mass of information he collects and proffers to archivists through his published studies. He brings to his writing a seemingly inexhaustible storehouse of knowledge of instructive cases, histories, news, and stories about record keeping practice and the strategies and conventions of such preservation bodies as libraries, museums, and other memory institutions. A reader need only glance at the footnotes and bibliographies in his numerous publications to appreciate wide reading. (When does he take time to sleep?) Indeed, Cox is a relentless documenter and an unabashed empiricist....No one has done more to educate American archivists about the history, practices, and institutional patterns of their own profession than Richard Cox. Few have done more to promote and explain to the outside world the unique value of archives and the challenges archivists face in accomplishing their mission. No one has been a more persistent advocate, critic, and publicist for the profession....those who are unfamiliar with Cox's previous contributions to the field as well as those who wish to learn about what matters have been preoccupying archival scholarship over the last decade will get a good sampling from these essays.

Journal Of Archival Organization