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Abstract
In 1986 David Bearman first put the argument that core archival methods of appraisal, description, preservation and access were fundamentally unable to cope with the volumes of records archivists were required to process. He called on the archival profession to completely reinvent its core methods. Noting similar challenges for archival methods in evolving digital business environments, this paper explores how the archival method of appraisal could be reinvented.
Notes
1. David Bearman, Archival Methods, Archives and Museum Informatics Technical Report Number 9, Archives and Museum Informatics, Pittsburgh, 1989, available at <http://www.archimuse.com/publishing/archival_methods/>, accessed 25 February 2014.
2. A report of the workshop is available on the Recordkeeping Roundtable website at <http://rkroundtable.org/2012/12/14/reinventing-archival-methods-report-whats-next/>.
3. AS/NZS 4390: Records Management, Standards Australia, Homebush, 1996.
4. See Tim Sherratt, ‘Archives of Emotion’, 28 November 2012, available at <http://discontents.com.au/archives-of-emotion/> and the summary of Professor Sue McKemmish’s presentation at <http://rkroundtable.org/2012/12/14/reinventing-archival-methods-report-whats-next/>, accessed 14 February 2014.
5. Unfortunately, identifying and managing access requirements as a core function of recordkeeping did not receive the same attention in this and other codification exercises. Today this lack of serious access-specific analysis has left archivists ill-prepared for the complexities of the current regulatory regime and for negotiating the overlap and contradictions of archival, freedom of information and privacy protection legislation in the era of rights to personal information protection, large-scale digitisation and revelations of mass surveillance.
6. Steve Bailey, Managing the Crowd: Rethinking Records Management for the Web 2.0 World, Facet Publishing, London, 2008.
7. Cheryl McKinnon, ‘Not Sitting at the Grown-Ups’ Table: The Problem With Records Management’, 27 October 2011, available at <http://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/not-sitting-at-the-grownups-table-the-problem-with-records-management-013264.php>, accessed 25 February 2014.
8. Elena Danielson, The Ethical Archivist, Society of American Archivists, Chicago, 2010, p. 160.
9. David Rosenthal, ‘Let’s Just Keep Everything in the Cloud’, 14 May 2012, available at <http://blog.dshr.org/2012/05/lets-just-keep-everything-forever-in.html>, accessed 13 December 2013.
10. See examples in the data visualisations at <http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2013/worlds-biggest-data-breaches/>, accessed 18 June 2014.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Kate Cumming
Kate Cumming – Kate Cumming is a member of the Digital Strategy team at State Records NSW. Kate holds a PhD in Information Management and Systems from Monash University. She is a co-founder of the recordkeeping and archives discussion group the Recordkeeping Roundtable and regularly blogs on records and information management issues at http://futureproof.records.nsw.gov.au In 2012, the Digital Strategy team Kate is part of was shortlisted for the Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia’s J Eddis Linton Award for Most Outstanding Team.
Anne Picot
Anne Picot - Anne Picot is the Deputy University Archivist at the University of Sydney responsible for oversight of disposal. She is also one of the University’s Right to Information and Privacy officers as the unit (Archives & Records Management Services) is responsible for compliance with the NSW Government Information (Public Access) Act and the NSW privacy legislation. She worked as an archivist in all three levels of government – Commonwealth, local and State – specialising in current records before joining the University of Sydney Archives in 2002. She is a member of Standards Australia’s Records Management committee, IT-021 and a delegate to the International Standards Organisation’s sub-committee for records management (TC46 SC 11), for the areas of the Management System for Records Standards, and risk assessment for recordkeeping. She is a founding member of Sydney’s Recordkeeping Roundtable. She is an active member of the National Tertiary Education Union.