First Steps in Archives: A Practical Guide

Citation

Newton, C. (2004), "First Steps in Archives: A Practical Guide", Records Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 134-135. https://doi.org/10.1108/09565690410566828

The preface states that the work is intended for librarians, curators and others who have the task of managing archives, but who are not archivists. There are five contributions from writers whose professional qualifications are impeccable and who have worked in both local government and business archives; four of them archivists and one a conservator. There are sections on acquisition and appraisal, arrangement and description, preservation, reader services and marketing. Inevitably in such a work and one so constrained for space there is variability in both the presentation and the style. There is also in some contributions a curiously “gung‐ho” approach to questions which seasoned archivists might view with rather more caution, notably when a non‐professional audience is targeted. The statement “each archive collection needs to be stripped down to its basic essentials” is not followed by “there is no alternative” but Thatcherism is implied, not only here, but also in other places in the text.

Given the fact‐packed nature of the narrative and the almost nervous (as Sherlock Holmes would have said) style, it is difficult to give a flavour of the work without virtually repeating it word for word. The section on appraisal attempts to provide a checklist of records to be kept and those to be disposed and displays the weaknesses that always inhabit such attempts. Experienced archivists could use these lists with some benefit but could the inexperienced? The collection policy of the Tate is interesting, but, as both a national institution and one whose records are partly covered by the Public Records Acts, it is not a particularly relevant organisation. At the very least the policy statements of a few other repositories, especially those in the private sector, would have been more use.

The section on arrangement is generally sound and refers to MAD, ISAD (G), and EAD. It also stresses the significance of provenance and original order. There are useful appendices demonstrating the application of the principles expressed. Unfortunately, at least for the uninitiated, this section could seem in places to contradict statements made in section one, especially when stressing the priority of these principles over the ostensible information value of certain records. The section on preservation is a good summary of sensible practice, again with references to the standard texts such as BS 5454 and with a list of contacts. It does not deal with repository design (except where relevant to internal storage standards), shelving, boxing, or disaster planning beyond a passing reference.

Reader services turns out to be a mixed bag of legislation, restrictions on access, search room facilities, user security, reprographics, and outreach. One sympathises with the author having to say something useful on all these in seven pages. Some comments again seem to relate to previous sections, stressing a point noticeable elsewhere, that none of the authors seem to be aware of the others' contributions. An even more curious remark is made here that readers may be requested to wash their hands before consulting documents. No doubt one would like to suggest that some readers should wash more than their hands, but it is symptomatic of a lack of appreciation of the reality of the environment in many archives in these days of increased social inclusion. One is also startled by the assertion that original documents must never be copied, a surely totally unrealistic rubric. The paragraphs on finding aids make no mention of A2A.

Marketing is again full of good things and written by someone who at least knows what the word means. One wishes that some of the principles enunciated had been applied to the publication itself. But again it is describing an ideal to which few repositories of the type envisaged can even aspire. How many can contemplate the production of elegant eighteenth century wine glasses, either as a corporate “freebie” or as a commercial venture? This is the only section to mention records management, which it is suggested makes the task of the archivist easier – as indeed it does – since it enables the archivist to be known throughout the organisation – which it may not. The work concludes with a glossary, some of whose definitions might have been better included at appropriate points in the text. There is no bibliography. It would have been more useful for a work intended as a practical, on‐the‐job guide to be spiral bound. The price, too, seems high for the number of pages and the presumed readership.

A glance at the Society of Archivist's Missing Link report will indicate starkly the need for a publication of this kind. Unluckily the authors have been faced with an impossible brief – how to provide guidance on a task to those who should not be doing it in the first place. Archives should be cared for by archivists. That is not to say that librarians, curators, and managers cannot be given the essence of the discipline so that they can in small, single fonds, repositories operate proficiently, and in larger manage the care of archives by the effective use of contract resources. Unfortunately this work never establishes a precise target audience. Is it organic archivists – those caring for single fonds produced by their employer, is it curatorial archivists maintaining a multi‐fond collection of disparate material, or is it the combined organic/curatorial breed? The latter are mainly public service and academic institution archivists who do not, one hopes, stand in need of this publication. For those employed by voluntary organisations, in special single subject collections and smaller businesses, there is a need for a work of this kind targeted at their situation. Unfortunately, despite the authors' enthusiasm, this is not it.