HISTORY OF
ARCHIVAL AND RECORDS
ENTERPRISE
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Epochs in the Development of
Archival 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 of
Archival 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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ROME
Terms
• 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 of
Archival 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 longterm value
389C.19/History
Epochs in the Development of
Archival 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 of
Archival 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 of
Archival 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 BULK
•
•
•
•
Professionalization 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 of
Archival 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, 1980scontinuing
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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, 1990s389C.19/History
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
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