Long Island University
Palmer School of Library and Information Science
Manhattan Campus
LIS 721
"Appraisal of Archives and Manuscripts"
Fall 2010
Susan L. Malbin, Adjunct Faculty
Course Description and Requirements
Bulletin Description
Discusses classic archival appraisal theory and recent refinements, including documentation strategies. Relates appraisal to the mission, goals and objectives of the archival institution. Explores the applicability of appraisal theory to records on media other than paper.
Palmer School Objectives Met By This Course

Identify information needs of society through the application of principles of organization, selection, and evaluation of information resources.

Exhibit comprehension of the varied missions and organizational patterns in libraries and information agencies in their interrelationships.

Recognize the importance of the contributions of other fields of knowledge to the profession, ethical behavior, and commitment to the ideals of intellectual freedom.
Specific Course Objectives
The objectives of the course will be to:

Review the substantial archival literature on appraisal.

Explore the applicability of appraisal theory to records on media other than paper.

Make a contribution to the professional discourse on appraisal.
Course Requirements
This class will be conducted as an advanced seminar. Students will demonstrate their mastery of the course material through the following:

Class discussions of assigned readings

Completion of a major research paper
Class Participation. Each week we will discuss several readings dealing with selection, appraisal, and documentation. Students are required to complete the readings before class and to be active participants in the discussions.
Absence from more than three classes during the semester may be grounds for a failing grade.

LIS 721 Fall 2010 Manhattan 2
Completion of Major Research Paper. The research paper must be at least twenty pages in length, must be paginated, must be not less than 5,000 words, and may deal with any aspect of archival appraisal or documentation. Papers should be of sufficient quality to be submitted to a professional journal. I must approve topics (including any changes in topics) in advance.
The paper (and the abstract that is required earlier in the semester) should be typed double-spaced, with a 12 point font, one inch margins on all sides, and no spaces skipped between paragraphs. Provide citations in the form of MLA-style footnotes, not endnotes or parenthetical references. Papers should be submitted as Word attachments to email; please consult with me in advance if you are unable to do this. There will be a half-grade penalty for any assignment submitted late (an “A-” would become a “B+”).
The course grade will be determined as follows:


Class discussion of readings
Final research paper
Course Readings
33%
67%
There is one required text for this class: Selecting & Appraising Archives & Manuscripts by Frank Boles (Chicago, Society of American Archivists, 2005.) ISBN: 1-931666-11-3.
There is one additional book that we will use this semester:
Helen Willa Samuels, Varsity Letters: Documenting Modern Colleges and
Universities (Society of American Archivists and Scarecrow Press, 1992) ISBN
0-8108-3498-7.
This title has been placed on reserve, so it is not necessary to buy it, but should you wish to, you may purchase it directly from the Society of American Archivists (312-922-0140 or www.archivists.org
).
Most other readings are available on e-reserve or on the Web.
Making Contact
I will hold office hours by appointment. The best way to schedule an appointment is to contact me directly by email at smalbin@ajhs.org
. Alternatively, you can call my office
(if I don’t answer, please leave a message): 212-297-6167.
Rev. 9/2010

LIS 721 Fall 2010 Manhattan
Date
Class #1
September 7
Long Island University
Palmer School of Library and Information Science
Manhattan Campus
LIS 721
"Appraisal of Archives and Manuscripts"
Fall 2010
Class #2
September 14
Class #3
September 21
Topic and Assigned Readings
Introduction and Review of Appraisal “Classics”
Frank Boles, Selecting & Appraising Archives & Manuscripts.
Chicago, Society of American Archivists, 2005.
Introduction and Chapters 1-2 AND pp. 116-120 (in
Chapter 5).
T.R. Schellenberg, “The Appraisal of Modern Public Records.” http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/archivesresources/appraisal-of-records.html
Leonard Rapport, “No Grandfather Clause: Reappraising
Accessioned Records.”
American Archivist (AA) 44:2 (Spring
1981) pp. 143-150.
“Intrinsic Value in Archival Materials.” http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/archivesresources/archival-material-intrinsic-value.html
Appraisal and Research
Richard J. Cox and Helen W. Samuels, “The Archivist's First
Responsibility: A Research Agenda to Improve the
Identification and Retention of Records of Enduring
Value,”
AA 51 (Winter 1988), 28-42.
Elizabeth Lockwood, “‛Imponderable Matters:’ The Influence of
New Trends in History on Appraisal at the National
Archives,”
AA 53 (Summer 1990), 394-405. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/w66t31032j7528t4/ fulltext.pdf
Fredric M. Miller, “Use, Appraisal, and Research: A Case Study of Social History,”
AA 49 (Fall 1986), 371-392.
Archives, Memory and Culture
W. Walter Menninger, M.D., “Memory and History: What Can
You Believe?”
Archival Issues 21:2 (1996), 97-106.
Elisabeth Kaplan, “We Are What We Collect, We Collect What
We Are: Archives and the Construction of Identity,”
AA
63:1 (Spring/Summer 2000), 126-151. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/h554377531233l05
/fulltext.pdf
Tom Nesmith, “Seeing Archives: Postmodernism and the
Rev. 9/2010
3

LIS 721 Fall 2010 Manhattan
Class #4
September 28
Class #5
October 5
Class #6
October 12
4
Changing Intellectual Place of Archives,” AA 65:1
(Spring/Summer 2002), 24-41. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/rr48450509r0712u/ fulltext.pdf
Mark A. Greene, “The Power of Meaning: The Archival Mission in the Postmodern Age,”
AA 65:1 (Spring/Summer 2002),
42-55. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/l914668v881wv19 n/fulltext.pdf
:
Jeffrey Rosen, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting,” New
York Times Magazine Article, July 19, 2010
Appraisal and Organizational Structures
Michael A. Lutzker, “Max Weber and the Analysis of Modern
Bureaucratic Organizations: Notes Toward a Theory of
Appraisal,”
AA 45 (Spring 1982), 119-130.
JoAnne Yates, “Internal Communication Systems in American
Business Structure: A Framework to Aid Appraisal,” AA
48 (Spring 1985), 141-158.
David Bearman, “Diplomatics, Weberian Bureaucracy, and the
Management of Electronic Records in Europe and
America,”
AA 55 (Winter 1992), 168-181. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/240053825k3v364
8/fulltext.pdf
Appraising Complex Record Systems: The FBI Case Files
Boles, Selecting & Appraising, Appendix 2
Susan D. Steinwall, “Appraisal and the FBI Files Case: For
Whom Do Archivists Retain Records?”
AA 49 (Winter
1986), 52-64.
James Gregory Bradsher, “The FBI Records Appraisal,”
Midwestern Archivist 13 (1988), 51-66. http://www.slate.com/id/2191902/pagenum/all/#page_start http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/bonclyd.htm
One-page abstract of research paper due. Roundtable discussion of research topics.
Appraisal Models and Systems
Boles, Selecting & Appraising, Chapters 4 & 5 .
Frank Boles, “Mix Two Parts Interest to One Part Information and
Appraise Until Done: Understanding Contemporary
Record Selection Processes,” AA 50 (Summer 1987), 356-
368.
(OK to skim from last ¶ of p. 363 to end; this section will be covered more fully in Class #13.)
Mark A. Greene and Todd J. Daniels-Howell, "Documentation
Rev. 9/2010

LIS 721 Fall 2010 Manhattan
Class #7
October 19
Class #8
October 26
Class #9
November 2
Class #10
November 6
5 with an Attitude: A Pragmatist's Guide to the Selection and Acquisition of Modern Business Records," in James
O'Toole, ed., The Records of American Business (Chicago:
Society of American Archivists, 1997), 161-230.
Electronic Records
Boles, Selecting & Appraising , Chapter 6 pages 121-131
David Bearman, “The Implications of
Armstrong v. Executive
Office of the President for the Archival Management of
Electronic Records,”
AA 56:4 (Fall 1993), 674-689. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/v4x38681q721715
5/fulltext.pdf
InterPARES Project, “Appraisal Task Force Report,” Available at: http://interpares.org/ip1/ip1_documents.cfm?cat=aptf.
Read Report, look at Model.
Audio-Visual Records
Boles, Selecting & Appraising , Chapter 6 pages 130-135
Vogt-O’Connor, Diane. Chapter 4 (“Appraisal and Acquisitions”) of Photographs: Archival Care and Management by
Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler and Diane Vogt-O’Connor.
Chicago, Society of American Archivists, 2006 (ISBN 1-
931666-17-2).
Thomas Connors, “Appraising Public Television Programs:
Toward an Interpretive and Comparative Evaluation
Model,”
AA 63:1 (Spring/Summer 2000), 152-174. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/242683617n40849 g/fulltext.pdf
Christopher Ann Paton, “Appraisal of Sound Recordings for
Textual Archivists,”
Archival Issues 22:2 (1997), 117-132.
International Perspectives – I
Luciana Duranti, “The Concept of Appraisal and Archival
Theory,”
AA 57:2 (Spring 1994), 328-344. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/pu548273j5j1p816/ fulltext.pdf
John Roberts. “One Size Fits All? The Portability of Macro-
Appraisal by a Comparative Analysis of Canada, South
Africa, and New Zealand,”
Archivaria 52 (Fall 2001), 47-
68.
Terry Eastwood, “Reflections of the Goal of Archival Appraisal in
Democratic Societies,”
Archivaria 54 (Fall 2002), 59-71.
Deadline for selection of mission and collection policy statements to be discussed on December 15 (each student submit a link to one web page).
International Perspectives – II
Hans Booms, “Society and the Formation of a Documentary
Rev. 9/2010

LIS 721 Fall 2010 Manhattan
Class #11
November 17
November 23
Class #12
November 30
Class #13
December 7
6
Heritage: Issues in the Appraisal of Archival Sources,”
Archivaria 24 (Summer 1987), 69-107 (originally published 1972).
Angelika Menne-Haritz, “Appraisal or Documentation: Can We
Appraise Archives by Selecting Content?”
AA 57:3
(Summer 1994), 528-542. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/g114464381p1132
4/fulltext.pdf
Ole Kolsrud, “The Evolution of Basic Appraisal Principles: Some
Comparative Observations,”
AA 55 (Winter 1992), 26-39. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/v05w2kg671667v6h/fullte xt.pdf
Functional Approach to Appraisal
Helen Willa Samuels, Varsity Letters: Documenting Modern
Colleges and Universities (Chicago: SAA and Scarecrow
Press, 1992). Assignment: all read pp. 1-29, 253-268, and
“Sustaining the Institution” (chapter 5, pages 153-227). In addition, by a lottery conducted during the first class, each student will be assigned one functional chapter to read and discuss in detail. Skim the remaining chapters.
Roundtable discussion of research projects.
No Class
Documentation: General
Andrea Hinding, “Inventing a Concept of Documentation.”
Journal of American History 80 (June 1993), 168-178.
Karen M. Lamoree, “Documenting the Difficult or Collecting the
Controversial,” Archival Issues 20:2 (1995), 149-154.
Ellen D. Swain, “Oral History in the Archives: Its Documentary
Role in the Twenty-first Century,” AA
66:1(Spring/Summer 2003), 139-158. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/9284q6r604858h40
/fulltext.pdf
Catherine Hobbs, “The Character of Personal Archives:
Reflections on the Value of Records of Individuals,”
Archivaria 52
(Fall 2001), 126-135.
Documentation Strategy
Larry J. Hackman and Joan Warnow-Blewett, “The
Documentation Strategy Process: A Model and a Case
Study,” AA 50 (Winter 1987), 12-47.
Terry Abraham, “Collection Policy or Documentation Strategy:
Theory and Practice,”
AA 54:1 (Winter 1991), 44-52. http://archivists.metapress.com/content/v2323483077xr227
/fulltext.pdf
Timothy L. Ericson, “’To Approximate June Pasture:’ The
Documentation Strategy in the Real World,” Archival
Rev. 9/2010

LIS 721 Fall 2010 Manhattan
Class #14
December 14
Issues 22:1 (1997), 5-20.
Reprise: Boles, “Mix Two Parts....” pp. 363 (last ¶) to end.
The Implementation of Appraisal; Conclusion
Boles, Selecting & Appraising , Chapter 3 and Appendix 1
NARA Appraisal Policy: http://www.archives.gov/recordsmgmt/initiatives/appraisal.html
.
NARA Records Schedules (sample): http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/ardor/grs23.html
Sample mission and collecting policy statements to be contributed by class members.
Summary Discussion
PAPERS DUE
7
Rev. 9/2010