Archival science
Encyclopedia
Archival science is the theory and study of storing, cataloguing, and retrieving documents and items. Archival science evolved from mankind's need to classify the world around them. Emerging from diplomatics
, Archival science also encompasses the study of past efforts to preserve documents and items, remediation of those techniques in cases where those efforts have failed, and the development of new processes. The field also includes the study of traditional and electronic catalogue storage
methods, digital preservation
and the long range impact of all types of storage programs.
Records are the core of the archival tradition. In the tradition, records are defined as data or information in a fixed form that are created or received during the course of an activity and set aside for evidence of that activity or future reference. Archives must be trusted in order to be of value to society, thus they must have certain qualities. This includes authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability. Archival records must be what they claim to be, must accurately represent the activity they were created for, must provide a coherent picture through the use of sufficient amounts of content, and must be in an accessible location and in usable condition.
Rammingen elaborated a registry for the Augsburg
city council — but could not be personally present there, and thus had to describe the structure and management of the archives in writing. Rammingen can be considered the father of archival science since this was the earliest published work dealing with that subject. However, Rammingen himself refers to earlier literature about records keeping. These earlier manuals were, however, usually not published. Therefore it is impossible to establish exactly when archival science was "born". Jacob von Rammingen's manual was printed in Heidelberg
in 1571.
Traditionally, archival science has involved the study of methods for preserving items in climate-controlled storage facilities. It is also the study of cataloguing
and accession
, of retrieval and safe handling. The advent of digital
documents along with the development of electronic database
s has caused the field to re-evaluate its means and ends. While generally associated with museum
s and libraries
, the field also can pertain to individuals who maintain private collections or business archives. Archival Science is taught in colleges and universities, usually under the umbrella of Information Science
or paired with a History program.
When cataloguing archives, archivists are expected to follow a set of standards. Rules of Archival Description, also known as RAD, provides archivists with a set of rules which aim to provide a consistent and common foundation for the description of archival material within a fond, based on traditional archival principles. These standards are in place to provide archivists with the tools for finding and making accessible archival material to the public.
Metadata
provides archivists with the contextual data surrounding a record or aggregate of records. Standards such as Machine-Readable Cataloguing (MARC format), Encoded Archival Description
(EAD), and Dublin core
are standards for archival metadata which provide archivists with appropriate descriptions in regards to collections.
in archival science refers to the "origin or source of something; information regarding the origins, custody, and ownership of an item or collection." As a fundamental principle of archives, provenance refers to the individual, family, or organization that created or received the items in a collection. In practice, provenance dictates that records of different origins should be kept separate to preserve their context. As a methodology, provenance becomes a means of describing records
at the series level.
’, and ‘original order’. ‘Respect pour les fonds
’ rose from the conviction that records entering an archive
should be described at the series level, where archivists respect the person or office that generated and used the records. Records from former or existing units are given a separate archival grouping, or ‘fonds
’, wherein their records are placed. ‘Original order’, refers to keeping records “as nearly as possible in the same order of classification as obtained in the offices of origin,” gives additional credibility to preserved records and to their originating ‘fonds
’. Records must be kept in the same order they were placed in the course of the official activity of the agency concerned; records are not to be artificially reorganized. Records kept in their original order are more likely to reveal the nature of the organizations which created them, and more importantly, of the order of activities out of which they emerged.
, a newfound appreciation for historical records emerged in French society. Speaking to the past, records began to “acquire the dignity of national monuments” and their care was entrusted to scholars who were trained in libraries. With an emphasis on historical research, it seemed obvious at the time that records should be arranged and catalogued in a manner that would “facilitate every kind of scholarly use.” To support research, artificial systematic collections, often arranged by topic, were established and records were catalogued into these schemes. With archival documents approached from a librarianship perspective, records were organized according to classification scheme
s and their original context of creation were frequently lost or obscured. This form of archival arrangement has come to be known as the ‘historical manuscripts tradition’.
’ and of ‘original order’ was adopted in Belgium
and France
about 1840 and spread throughout Europe
during the following decades. Following the rise of state-run archives in France and Prussia
, the rising volume of modern records entering the archive made the adherence to the manuscript tradition impossible; there were not enough resources to organize and classify each record. Provenance received its most pointed expression in the “Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives,” a Dutch
text published in 1898 and written by three Dutch archivists, Samuel Muller, Johan Feith, and Robert Fruin. This text provided the first description of the principle of provenance
and argued that ‘original order’ is an essential trait of archival arrangement and description.
Complementing the work of the Dutch archivists and supporting the concept of provenance were the historians of the era. Though subject-based classification
aided research, historian
s began to concern themselves with objectivity in their source material. For its advocates, provenance provided an objective alternative to the generally subjective classification schemes borrowed from librarianship. Historians increasingly felt that records should be maintained in their original order to better reflect the activity out of which they emerged.
. It has been argued that original order is not always ideal for personal archives as they are far more complex than organizational archives. However, others prefer to remain loyal to the principle of original order and maintain that personal records are created and maintained for much the same reason as organizational archives and should therefore follow the same principles.
, as defined by the Society of American Archivists (SAA), is the discipline of protecting materials from physical deterioration or loss of information, ideally in a noninvasive way. The goal of preservation is to maintain as much originality as possible while maintaining all the information which the material has to offer. Both scientific principles and professional practices are applied to this technique to obtain maximum effectiveness. In an archival sense, preservation refers to the care of all the aggregates
within a collection. Conservation
can be included in this practice and often these two definitions overlap.
, the Archives Nationales was established and later, in 1794, transformed into a central archives. This was the first independent national archives and their goal was to preserve and store documents and records as they were. This trend gained popularity and soon other countries began establishing national archives for the same reasons, to maintain and preserve their records as they were created and received.
Cultural and scientific change also helped to bring about the idea and practice of preservation. In the late eighteenth century, many museums, national libraries, and national archives were established in Europe; therefore ensuring the preservation of their cultural heritage
.
Tout ensemble is a definition relating to preservation. This definition encompasses the idea of context and the importance of maintaining context. When a record is removed from its fellow records, it loses its meaning. In order to preserve a record it must be preserved in its original entirety or else it may lose its significance. This definition relates to the principle of provenance and respect pour les fonds as it similarly emphasizes the idea of the original record.
Metadata is key for the preservation of context within archival science. Metadata, as defined by the SAA, is “data about data.” This data can help archivists locate a specific record, or a variety of records within a certain category. By assigning appropriate metadata to records or record aggregates, the archivist successfully preserves the entirety of the record and the context in which it was created. This allows for better accessibility and improves the authenticity of the record.
Physical maintenance is another key feature of preservation. There are many strategies in place to preserve archives properly; such as rehousing items in acid-free containers, storing items in climate controlled areas, and copying deteriorating items. These preservation techniques are to be carried out with respect to provenance.
involves the implementation of policies, strategies, and actions in order to ensure that digitized documents remain accurate and accessible over time. Due to emerging technologies, archives began to expand and require new forms of preservation. Archival collections spread to include new media
such as microfilm, audio
files, visualfiles, moving images, and digital documents. Many of these new types of media suffer from a shorter life expectancy than paper. With the quick advancement of our technological society, old media is becoming obsolete. Therefore, migration from old formats to new formats is necessary for the preservation of these digital medias so they can remain accurate and accessible.
Metadata is an important part of digital preservation as it preserves the context, usage, and migration of a digital record. Similarly to traditional preservation, metadata is required to preserve the context, authenticity, and accessibility of a record.
(SAA), seek to foster study and professional development. In 2002, the SAA published guidelines for a graduate program in Archival Studies, but these guidelines have not been adopted by the majority of universities. As a result, practitioners of archival science may come from a varied background of library, history, or museum studies programs.
Diplomatics
Diplomatics , or Diplomatic , is the study that revolves around documentation. It is a study that focuses on the analysis of document creation, its inner constitutions and form, the means of transmitting information, and the relationship documented facts have with their creator...
, Archival science also encompasses the study of past efforts to preserve documents and items, remediation of those techniques in cases where those efforts have failed, and the development of new processes. The field also includes the study of traditional and electronic catalogue storage
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
methods, digital preservation
Digital preservation
Digital preservation is the set of processes, activities and management of digital information over time to ensure its long term accessibility. The goal of digital preservation is to preserve materials resulting from digital reformatting, and particularly information that is born-digital with no...
and the long range impact of all types of storage programs.
Records are the core of the archival tradition. In the tradition, records are defined as data or information in a fixed form that are created or received during the course of an activity and set aside for evidence of that activity or future reference. Archives must be trusted in order to be of value to society, thus they must have certain qualities. This includes authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability. Archival records must be what they claim to be, must accurately represent the activity they were created for, must provide a coherent picture through the use of sufficient amounts of content, and must be in an accessible location and in usable condition.
History
In 1540, Jacob von Rammingen (1510-1582) wrote the manuscript of the earliest known archival manual. He was an expert on registries (Registraturen), the German word for what later became known as archivesRammingen elaborated a registry for the Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
city council — but could not be personally present there, and thus had to describe the structure and management of the archives in writing. Rammingen can be considered the father of archival science since this was the earliest published work dealing with that subject. However, Rammingen himself refers to earlier literature about records keeping. These earlier manuals were, however, usually not published. Therefore it is impossible to establish exactly when archival science was "born". Jacob von Rammingen's manual was printed in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
in 1571.
Traditionally, archival science has involved the study of methods for preserving items in climate-controlled storage facilities. It is also the study of cataloguing
Cataloging
Cataloging is the process of listing or include something in a catalog. In library science is is the producing of bibliographical descriptions of books or other kinds of documents...
and accession
Accession
Accession has different definitions depending upon its application. In Property law, it is a mode of acquiring property that involves the addition of value to property through labor or the addition of new materials. In English Common law, the added value belonged to the original property's owner,...
, of retrieval and safe handling. The advent of digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
documents along with the development of electronic database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
s has caused the field to re-evaluate its means and ends. While generally associated with museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
s and libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, the field also can pertain to individuals who maintain private collections or business archives. Archival Science is taught in colleges and universities, usually under the umbrella of Information Science
Information science
-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
or paired with a History program.
Standards
There is no universal set of laws or standards that governs the form or mission of archival institutions. The forms, functions, and mandates of archival programs and institutions tend to differ based on geographical location and language, the nature of the society in which they exist and the objectives of those in control of the archives. Instead, the current standards that have been provided and are most widely followed, such as the ICA standard, ISO standard, and DIRKS standard, act as working guidelines for archives to follow and adapt in ways that would best suit their respective needs.When cataloguing archives, archivists are expected to follow a set of standards. Rules of Archival Description, also known as RAD, provides archivists with a set of rules which aim to provide a consistent and common foundation for the description of archival material within a fond, based on traditional archival principles. These standards are in place to provide archivists with the tools for finding and making accessible archival material to the public.
Metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
provides archivists with the contextual data surrounding a record or aggregate of records. Standards such as Machine-Readable Cataloguing (MARC format), Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description is an XML standard for encoding archival finding aids, maintained by the Library of Congress in partnership with the Society of American Archivists.-History:EAD originated in 1993, at the University of California, Berkeley...
(EAD), and Dublin core
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata terms are a set of vocabulary terms which can be used to describe resources for the purposes of discovery. The terms can be used to describe a full range of web resources: video, images, web pages etc and physical resources such as books and objects like artworks...
are standards for archival metadata which provide archivists with appropriate descriptions in regards to collections.
Provenance in archival science
ProvenanceProvenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
in archival science refers to the "origin or source of something; information regarding the origins, custody, and ownership of an item or collection." As a fundamental principle of archives, provenance refers to the individual, family, or organization that created or received the items in a collection. In practice, provenance dictates that records of different origins should be kept separate to preserve their context. As a methodology, provenance becomes a means of describing records
Document
The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...
at the series level.
The Principle of Provenance
Describing records at the series level to ensure that records of different origins are kept separate, provided an alternative to item-level manuscript cataloguing. The practice of provenance has two major concepts: ‘respect pour les fondsFonds
Fonds is an archival term used to describe an aggregation of documents that originate from the same source. More specifically, a fonds distinguishes itself from a collection through its organic nature, as archival documents that have been naturally accumulated by an individual, company,...
’, and ‘original order’. ‘Respect pour les fonds
Fonds
Fonds is an archival term used to describe an aggregation of documents that originate from the same source. More specifically, a fonds distinguishes itself from a collection through its organic nature, as archival documents that have been naturally accumulated by an individual, company,...
’ rose from the conviction that records entering an archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
should be described at the series level, where archivists respect the person or office that generated and used the records. Records from former or existing units are given a separate archival grouping, or ‘fonds
Fonds
Fonds is an archival term used to describe an aggregation of documents that originate from the same source. More specifically, a fonds distinguishes itself from a collection through its organic nature, as archival documents that have been naturally accumulated by an individual, company,...
’, wherein their records are placed. ‘Original order’, refers to keeping records “as nearly as possible in the same order of classification as obtained in the offices of origin,” gives additional credibility to preserved records and to their originating ‘fonds
Fonds
Fonds is an archival term used to describe an aggregation of documents that originate from the same source. More specifically, a fonds distinguishes itself from a collection through its organic nature, as archival documents that have been naturally accumulated by an individual, company,...
’. Records must be kept in the same order they were placed in the course of the official activity of the agency concerned; records are not to be artificially reorganized. Records kept in their original order are more likely to reveal the nature of the organizations which created them, and more importantly, of the order of activities out of which they emerged.
Practices before the emergence of provenance
Following the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, a newfound appreciation for historical records emerged in French society. Speaking to the past, records began to “acquire the dignity of national monuments” and their care was entrusted to scholars who were trained in libraries. With an emphasis on historical research, it seemed obvious at the time that records should be arranged and catalogued in a manner that would “facilitate every kind of scholarly use.” To support research, artificial systematic collections, often arranged by topic, were established and records were catalogued into these schemes. With archival documents approached from a librarianship perspective, records were organized according to classification scheme
Classification scheme
In metadata a classification scheme is a hierarchical arrangement of kinds of things or groups of kinds of things. Typically it is accompanied by descriptive information of the classes or groups. A classification scheme is intended to be used for an arrangement or division of individual objects...
s and their original context of creation were frequently lost or obscured. This form of archival arrangement has come to be known as the ‘historical manuscripts tradition’.
Emergence of provenance
The principle of ‘respect pour les fondsFonds
Fonds is an archival term used to describe an aggregation of documents that originate from the same source. More specifically, a fonds distinguishes itself from a collection through its organic nature, as archival documents that have been naturally accumulated by an individual, company,...
’ and of ‘original order’ was adopted in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
about 1840 and spread throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the following decades. Following the rise of state-run archives in France and Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, the rising volume of modern records entering the archive made the adherence to the manuscript tradition impossible; there were not enough resources to organize and classify each record. Provenance received its most pointed expression in the “Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives,” a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
text published in 1898 and written by three Dutch archivists, Samuel Muller, Johan Feith, and Robert Fruin. This text provided the first description of the principle of provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
and argued that ‘original order’ is an essential trait of archival arrangement and description.
Complementing the work of the Dutch archivists and supporting the concept of provenance were the historians of the era. Though subject-based classification
Classification
Classification may refer to:* Library classification and classification in general* Taxonomic classification * Biological classification of organisms* Medical classification* Scientific classification...
aided research, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
s began to concern themselves with objectivity in their source material. For its advocates, provenance provided an objective alternative to the generally subjective classification schemes borrowed from librarianship. Historians increasingly felt that records should be maintained in their original order to better reflect the activity out of which they emerged.
Debates
Although original order is a generally accepted principle, there has been some debate surrounding this theory in regards to personal archivesPersonal archiving
Personal archiving is a branch of Family History, genealogy, and archival science. Family historians are engaged in capturing their own living history to leave as a legacy for future generations...
. It has been argued that original order is not always ideal for personal archives as they are far more complex than organizational archives. However, others prefer to remain loyal to the principle of original order and maintain that personal records are created and maintained for much the same reason as organizational archives and should therefore follow the same principles.
Preservation in Archival Science
PreservationPreservation
Preservation may refer to:* Heritage preservation:** Historic preservation, of buildings, monuments, etc.** Preservation , of books, recordings, etc.** Conservation , of the natural environment...
, as defined by the Society of American Archivists (SAA), is the discipline of protecting materials from physical deterioration or loss of information, ideally in a noninvasive way. The goal of preservation is to maintain as much originality as possible while maintaining all the information which the material has to offer. Both scientific principles and professional practices are applied to this technique to obtain maximum effectiveness. In an archival sense, preservation refers to the care of all the aggregates
Aggregate
An aggregate is a collection of items that are gathered together to form a total quantity.* Aggregate , in materials science, a component of a composite material used to resist compressive stress...
within a collection. Conservation
Conservation
Conservation may refer to:* Conservation movement, to protect animals, fungi, plants and their habitats** Conservation biology, the science of the protection and management of biodiversity...
can be included in this practice and often these two definitions overlap.
The Beginnings of Preservation
Preservation emerged with the establishment of the first central archives. In 1789, during the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, the Archives Nationales was established and later, in 1794, transformed into a central archives. This was the first independent national archives and their goal was to preserve and store documents and records as they were. This trend gained popularity and soon other countries began establishing national archives for the same reasons, to maintain and preserve their records as they were created and received.
Cultural and scientific change also helped to bring about the idea and practice of preservation. In the late eighteenth century, many museums, national libraries, and national archives were established in Europe; therefore ensuring the preservation of their cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
.
Archival Preservation
Preservation, like provenance, is concerned with the proper representation of archival materials. Archivists are primarily concerned with maintaining the record, along with the context in which it was produced, and making this information accessible to the user.Tout ensemble is a definition relating to preservation. This definition encompasses the idea of context and the importance of maintaining context. When a record is removed from its fellow records, it loses its meaning. In order to preserve a record it must be preserved in its original entirety or else it may lose its significance. This definition relates to the principle of provenance and respect pour les fonds as it similarly emphasizes the idea of the original record.
Metadata is key for the preservation of context within archival science. Metadata, as defined by the SAA, is “data about data.” This data can help archivists locate a specific record, or a variety of records within a certain category. By assigning appropriate metadata to records or record aggregates, the archivist successfully preserves the entirety of the record and the context in which it was created. This allows for better accessibility and improves the authenticity of the record.
Physical maintenance is another key feature of preservation. There are many strategies in place to preserve archives properly; such as rehousing items in acid-free containers, storing items in climate controlled areas, and copying deteriorating items. These preservation techniques are to be carried out with respect to provenance.
Digital Preservation
Digital preservationDigital preservation
Digital preservation is the set of processes, activities and management of digital information over time to ensure its long term accessibility. The goal of digital preservation is to preserve materials resulting from digital reformatting, and particularly information that is born-digital with no...
involves the implementation of policies, strategies, and actions in order to ensure that digitized documents remain accurate and accessible over time. Due to emerging technologies, archives began to expand and require new forms of preservation. Archival collections spread to include new media
Media
Media may refer to:- Communications :* Media , tools used to store and deliver information or data** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising...
such as microfilm, audio
Audio
Audio is an electrical or other representation of sound.Audio may also refer to:*Audio, audible content in media production and publishing*AUDIO , an American R&B band of 5 brothers formerly known as TNT Boyz and as B5...
files, visualfiles, moving images, and digital documents. Many of these new types of media suffer from a shorter life expectancy than paper. With the quick advancement of our technological society, old media is becoming obsolete. Therefore, migration from old formats to new formats is necessary for the preservation of these digital medias so they can remain accurate and accessible.
Metadata is an important part of digital preservation as it preserves the context, usage, and migration of a digital record. Similarly to traditional preservation, metadata is required to preserve the context, authenticity, and accessibility of a record.
Organizations
Professional organizations, such as the Society of American ArchivistsSociety of American Archivists
The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual and institutional members...
(SAA), seek to foster study and professional development. In 2002, the SAA published guidelines for a graduate program in Archival Studies, but these guidelines have not been adopted by the majority of universities. As a result, practitioners of archival science may come from a varied background of library, history, or museum studies programs.
- Association of Canadian Archivists
- International Council on Archives
- Society of American Archivists
- Toronto Area Archivists Group
- Archives Association of Ontario
- Canadian Council of Archives
- ARMA International
See also
- Archival appraisalArchival appraisalIn the archival sense, appraisal is a process usually conducted by a member of the record-holding institution in which a body of records are examined to determine their value...
- ArchiveArchiveAn archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
- ArchivistArchivistAn archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
- Digital artifactual valueDigital artifactual valueDigital artifactual value is a preservation term that refers to the intrinsic value of a digital object, rather than the informational content of the object. There are currently no established standards for what constitutes digital artifactual value...
- Encoded Archival DescriptionEncoded Archival DescriptionEncoded Archival Description is an XML standard for encoding archival finding aids, maintained by the Library of Congress in partnership with the Society of American Archivists.-History:EAD originated in 1993, at the University of California, Berkeley...
- Library scienceLibrary scienceLibrary science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
- Manuscript processing
- Media preservationMedia preservationPreservation of document, pictures, recordings, digital content, etc., is a major aspect of archival science. It is also an important consideration for people who are creating time capsules, family history, historical documents, scrapbooks and family trees...
- Preservation (library and archival science)Preservation (library and archival science)Preservation is a branch of library and information science concerned with maintaining or restoring access to artifacts, documents and records through the study, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of decay and damage....
- ProvenanceProvenanceProvenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...