The Paper Chase
15
A clear distinction can be noticed in the definition between archives and library items. Books, periodicals and other published matter do not normally form an integral part of the transactions of an office in the way that its records do; nor can they be said to accumulate naturally. Libraries result from deliberate acts of collection. The only circumstance in which published materials may acquire archive status is when they form annexures or enclosures to correspondence and thus actually comprise part of the working records of an office.
The reason for the emphasis on natural accumulation, preservation for reference and custody in the definition of archives is that documents created and kept under these conditions possess certain unique evidential qualities. The records of an office arise purely as a result of the conduct of its business. Taken together they form a factual and disinterested account of its operations, uninfluenced by concern for the views of posterity or by any other considerations external to the matters they deal with. And since any office may be presumed to have a strong interest both in protecting its archives from being tampered with, and in detecting forgeries and falsifications in them if these occur, archives, providing they remain in responsible custody, may be regarded as practically unimpeachable in their integrity as sources of information.
Archives thus possess qualities of authenticity and impartiality which are unrivalled by any other class of document.
This is not to suggest, of course, that manuscript collections or other bodies of documents which have been gathered together by selective processes are without worth—far from it—but just because they have been artificially compiled with research ends specifically in view the student cannot accord them the same degree of confidence as he can archives.
But, you may say, is it not the practice of archivists nowadays to cooperate with the producers of archives in the destruction of so-called valueless papers, and is not the selection of papers for destruction really the same as the selection of papers for retention, for after you have destroyed records from an archive assemblage what remains surely is what you have decided is of value to the student. You have presumed to anticipate his research ends in a manner very similar to that of the collector of manuscripts.
THE PAPER CHASE
15
A clear distinction can be noticed in the definition between archives and library items. Books, periodicals and other published matter do not normally form an integral part of the transactions of an office in the way that its records do; nor can they be said to accumulate naturally. Libraries result from deliberate acts of col- lection. The only circumstance in which published materials may acquire archive status is when they form annexures or enclosures to correspondence and thus actually comprise part of the working records of an office.
The reason for the emphasis on natural accumulation, preserva- tion for reference and custody in the definition of archives is that documents created and kept under these conditions possess certain unique evidential qualities. The records of an office arise purely as a result of the conduct of its business. Taken together they form a factual and disinterested account of its operations, uninfluenced by concern for the views of posterity or by any other considerations external to the matters they deal with. And since any office may be presumed to have a strong interest both in protecting its archives from being tampered with, and in detecting forgeries and falsifica- tions in them if these occur, archives, providing they remain in responsible custody, may be regarded as practically unimpeachable in their integrity as sources of information.
Archives thus possess qualities of authenticity and impartiality which are unrivalled by any other class of document.
This is not to suggest, of course, that manuscript collections or other bodies of documents which have been gathered together by selective processes are without worth--far from it —but just be- cause they have been artificially compiled with research ends speci- fically in view the student cannot accord them the same degree of confidence as he can archives.
But, you may say, is it not the practice of archivists nowadays to cooperate with the producers of archives in the destruction of so-called valueless papers, and is not the selection of papers for destruction really the same as the selection of papers for retention, for after you have destroyed records from an archive assemblage what remains surely is what you have decided is of value to the student. You have presumed to anticipate his research ends in a manner very similar to that of the collector of manuscripts.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.