Enduring Paradigm, New Opportunities: The Value of the Archival Perspective in the Digital EnvironmentThis report examines the experiences and contributions of the archival community--practicing archivists, manuscript curators, archival academics, and policy makers who work to define and promote the social utility of records and to identify, preserve, and provide access to documentary heritage regardless of format. The report addresses how the archival science perspective, which brings an evidence-based approach to the management of recorded knowledge, can make a major contribution to a new paradigm for the design, management, preservation, and use of digital resources. It traces the historical development of archival principles and practices and examines, with reference to key research and development projects, how they are currently being transformed into the digital environment to address issues including: information overload; dynamism in documentary forms; pervasive heterogeneity in information resources and media; documentation of relationships within and between resources; resource validation; granularity of description; and exploitation of context and structure in collections of documents. The report concludes with a discussion of what is needed from the archival, library, and other information communities engaged in the development and preservation of digital resources in order to achieve the full potential of cross-community dialog and development. (Contains 64 references.) (AEF) |
Contents
The Archival ParadigmGenesis Rationales and Evolution | 6 |
Utility of the Archival Paradigm in the Digital Environment | 21 |
Achieving the Full Potential of CrossCommunity Developments | 31 |
Copyright | |
Common terms and phrases
activities administrative American Archivist approach archival community archival materials archival paradigm archival perspective Archival practice archival principles archival records archival science Archival Theory authenticity Available bibliographic Cedars Project chives chivists collections concepts context created creation cycle digital asset management digital environment digital information environment digital information resources digital libraries digital materials digital preservation document type definition documents Dublin Core Duranti electronic record-keeping electronic records Encoded Archival Description ensure evidence evidential value exploit finding aid functional requirements Gilliland-Swetland hierarchy historical identify information objects information professions information systems institutions integrity of information intellectual integrity InterPARES Knowledge management librarians library and information long-term mation ment metacommunity metadata sets National Archives organizational original order Persistent Object Preservation physical principles and practices processes record-keeping systems records creators records management respect des fonds retrieval Scarecrow Press Schellenberg SGML societal roles Society of American structures technologies tion University of Pittsburgh users