Act of surveying, describing, and preserving archival materials

Archival Processing

Traditionally a hand written document, a manuscript is understood to be the original copy of a work that is different from the printed version

Manuscript

The system by which the value of a record is evaluated. Records are evaluated based on their characteristics, use, format, relation to other records and other factors to determine their value. This informs the archivist on which records should be kept and which records should be dismissed or destroyed. Methods of appraisal often vary by institution and nation. 

Archival Appraisal

The process by which an archives  adds to its collections. Acquisitions typically occur by way of a transfer, donation, purchase, or loan. Some material may come from the parent organization of the archives while other material may come from outside of the archives’ broader organization. 

Archival Acquisition

The actual procedure of taking control of archival material. The elements of this procedure include taking physical custody, intellectual ownership, and legal title of the material. The goal of accessioning is to document the transfer of the material. 

Archival Accessioning

The study and theory of building and curating archives

New York University

San Jose State University

An archive is a collection of historical records about an organization and its society. These archives are managed by librarians, archivists, and other information professionals. 

Wikipedia

Archives are not just pages and books from the past, they are the enduring memory of people who lived in times before we did and they give context to the situations the archives are about. When discussing the types of memory archives foster there are three types:
- Individual
- Group
- Collective


How Archives Foster Memory

- Academic
- Business (for profit)
- Government
- Tribal 
- Church
- Film
- Non-profit
- Digital
- Picture
- Museum

Types of Archives

Archives and Records Management is a methodical process of identifying information that should b preserved, collected, weeded, and understood. Although the process of management is fundamentally an information science, there are philosophies that inform/structure the process. Among those Philosophies are:
- Metaphysics
- Ontology
- Epistemology
- Politics/Ideology
- Kantianism(Causality, Empiricism, Rationalism)
- Scientism
- Positivism
- Interpretivism
- and various others.

The Impact of Philosophy on Archives and Records Management.

User Expertise is the idea of utilizing knowledge and practices within Archives. It helps create a professional guideline for the User/Archive practitioner. This is determined by 3 fields: Domain Knowledge, Artifactual Literacy, and what will be discussed in this node, Archival Intelligence. Archival Intelligence is the knowledge about the environment(Archives) in which the search for primary sources is being conducted. From archival intelligence, user expertise can be developed through archival theory, practices, procedures, Strategies for reducing uncertainty/ambiguity, and intellective skills.

Archival Intelligence and User Expertise

A record is an important document that helps illustrate the past and present

Records

The Library and Information Science field, particularly that of archives, extoll the virtue of the Archival Neutrality ethical mandate. The expectation is that by keeping archives and the information environment that there would be no problems. In a work environment and in public it is usually professionally frowned upon to let people know your political leanings, viewpoints, and affiliations. That should be true for most professions and work environments based on standards.

Archival Neutrality: Expectation

The person in charge of the management and maintenance of an archival collection. An archivist is typically a librarian with specialized training in archival practices and methods.

Archivist

Archives, Records, and all forms of information are fragile. Disasters happen and fire, water, humidity, as well as many other hazardous events can destroy Archives/Records if they are not properly protected. An example of trying to see what protections work for archives/records comes from an test called Operation Teapot. Operation Teapot used a Nuclear Explosion on an Archives/Records to see how well the storage equipment could withstand destruction. Archives/Records in metal containers such as lockboxes survived while the rest had varying degrees of damage or annihilation. 

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