Inquiry/Speculation on the nature of being and existence(in this case forms of information.

Metaphysics

The nature of existing entities(Information, Books, Articles, Records, Collections, Archives).

Ontology

The Nature of Knowledge or the means by which knowledge is achieved (Literacy, Contextualization, and Learning).

Epistemology

The nature of our own views/ideas informed by emotion, bias, or reason.

Politics/Ideology

A philosophy based on the idea that all things are and occur as they(both person and thing) are meant to. This philosophy is composed of three elements: Causality, Empiricism, and Rationalism. Causality is the relation between cause and effect. Empiricism is the idea that knowledge only occurs based on sensory perception and experience with what is perceived. Rationalism is the idea that knowledge is born from reason rather then sense.

Kantianism

Philosophy that natural methods in the physical realm, such as science, can be applied to all fields of inquiry.

Scientism

The Philosophy of acquiring objective knowledge. This means separating observing subject and observed object or fact. It also means objects of our perception can attained through the senses and through described language. 

Positivism

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.

University of South Carolina

New York 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. 

Under the Influence: The Impact of Philosophy on Archives and Records Management

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

The Impact of Philosophy on Archives and Records Management.

The study and theory of building and curating archives

Archival Science

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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