Archival Theory: much ado about shelving

Authors

  • John Roberts National Park Service, National Archive, Washington, DC, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26512/rici.v12.n2.2019.23016

Keywords:

Archival Studies. Record Management. Archival Science.

Abstract

The field of archival theory is not as fertile as Frank Burke, Gregg Kimball, and others suggest. There are two strains to archival theory. One strain is archival but not theoretical, and deals with the practical, how-to, nitty-gritty of archival work; this is the responsibility of archival clinicians. The other is theoretical but not archival and is concerned with historiography; this is an endeavor not for archivists as archivists but for archivists as historians. This leaves very restricted territory indeed for the archival theorist qua archival theorist. Moreover, the calls for developing a body of archival theory may derive less from an objective need for more archival theory than from an emotional need on the part of an archival community seeking greater professional acceptance.

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Author Biography

John Roberts, National Park Service, National Archive, Washington, DC, USA

Aposentou-se como arquivista sênior do Natinal Park Service. Teve a função de arquivista do National Archive dos Estados Unidos. Possui doutorado em História dos Estados Unidos pela University of Maryland, MD.

References

Artigo publicado originalmente como Referência: ROBERTS John. Archival Theory: much ado about shelving. American Archivist, v. 50, p. 66-74, 1987. Disponível em: www.americanarchivist.org/doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.50.1.l357257455776g52

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Published

2019-02-18

How to Cite

Roberts, J. (2019). Archival Theory: much ado about shelving. Revista Ibero-Americana De Ciência Da Informação, 12(2), 646–658. https://doi.org/10.26512/rici.v12.n2.2019.23016

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2019): Revista Ibero-americana de Ciência da Informação

Section

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