Archives Management

7/31/2019 Archives Management

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Archives Archives Management is concerned with the

study of managerial functions that an individualneeds to posses to effectively manage archives.

This subject aims at imparting to the traineeknowledge and skills that will enable him/her tobe able to appreciate the role of archives in themanagement of organizations. The traineeshould be able to identify the various types of archives and be able to perform archivesmanagement functions.


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Archivist A facility that houses records retained for historical or

research value after the primary purpose has beenfulfilled.

Archives is also defined as non-current records that have

been identified for presentation because they possesenduring value. They are normally selected from a massof records and that they possess or have enduring valuewhich warrants preservation. They form a small fractionof all the records of an organization.

Archives therefore can be used to refer to a building or aroom that houses archival materials or the materialsthemselves.


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Archives management Refers to the theoretical and practical study of policies,

procedures and problems, which relate to archivalfunctions. It is also considered as the practical activitiesinvolved in the control and direction of archives includingvarious functions.

Acquisition of archives Accessioning of archives Description and arrangement Preservation and security

Access and use Archival legislation Marketing and archives


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IDENTIFYING ARCHIVES The archivist should carry out a records survey, followed by an

appraisal, acquire the material through purchase, gifts, donations,loans, and exchange donations like the Joy Adamson donations tothe Kenya Museums. Other acquisitions include legal deposits (byaspect of the law e.g. certain items should be deposited at theKenya National Archives as a requirement e.g. every PS or theGovernment printer is required by law to deposit two copies of anypublication at the archives as required by the laws of Kenya. It isalso a requirement that any publication about Kenya e.g. a bookmust be deposited at the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS).

Another method of acquisition is through the retrieval of migrated

archives.


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PRESERVATION Once he has acquired the material he must now

prepare to preserve. All records collected mustbe entered in a register. This is calledaccessioning. This will be followed byarrangement. This means the archivists mustfollow some outlined principles which include:

Provenance: (source or origin). Materials should

never be mixed. They should be retained in theorder in which they came i.e. materials fromMinistry of Education should never be mixedwith those of the Ministry of Lands


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Avail archives to users. The archivist will describe the information contained in

the archives. Access into the archives is restricted. Reference materials like Encyclopaedias can be

consulted inside the search room. Marketing archives should publicize about what they

have in the archives for people/public to know. He should re-appraise his records and ensure that

whatever he has in his custody is still of value.


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TYPES OF ARCHIVES PUBLIC ARCHIVES These are official records which have been created by the public

sector and they have been managed in the respective registries. Public archives are normally managed by the National Archives of a

given country e.g. in Kenya Public Archives are managed by KNAD

services. Definition of public records and consumption is wellreflected in the appropriate legislation or Act of a country e.g. inKenya you can read Public Archives Act Cap 19 Kenya Laws.

Public Archives are those records which are created in publicorganization and institutions and are governed by the relevantlegislation e.g.

Archives of government ministries and departments Archives of local authorities ad office of the president Parliament Electoral commission Judiciary etc


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SEMI-PUBLIC ARCHIVES These are the archives of parastatals or

institutions which are semi autonomous or organizations of the government. Thisarchives are also governed by the PublicLegislation e.g. archives of Telekom,NSSF, NHIF, KPLC, KR, KPA etc


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PRIVATE ARCHIVES These are records, which are created by the

individual private company. Institutions or

company policies govern political parties andthem. The nature of information in thesearchives is on the functions and activities of these private companies and it is not open to thepublic for research unless under specialpermission.


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Acquisition of archives 4) Transfer (Direct) This involves records from the public sector which are transferred

directly to the archives. It is a method whereby the creating agenciestransfer their records or move their records from their offices intoarchives. Ownership will still remain the creating agencies owner. Insuch case, only the physical custody of the records change but theownership remains with the creating agency.

5) Legal deposit: It is a requirement by the law i.e. public archives act Cap 19 laws of

Kenya that certain organization are required to deposit copies of their records at the national archives as per the statutoryrequirements. Such include the Director of Kenya Bureau of Statistics, Permanent Secretaries, Government printer etc.


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ACQUISITION PROCEDURE 41

Acquisition involves a lot of decisions and actions to betaken. The process of acquisition should not be donehaphazardly to avoid wastage of resources in terms of manpower financiers and time. The aim of any archivalservice within its own agreed field of operation would beto build up holdings or a collection which containbalanced documentation of the chosen subject area.Therefore acquisition should follow the procedure below


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Acquisition procedure Appraisal : The Archives is not a dumping place for valueless materials or any material which are not

relevant. The archivist needs to determine the value of the material before they are transferred to thearchives. This appraisal takes place in the curators offices for provide records or in a records centre for publicrecords.

Agreement of transfer : Once the archivist has identified the records he wants, it may be necessary to writedown tan agreement either through lawyers or through an official letter or through verbal agreement. Theyhave to state whether the deposits is temporary or permanent.

Actual Transfers : The archivists should agree with the creator as to who should be responsible for thetransfer i.e. transportation. All records to be transferred should be recorded down in a transfer list and a copyof this list should accompany the records. The records should be properly packed as they are old and fragileto avoid damage. The dates

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of transfer should be fixed by the archivist and the creating agent. Receipt of archival materials . Upon receiving the records the archivist should acknowledge immediately i.e.

write back. Determine proper treatment/arrangement : The archivist should determine the most suitable arrangement

for the records by doing the following: Note down all what was received at the receiving bay. Dust the files/records. Remove all the metal clips and staple and replace them with nylon ones. Avoid mixing the records and making any unnecessary changes in their order i.e. should be arranged according to principle of

provenance and original order.


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Discuss various reasons why acquisitionof archives should be done systematicallyand not haphazardly.


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Archives Arrangement Principles

Arrangement is the process ofphysically organizing records andpapers to reveal their contents andsignificance in accordance with theaccepted archival principles ofprovenance and original order.

Principles of Arrangement


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This principle holds that archives of allkinds, which have their origin or provenance as either administration Units,organizations or individual should be kepttogether as a single entity and not mixedup with those of different origin.


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PRINCIPLE OF ORIGINAL ORDER This is principle states that records should be

arranged or maintained in the order in which

they were originally kept when in active use. Itsimply means that the archives should be storedor arranged the way they were stored/ arrangedby the creating office The principle advocates for the restoration of organizational registry order of arrangement of records or the mode of arrangement that was being followed inarranging records in the registry.


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Record Group concept Ina record group system, a collection or a

group of records can only be placed at onelogical place. The arrangementrepresented the organizational pattern of the source. The arrangement means thatrecords should kept in separate units that

correspond to their sources in organicbodies where each unit is treated as anintegral unit (record group).


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REASONS FOR ARRANGEMENT To enable the archivist to determine whether there are

documents that should be repaired or bound. To determine whether there are documents that should

not be made available for research for reasons of privacy, confidentiality or security.

To determine whether there are ephemeral documentsthat should be recommended for destruction.

To be described and made accessible for research.


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SECURITY MEASURES IN THE SEARCH ROOMS Installing some surveillance cameras and videos Should be close supervision and monitoring by an archivist to know

the activities going on in the search room To restrict users from taking bags folders and heavy jacket to the

search room this discourages theft of archives. Users should not allow to take newspapers and books to the searchroom because written data can be used to disguise received andstealing.

No users should be allowed to go with equipment that can be usedto cut records in the search room e grazer blade, pen knives etc

Allowing only registered user to use the search room after identifyyourself. Having out exit point where users are checked to determine

whatever they have carried archives materials.


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Documents

Archives Management