Issues in Archiving

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Issues in Archiving and

ConservationLIS 173 1st Sem, SY 2013-2014



1. Lack in funding

2. Understaffing

3. Written Policies and Guidelines

4. Space / Environment5. Visibility

6. Coordination with other archival programs

7. Under-representation

8. Lack of or poor implementation of laws and statutes

9. Leadership

ISSUES IN ARCHIVING ANDCONSERVATION



Caused by:

1. Competition with other government programswhich directly serve the people over limited

resources

2. Parent institution lacks an appreciation of archivalwork

3. Lack of visibility puts the archives in a weak position

to demand for staff and other resources

Lack of Funding



Understaffing caused by:

1. Lack of budget

2. Low to modest salaries

3. Lack of training and time

Results: Backlog

UNDERSTAFFING



Lack of written policies result to:

1. Problems in Acquisition: Materials outside the scope of the

collection may be included in the archives“Many libraries have collected small caches of letters, diaries,

account books and scrapbook, often in response to offers from

local people to donate such materials.”

Result: Backlog, Unsystematic collection, Lack of Space2. Unevenness: The arbitrary notion that “Modern era is nothistorical” causes newer materials not to be collected

Written Policies



1. Old and crowded storage facilities: Continuously

growing collections need equally growing space withoptimal conditions

2. Improper storage facilities: “Most records are kept inenvironment that ensure their swift deterioration”. This

leads to severe deterioration or unwarranteddestruction.

Space / Environment



1. Lack of awareness by government agencies

“ Most state agencies do not know of the archivalprogram even if their records are in the archives”

2. Lack of awareness by users

“The public is unlikely to use materials if they do not

know the materials exist” 3. There is little attempt to attract other researchersapart from local historians and genealogists

Visibility



1. Lack of coordination means that large gaps are left in

the nation’s archival record (by neglecting certaingroups, topics or geographical areas)

2. Miss the opportunity for collective purchase and staffsharing

Coordination with other archivalprograms



“Few programs are collecting in the broad area of

ordinary people and everyday events and the historicalcontributions of large segments of the/ population,such as women and ethnic minorities are under-represented”

Under-representation



Statutes relating to local government records

management are obsolete or are poorly implemented

Lack of or poor implementation oflaws and statutes



1. Absence of archival objective undermines program’s

credibility2. Need for clearer, better defined leadership role

3. Needed to raise public consciousness

4. Needed to encourage communication andcoordination with other archives

5. Needed to articulate and move towards a clear viewof the future of archiving as a whole

LEADERSHIP



Why must we do it so badly?- F. Gerald Ham, State Archivist of Wisconsin during the

1974 Society of American Archivist’s presidential address



Bradsher, James Gregory. Managing archives and

archival institutions. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress, 1989.

Source

Documents

Issues in Archiving