Sites to Visit

CADSS

Control

The Archivist's Primer: Introduction to Archival Organization and Description - a site hosted by the South Carolina Historical Society to explain the forensic work that archivists do in anlaysing and organising collections so that they can be understood and used by researchers.
http://www.schistory.org/getty/

Accessibility

Access to information about archival holdings and viewing actual archives over the Internet is becoming more common. Visit the following sites and explore

Disposal

Appraisal guidelines for Commonwealth records - Find out how the National Archives of Australia identifies nationally significant archival records at http://www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/disposal/appraisal/intro.html

Storage

To explore the world of archival preservation, visit Conservation OnLine(CoOL) for a vast array of links and news items at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/

Recordkeeping Regimes

What is an effective recordkeeping regime?

• Examples of professional standards and best practice for recordkeeping regimes:

  • International and national archival descriptive standards, eg ISAD(G) and ISAAR-CPF on the International Council on Archives web pages at http://www.ica.org/biblio.php?pbodycode=CDS&ppubtype=pub&plangue=eng

  • Leading edge policies, guidelines and training: The State Records Authority of NSW is known for its innovative training, policies and guidelines; many of these are now recognised as industry 'standards-in-the-making'. Check out the Government Recordkeeping Manual at http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/publicsector/rk/manual.htm which incorporates many policies and guidelines including the NSW Recordkeeping Metadata Standard and Standard on Recordkeeping in the Electronic Business Environment .

• McKemmish, Sue and Glenda Acland, 'Archivists at Risk: Accountability and the Role of the Professional Society', in Hicks, Shauna, Editor, Archives at Risk: Accountability, Vulnerability and Credibility: Proceedings of the Australian Society of Archivists Conference, Brisbane, July 1999. Canberra: ASA, 1999. Full paper available at http://www.archivists.org.au/events/conf99/mckemmish_acland.html

Facts, figures and encouragements for good recordkeeping

• Archival and records management legislation and regulations; a RAMP study with guidelines (Paris 1985), by Eric Ketelaar, Professor of Archivistics, University of Amsterdam, . Available on the UNESCO web pages at http://www.unesco.org/webworld/ramp/html/r9006e/r9006e0i.htm#Archival%20and%20records%20management%20legislation%20and%20regulations

Recordkeeping and related professions

Competency standards for recordkeeping specialists

• Records Management Association of Australasia: Records and Archives Competency Standards at http://www.rmaa.com.au/docs/profdev/standards.cfm

Professional ethics

• Australian Society of Archivists Code of Ethics at http://www.archivists.org.au/about/ethics.html

• Association of Canadian Archivists: Code of Ethics at http://archivists.ca/about/ethics.aspx

• Society of American Archivists: A Code of Ethics for Archivists with Commentary at http://www.archivists.org/governance/handbook/app_ethics.asp

• International Council on Archives (ICA) at http://www.ica.org/biblio/spa/code_ethics_eng.html

Preparing for a career in recordkeeping

Follow the links to education and training on the pages of

• Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) Education Committee at http://archivists.ca/committees/std_education.aspx

• Australian Society of Archivists, Inc. (ASA) at http://www.archivists.org.au

• Association of Records Managers & Administrators International (ARMA) at http://www.arma.org

• Society of American Archivists (SAA) at http://www.archivists.org

• Society of Archivists (UK) at http://www.archives.org.uk

Recordkeeping professional issues

• Bearman, David, Archival Methods Archives and Museum Informatics Technical Report #9 (Pittsburgh, Archives and Museum Informatics, 1989) at http://www.archimuse.com/publishing/archival_methods
and 'Archival Strategies' American Archivist 58/4 (Fall, 1995): vol. 58, p.374-407. at http://www.archimuse.com/publishing/archival_strategies

• Bearman, David and Jennifer Trant. 'Authenticity of Digital Resources: Towards a Statement of Requirements in the Research Process', D-Lib Magazine (June, 1998). at http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june98/06bearman.html

• National Archives of Australia. Records Issues for Outsourcing including General Disposal Authority 25: A guideline for agencies about their responsibilities for recordkeeping in outsourcing arrangements. Keeping records 2. Canberra, ACT: NAA, 1998. at http://www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/outsourcing/outsource_records/summary.html

• National Archives of Australia. Records in Evidence. The Impact of the Evidence Act on Commonwealth Recordkeeping. Keeping records 1. Canberra, ACT: NAA, April, 1998.
http://www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/overview/evidence/records.html

• Reed, Barbara, Archives of the New Millenium: Exploring the archival issues of the early twenty-first century. Paper presented as the keynote address at the 23rd Annual Conference of Archives and Records Association of New Zealand, Auckland, July 1999.
at http://rcrg.dstc.edu.au/publications/brep2a.html

• Rothenberg, Jeff, Avoiding Technological Quicksand: Finding a Viable Technical Foundation for Digital Preservation: A Report to the Council on Library and Information Resources. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources, January, 1999. Read the abstract online with option to download at a fee from CLIR Web Page at http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub77.html
Also read an opposing view in Bearman, David, 'Reality and Chimera in the Preservation of Electronic Records', D-Lib Magazine 5/4 (April, 1999) at http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april99/bearman/04bearman.html

Recordkeeping research

Australia
Canada

  • University of British Columbia. School of Library, Archives and Information Studies, Vancouver, B.C. See in particular Duranti, Luciana, Terry Eastwood and Heather MacNeil, The Preservation of the Integrity of Electronic Records at http://www.interpares.org/UBCProject/index.htm.

International consortia

  • CAMiLEON (Creative Archiving at Michigan and Leeds: Emulating the Old on the New) seeks to evaluate emulation as a digital preservation strategy by developing emulation tools, cost-benefit analysis and user evaluation. The project is a joint undertaking between the universities of Michigan (USA) and Leeds (UK) and is funded by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and US National Science Foundation (NSF) at http://www.si.umich.edu/CAMILEON/

  • InterPARES (International Research on the Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems) at http://www.interpares.org/

USA
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