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Archivists' duties include acquiring and appraising new collections, arranging and describing records, providing reference service, and preserving materials. In arranging records, archivists apply two important principles: provenance and original order.
Archival research lies at the heart of most academic and other forms of original historical research; but it is frequently also undertaken (in conjunction with parallel research methodologies) in other disciplines within the humanities and social sciences, including literary studies, rhetoric, [4] [5] archaeology, sociology, human geography, anthropology, psychology, and organizational studies ...
The first step in archival processing is to survey the collection. The goal of a survey is to gain an understanding of the originator, determine the context of the creation of the collection, to observe the material's overall size and scope, to ascertain if the collection has access limitations, to locate any existing finding aids submitted with the collection, and to discover any underlying ...
This data can help archivists locate a specific record, or a variety of records within a certain category. By assigning appropriate metadata to records or record aggregates, the archivist successfully preserves the entirety of the record and the context in which it was created. This allows for better accessibility and improves authenticity. [20]
The archivist, according to Jenkinson, is to act as a steward of the records in his or her custody. Neither the archivist nor the historian is competent to make appraisal decisions. That process should be left to the donor. Jenkinson deals directly with destruction of records, which he sees as solely the purview of the creator of those records.
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. [1] [2]Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the history and function of that person or organization.
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Learning the proper methods of preservation is important and most archivists are educated on the subject at academic institutions that specifically cover archives and preservation. In the United States most repositories require archivists to have a degree from an ALA-accredited library school. [33]