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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archivist | 4/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivist | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T15:07:51.668092+00:00 | kb-cron |
== History of the profession == The first predecessors of archival science in the West are Jacob von Rammingen's manuals of 1571. and Baldassarre Bonifacio's De Archivis libris singularis of 1632. In 1883, French archivist Gabriel Richou published the first Western text on archival theory, entitled Traité théorique et pratique des archives publiques (Treaty of Theory and Practice of the Public Archives), in which he systematized the archival theory of the respect des fonds, first published by Natalis de Wailly in 1841. In 1898, three Dutch archivists, Samuel Muller, Johan Feith, and Robert Fruin, published the Handleiding voor het ordenen en beschrijven van archieven (Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives). Produced for the Dutch Association of Archivists, it set out one hundred rules for archivists to base their work around. Notably, within these rules, the principle of preserving provenance and original order was first argued for as an essential trait of archival arrangement and description. Many of these principles were subsequently adopted and developed by the British archivist Hilary Jenkinson in his Manual of Archive Administration, first published in 1922, with a revised edition appearing in 1937. In 1956, T. R. Schellenberg, known as the "Father of American Archival Appraisal", published Modern Archives. Schellenberg's work was intended to be an academic textbook defining archival methodology and giving archivists specific technical instruction on workflow and arrangement. Moving away from Jenkinson's organic and passive approach to archival acquisition, where the administrator decided what was kept and what was destroyed, Schellenberg argued for a more active approach by archivists to appraisal. His primary (administrative) and secondary (research) value model for the management and appraisal of records and archives allowed government archivists greater control over the influx of material that they faced after the Second World War. As a result of the widespread adoption of Schellenberg's methods, especially in the United States of America, modern Records Management as a separate but related discipline was born. In 1972, Ernst Posner published Archives in the Ancient World. Posner's work emphasized that archives were not new inventions, but had existed in many different societies throughout recorded history. Due to his role in the development of American archival theory and practice, he was sometimes called "the Dean of American archivists." Norton promoted the establishment of archives as a profession separate from history or library science and developed the American archival tradition to emphasize an administrator/archivist rather than an historian/archivist. She encouraged learning through experimentation, practical usage, and community discussion. While editor of The American Archivist she emphasized technical rather than scholarly issues, believing that archival records were useful in ways other than scholarly research.
== On the Internet ==
=== Archives 2.0 === Archivists, like librarians, are taking advantage of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, as well as open access and open source philosophies. Archives 2.0, by extension, is more of a participatory online repository than a true-to-form established entity, although it has fallen considerably behind Web 2.0 in overall acceptance by archivists themselves. While Archives 2.0 may refer to implementing new technologies, it is also a way of engaging with archives in an effort to promote openness and flexibility of archival materials. This can be achieved through community participation in archives, archivists actively engaging with their collections, and promoting archival benefits in the modern world. Kate Theimer writes that in order to understand Archives 2.0, it must be compared against Archives 1.0. She asserts that her representation of Archives 1.0 is by no means exhaustive or fully comprehensive of the breadth of archival experience. The following is a list of contrasts between 1.0 and 2.0.
"Open, not closed; Transparent, not opaque; User centered, not record centered; Facilitator, not gatekeeper; Attracting new users, not relying on users to find them; Shared standards, not localized practice; Metrics and measurement, not 'unmeasurable' results; Iterative products, not 'perfect' products; Innovation and flexibility, not adhering to tradition; Technology savvy, not technology phobic; Value doing, not knowing; Confident about lobbying for resources, not hesitant beggars." The technological tools of Archives 2.0 provide the foundational platforms to help the change from 1.0 to 2.0. When working in an archives that is dedicated to upholding 2.0 standards, the focus has shifted onto the user experience at an archives.
=== Internet libraries === Some archivists operate public libraries that are accessible on the Internet. Examples include the illegal shadow libraries Library Genesis and Anna's Archive – humanity's largest library of books – and Sci-Hub – humanity's largest public library of scientific articles. Proponents of these libraries have made use of BitTorrent and IPFS technologies to make these sites decentralized, resilient and uncensorable. There are also other projects that for instance archive digital games and make them accessible via the Internet or that keep content of defunct websites accessible. The most comprehensive public archive on the Internet is the Internet Archive which provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites (via the Wayback Machine), software applications/games, music, movies/videos, moving images, and books. As of September 2023, the Internet Archive holds over 39 million books and texts, 13.6 million movies, videos and TV shows, 1 million software programs, 15 million audio files, 4.7 million images, and 840 billion web pages.
== Notes ==
== See also == Archival science List of archives List of archivists Howard Henry Peckham and John Clement Fitzpatrick (archivists of early American history) The Archivist, novel
== References ==
== External links == Media related to Archivists at Wikimedia Commons
Society of American Archivists website