Archives and Recordkeeping

Caroline Brown is the Programme Leader and Honorary Lecturer for the archives programmes at the Centre for Archive and Information Studies, University of Dundee, where she is also Deputy Archivist. She is a Chair of Archives and Records Association (UK & Ireland’s) Conference Committee, sits on its Professional Development Committee, having formerly served as the Chair of the Education, Training and Development Committee, and is a member of the Executive Committee for ARA Scotland. She is a sits on the Section Bureau of the International Council on Archives Section on Archival Education and is active in ICA/SUV . She is an Arts and Humanities Research Council Peer Review College and Panel Member and has written and spoken on a range of archival and recordkeeping issues. Recent publications include an article on memory in Archival Science and two editions of Archival Science for which she was guest editor.

• Introduction - Caroline Brown 1. Records and archives: concepts, roles and definition - Caroline Williams2. Archival appraisal: practising on shifting sand - Anne J. Gilliland 3. Arrangement and description: between theory and practice - Jennifer Meehan 4. Ethics for archivists and records managers - Jeannette A. Bastian 5. Archives, memories and identities - Eric Ketelaar 6. Under the influence: the impact of philosophy on archives and records management - Rachel Hardiman 7. Participation vs principle: does technological change marginalize recordkeeping theory? - Alan R. Bell

"Archives and Recordkeeping: Theory into practice is described on its back cover as “essential reading for students and educators” in the field. I could not agree with this more. If you are a professor of archives or recordkeeping courses, put this book on your syllabus. If you are a student preparing to enter the profession, pick this book up. In addition, those of us who are already working in the archival profession should look at the essays in this text to expand our own understanding of the historical and theoretical contexts of the world in which we work. In particular, current professionals should closely read Jennifer Meehan's chapter on arrangement and description and Rachel Hardiman's fabulous discussion of philosophy in chapter 6. These two chapters are the cream of a very good crop.