Martin t. Olliff presentation at Tri-State Archivists Conference, October 18, 2013, concerning shared appraisal authority and distributed, post-custodial archival management.

1. You Can’t Always Acquire What
You Want
From the Central Repository to the
Collaborative Archives
Martin T. Olliff
Tri-State Archivists Conference
October 18, 2013

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3. Mission
• Collect University Records
• Collect Community Historical Mss.
• Coordinate Knowledge and Research
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4. Community Impediments
to Collection Development
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Confusion about Role of Archives
Distrust of Institutional Placement of Archives
Privacy Concerns
“Ownership” of Records / Mss.
Xenophobia and Antinomianism
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5. Proposal
• “Distributed” Repositories
• Avocational Archives linked to Central
Repository
– Individuals and Families
– Churches, Social Institutions
– NGOs
– Small Businesses
• Shared Appraisal Authority
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6. Precedents
• Archival Theory
– Ham, 1981, “Post-Custodialism”
– Documentation Strategy Extension
– Jenkinson’s Appriasal
– Social Justice
• Archival Practice
– E.g.: ADAH – State agencies keep own records
– Electronic Records
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7. What does this look like?
• Community Functional Analysis
• Hub-and-Spoke
– Like Volunteers, but not under one roof
– Central Archives is the Hub
• Contract Responsibilities
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8. Responsibilities of Central Repository
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Provide Craft Training
Provide Administrative Leadership
Provide Processing Supplies at cost
Central Description / Research Portal
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9. Responsibilities of Distributed Archives
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Actually Create an Archives Mission
Follow Best Practices as much as possible
Ongoing Support
Cooperate w/ Central Repository
Accept Leadership from Central Repository
Submit Adequate Descriptions
Someone Goes to Training
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10. Advantages
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Archival Advocacy
Social Justice and “Participatory Democracy”
Secures Better Community Documentation
Manage Backlog
Local Collection Champions
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11. Disadvantages
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Legitimizes Amateurism
Privileges Craft over Professional Knowledge
Potential Loss of Resources if failure
Possible to Lost Track of Collections over Time
Possible Appraisal Disputes
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