Last month we looked at some of ways that archives preserve memories through the memoirs of space personalities. This month, our focus shifts from the object of the preservation to the methodology behind it. We start at the beginning of the alphabet with A, and the process from appraisal to access; looking at best practices for preservation and at how it actually works on the ground. Who is involved, what are the criteria and what kinds of material do not make it through?
Appraisal: where it all begins
Or, the importance of appraisal as the first step in the process. According to the International Council on Archives (ICA), “appraisal is evaluating records to determine how long to keep them, deciding if they have sufficient long-term value to warrant preservation”. This statement alone clarifies two important points: archives are not records (although they contain records), and the decision to incorporate records into an archive implies a value judgement, and is much more than the application of a retention schedule. It is also the foundation upon which all future preservation actions are based, since only material that is selected will retained for permanent preservation
As a member of our team notes, there is a very real limit to how IT or AI can help with appraisal, and little has changed since the days of paper - the work of reading through documentation, for example, is still the same. As the US National Archives Appraisal Policy puts it: “Records appraisal is not a rote exercise. It requires informed judgments, knowledge of and sensitivity to researchers' interests, recognition of resource considerations, and a willingness to acknowledge and understand comments and suggestions from diverse perspectives”.
While the work can be undertaken solely by an archivist, the role of the originator (such as a department, programme or even individual) is very often overlooked or undervalued. Their unique knowledge of the material and perspective on its value gives extra validity to the appraisal process and allows the archive professionals to start their preservation task with ‘clean’ material, with extraneous or irrelevant content already weeded out. Without the involvement of the originator, decisions on value rest solely with the Archives team. And for consignments that have not been reviewed or sorted, precious time can be spent in the laborious process of going through documentation page by page, removing or destroying inappropriate material that could infringe data protection regulations (such as personal records or copies of ID documents), or simply irrelevant papers. Past shipments have also included personal letters, holiday postcards, magazine articles like Thirty Ways to Lose Weight Fast, and even pairs of shoes!
As noted above, consultation with stakeholders (which could include experts, managers in the organisation or the user community) increasingly has a role to play. Their involvement can provide a valuable mitigation against some of the risks identified by the ICA in its guidance on appraisal:
“Importantly, appraisal decisions should not be influenced by improper political or personal pressures... It is the responsibility of both archivists and the lawmakers to ensure that necessary safeguards against these events, such as codes of ethics and legislation, are in place and adopted in individual jurisdictions.”
Access or preservation?
Once records have been deemed worthy of retention, what next? Along with many other heritage organisations, the ESA Archives has a long-standing digitisation project which contributes to regular openings of digitised collections from its holdings. In our recent ‘discussions on digitisation’ we talked about the ways that these projects widen access to material (facilitating research, education and collaboration) and consolidate preservation activities (for example, reducing stress on fragile paper originals and ensuring long-term digital preservation).
However, there is distinction between digitisation for preservation and digitisation for access and their different requirements can lead to conflict.
Another example from the ESA Archives demonstrates this tension. Wherever possible, duplicate copies of bound documentation, such as historical publications, are used for digitisation, since this work involves cutting the original binding. But if there is no duplicate available, digitisation is not always possible and as a result, only physical access can be provided. While the former allows both accessibility through online collections and maintains the physical integrity of the material, the latter adheres to best practice for preservation, with the compromise being made on the nature of access.
The role of users
Digitising, ingesting and opening digital collections is not the end, though. It is at this point that the baton of best practice and responsible use is passed to those accessing the material. Foremost, that means crediting the relevant archive as the source for the material, and ensuring correct referencing in publications or products which use it. But it can also involve using tools like IIIF (the international framework for image interoperability) which promote sustainability, allowing users to access the object and its associated metadata via its url manifest, without the need to download, save and maintain duplicate copies.
And there is another way that users of the ESA Archives can play their part in our preservation efforts. The Archives’ SHIP database contains an annotation function (available to all logged in users), helping to fill in gaps in the information on photographs left by incomplete descriptions.
Anyone who recognises the people, places or technical aspects of an image can create an annotation and add missing details. Annotations can include text, links, images and multimedia, so can also point to external sources of information.
More about using the ESA Archives
How to search and credit
How to use the SHIP database