Archival science and changes in the paradigm

Archival Science

Volumn 1, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 295-310

  Ribeiro, Fernanda ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PORTO   (Portugal)

Author keywords

Archival science; Paradigm shift; Research method

Indexed keywords

EID: 0038570171     PISSN: 13890166     EISSN: 15737519     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/BF02437693     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. The notion of "paradigm" has been used with different meanings. However, we want to clarify that we follow the thinking of Thomas Kuhn exposed in: Kuhn, Thomas S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago, 1962, 3rd edn.; Chicago, 1996).
2. This article provides, necessarily, a summarized view of the subject; for a more detailed perspective, cf. Silva, Armando Malheiro da [et al.], Arquivística: Teoria e Prática de uma Ciência da Informação (Porto: Edições Afrontamento, 1998) (Biblioteca das Ciências do Homem. Plural; 2) vol. 1, chap. 2.
3. Muller, S., J.A. Feith and R. Fruin, Handleiding voor het ordenen en beschrijven van archieven (Groningen: Erven B. van der Kamp, 1898).
4. English translation by Arthur H. Leavitt, Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1940, reissue 1968).
5. In fact, records management and archival procedures - if we want to make this distinction, - existed since the origins of archives, but from a conceptual point of view and as a professional area records management only emerged in anglophone literature by this time.
6. Laroche, Carlo, Que Signifie le Respect des Fonds?: Esquisse d'une Archivistique Structurale (Paris: Association des Archivistes Français, 1971).
7. Duchein, Michel, "Le Respect des fonds en Archivistique: Principes Théoriques et Problèmes Pratiques", La Gazette des Archives (Paris) 2(97) (1977): 71-96.
8. Cf. the following articles: Boles, Frank. "Disrespecting Original Order", The American Archivist (Chicago) 45(1) (Winter, 1982): 26-32;
9. Burke, Frank G., "The Future Course of Archival Theory in the United States", The American Archivist (Chicago) 44(1) (Winter 1981): 40-46;
10. Cappon, Lester J., "What, Then, is There to Theorize About?", The American Archivist (Chicago) 45(1) (Winter 1982): 19-25;
11. Kimball, Gregg D., "The Burke-Cappon Debate: Some Further Criticisms and Considerations for Archival Theory", The American Archivist (Chicago) 48(4) (Fall 1985): 369-376;
12. Pinkett, Harold T., "American Archival Theory: The State of the Art", The American Archivist (Chicago) 44(3) (Summer 1981): 217-222;
13. Stielow, Frederik, "Archival Theory Redux and Redeemed: Definition and Context Towards a General Theory", The American Archivist (Chicago) 44(1) (Winter 1981): 14-26.
14. Just as an example, we will mention some of the most significant works: The Archival Fonds: From Theory to Practice. Ed. by Terry Eastwood ([S.1.]: Bureau of Canadian Archivists, 1992);
15. Canadian Archival Studies and the Rediscovery of Provenance. Ed. by Tom Nesmith (Metuchen, London: Society of American Archivists; Association of Canadian Archivists, The Scarecrow Press, 1993);
16. Rousseau, Jean-Yves; Couture, Carol - Les Fondements de la discipline archivistique (Québec: Presses de l'Université du Québec, 1994).
17. Arad, Arié, "The International Council on Archives and Archival Methodology", Archivum (Paris) 29 (1982): 182-186.
18. Bibliographic references are plentiful and we cannot possibly mention all of them. Readers are referred to chapter 2 of the previously-mentioned work: Silva, Armando Malheiro da [et al.], Archivum op. cit.
19. Favier, Jean and Nierinck, Daniele, La Pratique Archivistique Française (Paris: Archives Nationales, 1993), pp. 232-238.
20. The founder of the theory was Yves Pérotin: see The American Archivist 29 (1966): 363-369.
21. See, further, the explanations about the archive's configuration, within a systemic thinking.
22. See, for example: Duchein, Michel, "Le Principe de Provenance et la Pratique du Tri, du Classement et de la Description en Archivistique Contemporaine", Janus: Revue Archivistique (Paris) 1 (1998): 87-100;
23. The Archival Fonds ... (op. cit.).
24. The writings of Jean-Yves Rousseau and Carol Couture are a good example of this perspective. See, for instance: Rousseau, Jean-Yves; Couture, Carol, The Archival Fonds ... op. cit.
25. Projects carried by the University of Pittsburgh (1993-1996) and the University of British Columbia concerning the management and preservation of electronic records are two examples. See also Bantin, Philip C., "Developing a Strategy for Managing Electronic Records: The Findings of the Indiana University Electronic Records Project", The American Archivist (Chicago) 61 (Fall 1998): 328-364.
26. Readers are directed again to the book mentioned previously (Silva, Armando Malheiro da [et al.], ", The American Archivist op. cit., chap. 2) where the main significant works referred, in the last two decades, devoted a scientific perspective for Archival Science.
27. Rousseau, Jean-Yves and Couture, Carol, ", The American Archivist op. cit.
28. Cook, Terry, "Mind Over Matter: Towards a New Theory of Archival Appraisal", in Barbara L. Craig (ed.), The Archival imagination: Essays in Honour of Hugh A. Taylor (Ottawa: Association of Canadian Archivists, 1992), pp. 38-70.
29. Duranti, Luciana and Eastwood, Terry, "Protecting Electronic Evidence: A Progress Report on a Research Study and Its Methodology", Archivi and Computer (San Miniato) 3 (1995): 213-250;
30. Duranti, Luciana, Heather Macneil and William E. Underwood, "Protecting Electronic Evidence: A Second Progress Report on a Research Study and Its Methodology", Archivi and Computer (San Miniato) 1 (1996): 37-69;
31. Duranti, Luciana, "The Thinking on Appraisal of Electronic Records: Its Evolution, Focuses, and Future Directions", Archivi and Computer (San Miniato) 6 (1996).
32. Just to mention some illustrative examples: Bearman, David and Richard H. Lytle, "The Power of the Principle of Provenance", Archivaria (Ottawa) 21 (Winter 1985-1986): 14-27;
33. Bearman, David, "Record-Keeping Systems", Archivaria (Ottawa) 36 (Autumn 1993): 16-35;
34. Hedstrom, Margaret, "Descriptive Practices for Electronic Records: Deciding What is Essential and Imagining What is Possible", Archivaria (Ottawa) 36 (Autumn 1993): 53-63;
35. Hedstrom, Margaret, "Building Record-Keeping Systems: Archivists Are Not Alone in the Wild Frontier", Archivaria (Ottawa) 44 (Fall 1997): 44-71;
36. Wallace, David A., "Metadata and the Archival Management of Electronic Records: A Review", Archivaria (Ottawa) 36 (Autumn 1993): 87-110;
37. Wallace, David A., "Managing the Present: Metadata as Archival Description", Archivaria (Ottawa) 39 (Spring 1995): 11-21;
38. Samuels, Helen W., Varsity Letters: Documenting Modern Colleges and Universities (Metuchen N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1992).
39. Authors like Eric Ketelaar, Theo Thomassen and Peter Horsman are some of the most representative of the new perspective.
40. Menne-Haritz, Angelika, "Archival Education: Preparing the Profession to Meet the Needs of Society in the Twenty-First Century", Archivum (Munchen; Paris) 39 (1994): 261-283.
41. For example: Jardim, José Maria and Maria Odila Fonseca, "As Relações entre a Arquivística e a Ciência da Informação", Cadernos de Biblioteconomia, Arquivística e Documentação (Lisboa)2 (1992): 29-45.
42. Vásquez, Manuel, Manual de Selección Documental, 2nd edn., actualizada (Santafé de Bogotá: Archivo General de la Nación, 1992).
43. See, for instance: Arévalo Jordán, "Victor Hugo - La Archivología y la Teoria de Sistemas", Cuadernos: Archivologia (Santa Fe) 1(1) (1987): 1-10;
44. Jardim, José Maria, "La Concepción Sistemática [i.e. sistémica] de Archivos: Marcos Teóricos y la Experiencia Brasileña", Archivum (Munchen; Paris) 44 (1999): 85-102.
45. In the perspective of the "system thinking" can also be referred: Silva, Armando Malheiro da [et al.], ", Archivum op. cit.
46. See, for example: Samuels, Helen W., ", Archivum op. cit.
47. See: Bates, Marcia J., "The Invisible Substrate of Information Science", JASIS - Journal of the American Society of Information Science (New York) 50(12) (Oct. 1999): 1.043-1.050.
48. The study of information science requires an understanding of a number of disciplines. Some have suggested that information science thus fulfills the role and function of a meta-science - in: Debons, Anthony, "Information Science", in ALA World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences (Chicago: American Library Association, 1986), p. 356.
49. See also: Zhang, Y., "Definitions and Sciences of Information", Information Processing and Management (Elmsford) 24(4) (1988), cit. by: Jardim, José Maria and Maria Odila Fonseca, op. cit.
50. By initiative of the Specialisation Course in Documentation Sciences (SCDS) of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto, a discussion group was created, composed of lecturers of SCDS of several Faculties, with the aim of reflecting on Information Science and the respective scientific field, having in mind the production of literature on the subject. The studies have practically ended, and the results will be published soon.
51. Borko, Harold, "Information Science - What is it?" American Documentation (Washington) 19(1) (Jan. 1968): 3-5.
52. Le Coadic, Yves F., "Science de l'Information", in Dictionnaire Encyclopédique de l'Information et de la Documentation, Dir. Serge Cacaly (Paris: Nathan, cop. 1997), pp. 516-523.
53. Mella, Piero, Dai Sistemi al Pensiero Sistemico: per Capire i Sistemi e Pensare con i Sistemi (Milano: Franco Angeli, 1997).
54. The terminology proposed tries to avoid the polysemy of the term "archive". In our theorization "archive" is a synonym of "information system" and, according to the various factors that configure it, we can identify different types of archives. The specialized archives (traditionally named historical archives) have been overestimated, but the archival reality can't be reduced to such kind of archives.
55. It's not possible in this article to enunciate and define the multiple types of systems, either operatory (category where archives and libraries created within organizations can be inserted) or combinatory systems (category where public libraries can be included). For a development of these questions see: Mella, Piero, op. cit.
56. The Canadian work, already referred, devoted to a theorization about the notion of "fonds" is one of the most significant examples of this replacement (see: The Archival fonds ..., op. cit.).
57. De Bruyne, Paul [et al.], Dynamique de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales de Pôles de la Pratique Méthodologique (Paris: PUF, 1974).
58. The methodological proposals by these authors were further developed: Lessard-Hébert, Michelle [et al.], Investigação Qualitativa: Fundamentos e Práticas (Lisboa: Instituto Piaget, 1994).
59. On this subject and, in fact, on all the problematics of the quadripolar method, see a more detailed perspective in: Silva, Armando Malheiro da [et al.], ], Investigação Qualitativa: Fundamentos e Práticas op. cit., chap. 3, pp. 217-226.