15
th
International Congress on Archives
Myburgh
www.wien2004.ica.org
4
Postcustodiality
Both ICTs and continuum theory play a role in the notion of postcustodiality, which ceases to be an essential
element of archival preservation (Upward, 1999). There is a move from the physical to the virtual; from the item
to the concept. If archivists become involved when records are created, appraise classes of records and set
disposition schedules (in line with other legal and administrative guidelines), digital records can be automatically
archived. This involves a convergence of practice between records manager and archivist.
Paradigm shift Part 2 From documents to information
We maintain, however, that there is a parallel and equally important paradigm shift that is occurring across many
information professions the shift from a document-centred to an information-centred basis. Gililand-Swetland
has noted that "The practices of many information communities focus on the best and most-effective ways to
organize and retrieve discrete information objects" (Gililand-Swetland, 2000, 16). While such objects increasingly
become virtual, there has been a concomitant conceptual development which permits focus on the information
content of documents. This creates a fundamental shift in the basis of information professions (which, more
accurately, could rather have previously been called document or data professions).
Definitions of `records management' and `archives'
As records are at the heart of the two disciplines, it is probably useful to define the term. The International
Standard on Records Management (ISO 15489) defines a `record' as:
"Information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person in
pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business."
The Standard further defines `records management' as:
The field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance,
use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information
about business activities and transactions in the form of records
As there does not appear to be a definition of `archives' that is regarded as an international standard, we can
examine the British Standard (BS 5454) definition:
"Documents preserved permanently by the persons responsible for the transactions of which such documents are
the records, or by their successors or appointees, in their own custody, and normally in the arrangement in which
the documents were created" (BS 5454:1989, p. 2).
The current Australian Copyright Act defines `archives' as "either certain specified institutions, (basically some of
the public records authorities) or as `a collection of documents or other material of historical significance or public
interest that is in the custody of, and being maintained by, a body for the purpose of conserving and preserving
them'" (ERSIG, 2000).
What we can extract from this range of definitions is the following:
·
Both professions (we will regard them as distinct) agree that they deal with records;
·
Records are documents;
·
Records are information;
·
Records provide evidence of business activities or transactions;
·
Records are not defined by physical format;
·
Archives is a term that refers to certain types of records (normally non-current), but also
·
Archives is a term that refers to the place where such records are managed;
·
Archives involves long-term preservation and access;
·
Archives capture groups of records and maintain the original order in which such groups are found.
There is some lack of semantic clarity here; however, the conceptual confusion is somewhat more critical if we are
to examine the similarities and differences between the two professions. The notions of documents, records and
information, and the interrelationships between these, are important here. While recognising that there is a vast
body of literature exploring this topic (particularly as far as `information' is concerned), it is essential that a
practicable definition be found in order to clarify the role of the information professional.
As Myburgh as noted elsewhere (2000), a different way of regarding the relationship between documents, records
and information clarifies the confusion that can exist, in particular when documents become digital. This is a
notion that has been suggested by the work of Briet (1951). Briefly stated, knowledge is identified as that which a
person knows (through accumulated experience); information is that part of a person's knowledge that can be
communicated (via various channels).
Some of this information can be captured, so that it can overcome spatio-temporal constraints. It is thus contained
in a document (which, in this analysis, is not dissimilar to the glass jar which holds strawberry jam).
This document can be in any medium including digital. A documentalist's notion of a document is as a generic
term to denote any physical information resource. As Briet famously stated, even an antelope can be a document,
as it contains, or represents, information in logical and dynamic dimensions (Briet, 1951).
