Reading Response One: Macro-Appraisal and Social Value

For my first reading response, I chose to read "Macro-appraisal and Functional Analysis:  documenting governance rather than government" by well-known Canadian archivist Terry Cook.  I wanted to assess an article that focused on appraisal methodology and the role of the archivist plays in the processing of collections.  I am more familiar with appraisal, which deals with specific records, than macro-appraisal, which is done at the collection level.  So this article is both informative and answers some of my questions regarding the impact of archivists themselves in appraisal decisions.  Although not expressly intended or consciously undertaken, archivists do assume some role, small or large, in the creation process of archival collections.

Societal structure and functions of citizens imbue records with their importance.  Correspondingly, archivists act, in some way, as co-creators of collections by choosing those materials to archive and those to destroy.  As the records creation process is invariably a result of the iterations and movements of a functioning society, the role of the archivist as the final determining factor in the social memory must be as objective as possible.  The archivist is charged with appraising, processing, arranging, and preserving the functional memory of government, business, university, etc.; this is done by understanding the provenance and relevance of materials.  Whether top-down macro-appraisal or bottom-up appraisal is better is difficult to ascertain; in any case, those materials selected for the archives will tell the tale for future researchers.

Though the title of the article indicates a government-central theme, the actual content is applicable to a wide variety of businesses.  The main goals of an archivist, no matter the collection or its provenance, is to appraise the materials and leave with only the "best records" remaining.  Cook believes this is possible using the top-down approach of macro-appraisal and functional analysis.  The most intriguing aspects of the article focused upon the role social values and norms play in the record creation and appraisal process.  Cook states the work done by individuals interacting with or within the government (for example) has dramatic influence not only on the types of records created through said interaction but then again influence what records are appraised as archive-worthy.  In each case the values of the citizens interacting with the institution impress their current beliefs into and upon the acts recorded and maintained for posterity.  These social norms are visible through the functions created, maintained, or eliminated as time passes.  As Cook states, "The principal focus is on civil governance and citizen-state interaction, not on documenting the functions of government."  The article can be interpreted differently by each reader, much like one appraising a collection for those "best records."


Terry Cook, “Macroappraisal and Functional Analysis: documenting governance rather than government,” Journal of the Society of Archivists 25, no. 1 (2004): 5-18.