PLO1: Apply the field’s foundational theories, principles, values, ethics and skills to everyday practice.
SAA Core Value(s):
- Develop and follow professional standards that promote transparency and mitigate harm.
- Cultivate collaborative opportunities not only with creators, users, and colleagues, but with any interested parties who wish to engage with archival records.
This essay is an analysis of various literature pertaining to the practice of appraisal. Appraisal is the backbone of all archival work, as it is the process of deciding which material to acquire, discard, or repurpose, within an institution’s collection. This essay analyzes the perspectives of six different voices Cook (2011), Fitzgerald (2020), Phillips (1984), Schoenebeck & Conway (2020), Vukliš & Gilliland (2016), and Wink (2010) across a 36 year period. It outlines the four major phases of appraisal from its inception until its current use in the modern age. The fourth phase of appraisal seeks collaboration with community voices as well as other cultural heritage institutions. This phase asks the archivist to shirk neutrality in favor of an activist framework which challenges them to advocate for diverse records that decentralize the values of the powerful. It addresses adaptations the archive has undergone in the digital age and finally compares theory to the real world. The latter half of the work is an interview with two archivists at the Dayton Metro Library which compares best practices to the reality of what they are able to achieves under various constraints.
MLIS E-Portfolio 