1.Classic Writings. Individuals wanting to gain an understanding of archives and archival work will need to examine, at some point, the classic writings in the field providing a foundation for both archival knowledge and practice. A small number of important texts have constructed the primary foundation of the knowledge of archives and records management. These works are the starting point for archives and records management theory, methodology, and practice and are the most frequently cited in debates, continuing discussion, and even research in this field. The oldest modern manual is that written for the pioneering archival association in the Netherlands and published more than a century ago, S. Muller, J.A. Feith, and R. Fruin, Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1968; org. published 1898), valuable for how it discusses the organic nature of records and recordkeeping systems. Sir Hilary Jenkinson, A Manual of Archive Administration, rev. 2nd ed. (London: Percy Lund, Humphries & Co., Ltd., 1966; org. published 1922) and the two works by his American counterpart T. R. Schellenberg, Modern Archives: Principles and Techniques (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956) and Management of Archives (Washington, DC: National Archives, 1965; reprint), remain among the most frequently cited by both archival theorists and practitioners, although they split archivists because of their different emphases on the archival mission and how the archivist works with records creators and users. The Jenkinson and Schellenberg writings are so frequently cited because they defined the contours of archival knowledge and practice, and so many debates today start with references to them or cite them as authorities because of this. Archival practitioners and those wanting an introduction to the field need to have read these works because they are authorities but also because at times more is attributed to them than should be.

2. In case individuals might worry that these classics are not relevant to modern records work, they should read Thornton W. Mitchell, ed., Norton on Archives: The Writings of Margaret Cross Norton on Archival & Records Management (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1975), a work that is, sadly, out of print. However, Norton's writings of the 1920s through the 1950s ably summarize the critically important relationship between archival administration and records management in a way that no recent writing has exceeded in quality or scope. Even those interested in electronic records management can find much that is useful in Norton's essays, especially about why records are important. This volume emphasizes the continuing relevance much older writings might have for current archival work, while at the same time not hamstringing modern practitioners in what they do. However, none of these pioneers envisioned all aspects of modern records issues and practices, and those who argue that they do are often arguing for wishing for a return to certain kinds of records work, as well as often resisting change.

3. Individuals searching for a quick introduction to archival work might worry about the age of these publications. However, if they ignore gaining a basic understanding of what they represented in the development of the archival field, they also risk missing the point of the more recent debates and issues (especially electronic records management).