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4. Textbooks and Manuals. The archives and records management discipline continues to be oriented to one- volume textbooks describing the full range of archival work, although there are many more textbooks in the records management end of the discipline. James Gregory Bradsher, ed., Managing Archives and Archival Institutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), now somewhat dated, brings together a good collection of essays describing all aspects of archival work. Richard J. Cox, Managing Institutional Archives: Foundational Principles and Practices (New York: Greenwood Press, 1992) is built on the premise that the field needs to focus on the establishment and development of archival programs in corporations and other institutions, but the volume is sometimes used as a basic introduction to the field. Judith Ellis, ed., Keeping Archives, 2nd ed. (Port Melbourne, AU: Thorpe in association with the Australian Society of Archivists, 1993), although stressing the Australian perspective, remains the standard and best introduction to the field – it is generally the one volume I recommend when someone asks for such a single reference. While the Australian wing of the profession faces all the same problems in the diversity of education and experience, its literature often seems to operate at a somewhat higher level, at least in its purported basic texts. The Australians are also cognizant of ideas, concepts, and methods from other parts of the world, and they are very adept as reconfiguring them for their own use. At the least, their writings are stimulating. There are other single volume introductions available, such as Bruce Dearstyne’s The Archival Enterprise: Modern Archival Principles, Practices, and Management Techniques (Chicago: American Library Association, 1993), and these volumes simply represent trade-offs with the range, perspective, and intended audiences; Dearstyne’s work is directed towards librarians, for example, although it is often weak in the comparisons of archival and library work.

5. More so than basic textbooks, the archival field has relied on simplified basic manuals, that is, much briefer introductory volumes. Textbooks generally try to cover all aspects of archival work, while basic manuals generally focus on one or two functions. Textbooks usually strive to present aspects of theory, methodology, and practice, while manuals emphasize aspects of practice, guiding individuals through a series of steps in order to apply principles. These manuals are, nevertheless, mostly important for understanding both practice and attitudes towards practice held by archivists, and, of course, they can assist someone new to the field who needs quick and practical advice about some aspect of archival work. Pirkko Rastas, in an analysis of archival textbooks and manuals, provides this useful comparison: “The term textbook is defined as a book designed for teaching or as a didactic document setting out basic knowledge of an art, science or technique.” “The term manual has been defined as a book that tells you how to do something - or as a detailed and comprehensive guide to practice, manufacture or service.”[3] There have been two prime American sets of such manuals, the Basic Manual Series published in 1977-1985 and the Archival Fundamental Series published in 1990-1994, both series under the auspices of the Society of American Archivists. There is also an international counterpart, the UNESCO RAMP Studies, published over the past twenty years. Prior to all these manuals, the U.S. National Archives published staff bulletins that became basic texts in the field for decades and that are still frequently cited.

6. The volumes of the Society of American Archivists Basic Manual Series, while now replaced by many other titles, are still read as historical assessments of what archivists were doing in the field. Maynard J. Brichford, Archives & Manuscripts: Appraisal & Accessioning (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1977) is still frequently referred to because of the chart in the back of the volume striving to relate record form to appraisal value and because of the orientation of appraisal to the use of archives by historians. David B. Gracy, Archives and Manuscripts: Arrangement and Description (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1977) is certainly the most dated of this series, now behind by two generations of archival descriptive standards, but it is sometimes referred to because of its summary of Schellenberg’s ideas about archival reference and use. Margaret Hedstrom, Archives & Manuscripts: Machine-Readable Records (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1984) is a great benchmark for where the profession has come in dealing with electronic records. Sue E. Holbert, Archives and Manuscripts: Reference & Access (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1977) is so outdated (think about issues of intellectual property) as to not be worth an examination (unless you are writing a history of archival reference services). The Holbert manual reflects the common problem with manuals written with very basic practice purposes – they become outdated in a few years. Mary Lynn Ritzenthaler, Preserving Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1993), holds the distinction for being in both SAA series, the older version being published a full decade before. The text is important because it stresses preservation management, provides information on all aspects of preservation, and also serves as a good resource of necessary information in order to enable any archival program to improve this important, but often under supported, archival function.

7.The Society of American Archivists Archival Fundamental Series was intended to replace the Basic Manual Series, and, in general, it was a far superior achievement. James M. O'Toole, Understanding Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1990) is a masterful, brief introduction to the history of the field and it is a title that records managers ought to read. Lewis J. and Lynn L. Bellardo, A Glossary for Archivists, Manuscript Curators and Records Managers (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1992) provides another basic reference with some terminology that might be new to records managers, although it is a work certainly needing to be updated now. F. Gerald Ham, Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1992) is most useful for its second chapter with a great explanation about different perspectives on archival appraisal. Overall, for records managers trying to figure out how archival appraisal relates to records retention scheduling, the Ham volume will provide a good introduction. Fredric M. Miller, Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1990), with the advent of Encoded Archival Description, is outdated, but it has some useful distinctions to make about the description of institutional records and personal papers. Mary Jo Pugh, Providing Reference Services for Archives and Manuscripts (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1992) is a masterful introduction to this issue, but individuals will need to familiarize themselves with more recent cases concerning intellectual property and the place of the World Wide Web in this responsibility. Thomas Wilsted and William Nolte, Managing Archival and Manuscript Repositories (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1991) remains the best introduction to management as practiced in archival settings. All of these publications, with the exception of the O’Toole text providing the historical background of archival work, tend to have one nagging problem, namely their tendency not to discuss breaking, changing, and controversial aspects of archival work and theory. This is obviously a deliberate design feature of the series, rather than the fault of the authors themselves. What would have been useful is for an additional title to be published entitled something like Changing Aspects of Archival and Manuscripts Work. A careful reading of the journal literature substitutes for the lack of this title, but it is also just as likely that individuals prone to read the basic manuals and textbooks will not read this other literature as closely as necessary.

8.The classic series of basic manuals was originally published by the United States National Archives as the National Archives Staff and Technical Series. Some of these reports remain classic statements and are continually cited as seminal writings. Some of these include G. Philip Bauer, The Appraisal of Current and Recent Records, Staff Information Circular 13 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1976; org pub 1946); Philip C. Brooks, What Records Shall We Preserve?, Staff Information Paper 9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1975; org pub 1940); National Archives, Principles of Arrangement, Staff Information Paper 18 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, 1976; org. pub. 1951); National Archives, The Control of Records at the Record Group Level, Staff Information Paper (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, 1976; org. pub. 1950); National Archives, The Preparation of Preliminary Inventories, Staff Information Circular no. 14 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Services, 1950; rep. 1976); Ernst Posner, Helen Chatfield, and Edna B. Poeppel. The Role of Records in Administration, Staff Information Paper 11 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1975; org pub 1941); and T. R. Schellenberg, The Appraisal of Modern Public Records, Bulletins of the National Archives, no. 8 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, 1956). None of these can be read apart from the more recent archival literature, but they provide substantial insights into the development of archival description, appraisal, general management, and records management. In the titles mentioned here, one can find an understanding of the origins of basic approaches, especially as worked on at the U.S. National Archives, supporting our general knowledge that this institution was the leader in the formulation of archival theory and methodology in the mid-twentieth century. That this leadership has shifted can be seen in one of its more recent basic publications, National Archives, Intrinsic Value in Archival Material, Staff Information Paper 21 (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Service, n.d.), published in the early 1980s. While the concept of “intrinsic value” has been declared by some to be an important concept, the presentation of this idea is far inferior to the reports published thirty years before and the concept is not one that seems fully developed or even widely accepted (except in the vaguest of ways).

9.The UNESCO Ramp Studies are especially useful because they provide an international perspective on many archival basics. I have more fully described the nature and range of these publications in my "RAMP Studies and Related UNESCO Publications: An International Source for Archival Administration," American Archivist 53 (Summer 1990): 488-95. For some interesting examples, refer to Harold Naugler, The Archival Appraisal of Machine-Readable Records: A RAMP Study With Guidelines (Paris: UNESCO, 1984), published the same year as the Margaret Hedstrom manual mentioned earlier; Sam Kula, The Archival Appraisal of Moving Images: A RAMP Study with Guidelines (Paris: UNESCO, 1983); and W. H. Leary, The Archival Appraisal of Photographs: A RAMP Study with Guidelines (Paris: UNESCO, 1985). The RAMP studies mentioned here are just representative examples of the unique range of titles offered by this series. The Kula and Leary volumes on appraisal of moving and still images represent pioneer efforts to apply appraisal approaches to such recordkeeping systems. Many of the other titles (over one hundred in all) provide valuable perspectives on more specific national topics, such as legislation, administrative placement, education, and other similar issues. For a complete listing of the RAMP publications.

10.Some of the more important RAMP publications are available electronically via the World Wide Web, including Peter Walne, comp. , Modern Archives Administration and Records Management: A RAMP Reader, PGI-85/WS/32 (Paris, UNESCO, 1985); John M. McCleary,Vaccum Freeze-Drying. A Method Used to Salvage Water-Damaged Archival and Library Materials: A RAMP STUDY, PGI-87/WS/7 (Paris, UNESCO, 1987); Sally A. Buchanan, Disaster Planning, Preparedness and Recovery for Libraries and Archives, with a Bibliography by Toby Murray: A RAMP Study with Guidelines, PGI-88/WS/6 (Paris, UNESCO, 1988); Peter Walne, ed., Selected Guidelines for the Management of Records and Archives: A RAMP Reader PGI-90/WS/6 (Paris, UNESCO, 1990); Katherine Gavrel, Conceptual Problems Posed by Electronic Records: A RAMP Study, PGI-90/WS/12 (Paris: UNESCO, 1990); Terry Cook, The Archival Appraisal of Records Containing Personal Information: A RAMP Study with Guidelines, PGI-91/WS/3 (Paris, UNESCO, 1991); and Gabrielle Blais, Access to Archival Records. A Review of Current Issues, A RAMP Study, CII-95/WS/5 (Paris, UNESCO, 1995). The Cook writing on appraisal is an example of how some of these publications have played pivotal roles in reformulating archival knowledge, being part of his series of writings on this function in the early 1990s introducing both a re-engineering of archival appraisal practice and the conceptual formulation of macro-appraisal. Records managers can find an important international perspective on archival issues, as well as a greater range of opinions about how the archives and records management disciplines are intertwined both conceptually and historically.

11.There are other basic manuals being produced by a wide array of publishers. Sherelyn Ogden, ed., Preservation of Library and Archival Materials: A Manual, 3^rd ed. Rev. (Andover, Massachusetts: Northeast Document Conservation Center, 1999). The manual, long a standard one in preservation management circles, includes sections on planning and prioritizing, the environment, emergency management, storage and handling, reformatting, and conservation procedures. The volume is also available in a bound version from NEDCC. Introduction to Archival Organization and Description: Access to Cultural Heritage, written by Michael J. Fox, Peter L. Wilkerson, Suzanne R. Warren, Timothy Ericson, Kris Kiesling, and Helen Tibbo, and published by the Getty Information Institute is another example. The online publication includes information on the theory, practice, standards, workflow, and the future of archival arrangement and description. The publication also includes additional resources on publications, glossary, and other Web resources. Neither of these publications provides, of course, a comprehensive view of archival work, but they provide important introductory advice on extremely important archival functions.

12.In selecting a basic textbook, individuals must be careful in what they select. Archivists should read, for example, Michael J. D. Sutton’s Document Management for the Enterprise: Principles, Techniques, and Applications (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1996). While this volume includes many features normally associated with records management textbooks, it is stronger because it stresses a focus on “document-centered processes” for the organization and concerns such as corporate memory and accountability. The volume is marred by unsubstantiated statistics, including some strangely low or modest counts about how many “documents” organizational workers create on an annual basis, and some continuing confusion (or, perhaps, lack of clarity) about the role of the archivist and records manager in the modern organization. Sutton gets close to adopting a definition of record that has emerged within the archival profession within the past document, but one senses some continuing differences. More importantly, one sees many others in the information professions suddenly interested in the concept of document or record. This volume needs to be read alongside of other works more focused on the nature of archives and the work of archivists, but it can be very useful to gain a comparative perspective with such closely allied fields (especially information or knowledge management).

13.Every day another book on some aspect of information or knowledge management appears. While many of these volumes provide interesting and useful advice, one needs to read them closely to determine how well they understand what it is that they are critiquing as well as what they are suggesting. Thomas H. Davenport’s Information Ecology: Mastering the Information and Knowledge Environment (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) characterizes records managers in a less than flattering way: “This staff role first became established in the era of file-folder-based customer information and has grown now to include both paper-based and electronic records. Records managers focus on creating, storing, retrieving, and using records without the loss of any vital data within those records. From a cultural standpoint, these managers are particularly concerned with preserving information, and are therefore less likely to enhance effective use of current information” (p. 113). Librarians are portrayed more negatively and archivists are not mentioned at all. Another recent publication on this topic is Jan Duffy’s Harvesting Experience: Reaping the Benefits of Knowledge (Prairie Village, KS: ARMA International, 1999). This is intended to be an introductory volume to knowledge management, and it appears to be a credible effort with basic definitions, designing and carrying out projects, and identifying all the actual and potential knowledge management workers in an organization. The author, a consultant in the field, defines knowledge management as bringing together information and expertise for the benefit of the organization. As concepts go, this is a much better one for records managers and archivists than earlier forms of information management because it does not necessarily stress information volume and its control but it shifts to being concerned with quality and critical information. The weakness of the book, and this is surprising, it that it does not provide more than a few pages of discussion on the connection between records and knowledge management losing an opportunity to place records management squarely in the purview of a broader knowledge management idea. At the least the author could have described how records managers and archivists could connect to or build off of a knowledge management program.

14.More recent volumes are revealing a greater sensitivity to the complexities of archives work. Government records and information professionals looking for a compact, one volume reference on their work will find it in Bruce Dearstyne’s Managing Government Records and Information (Prairie Village, KS: ARMA International, 1999). Dearstyne, who has written two similar volumes on local government in the 1980s and early 1990s, provides a straightforward guide to thinking about government records and archives management. The premise of the book is that everything is changing, and that records professionals need to adapt. He provides chapters on the importance and nature of government records, issues and problems challenging such management, strategic approaches, promoting “responsible” recordkeeping environments, and the core elements for records management, electronic records management, and archival records management – along with a large group of appendices of practical guidelines. Dearstyne, the long-time part-time Executive Director of the National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators, provides an upbeat tome, but at times this rings hollow. He writes that “Government records program leaders are . . . shrewd, practical, and politically savvy” (p. 61). Is this always true? If it was, would all the challenges out in government that he describes exist in the way he describes. He might have added the word “sometimes” to begin the above sentence. He also would have drawn more on the Australian concept of “records continuum” rather than the traditional life cycle – in other words, he would have recognized the changing nature of archival and records management theory being generated by scholars in the field. Finally, Dearstyne might have had a different view than that the records matters are “quiet issues,” that is, “commonplace, unexciting,” and “not attention-grabbing” (p. 41) – seeing something different in all the media attention to records issues ranging from health care to Holocaust history. Archivists, even if they wish it to be so, are not working in a quiet arena. Along with other records professionals they are laboring to manage objects that can plunge them and others into a maelstrom of controversy and confusion.