Appraisal or documentation: Can we appraise archives by selecting content?

Abstract

The author outlines the various roots of today's appraisal theory and traces their influence on issues debated today. She describes the influence that early twentieth-century Weberian bureaucracy had on archival principles, and she suggests linkages with theories that precede the Second World War and were the basis for the Schellenberg bulletin. She shows how archival theories and debate were overlaid by the political impact of the Cold War confrontation before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, noting that since that time, archives have been able to assume their role as windows on government. Now archives must clarify their tools and methods to ensure that traces of decision-making processes are visible and transparent. Different methods, such as documentation strategy and acquisition strategy are discussed in the context of their impact on daily work in archives.