Free trade in archival ideas: The Canadian perspective on North American archival development

Abstract

This article examines similarities and differences between Canadian and American archival practices, in particular in matters relating to appraisal. It provides an overview of the National Archives of Canada's top-down "provenance-based structural-functional" approach to appraisal of the federal government's records in all forms and on all supports. It describes the Multi-Year Disposition Plan in its third year of implementation and raises a certain number of issues that concern archivists on both sides of the border.