This essay tries to determine how two municipal archival programs develop from their origins as collections of historical documents in museums, and whether they fit into the larger pattern of archival development found in Canadian federal and provincial public archives, which is identified as "total archives". To provide some context for the two case studies, the essay first examines the main features of the Canadian tradition of "total archives" and tries to locate Canadian archives in the context of the worldwide evolution of modern archival institutions. The essay then explores the development of municipal archival programs in Delta and Richmond, British Columbia to reveal how they were conceived, advanced and sustained. The study concludes that local archival programs do fit into the Canadian tradition of "total archives", however, a conceptual framework which includes both the cultural and administrative purposes of archival institutions appears to be lacking. The conclusion summarizes some of the aspects of a conceptual framework including: the nature of archives, the legal status of public records and the need for archival legislation, the administrative role of an archival program, the need for a commitment of adequate resources, and the need for local governments to recognize their duty to preserve and make accessible public records of continuing value.

This essay tries to determine how two municipal archival programs develop from their origins as collections of historical documents in museums, and whether they fit into the larger pattern of archival development found in Canadian federal and provincial public archives, which is identified as "total archives". To provide some context for the two case studies, the essay first examines the main features of the Canadian tradition of "total archives" and tries to locate Canadian archives in the context of the worldwide evolution of modern archival institutions. The essay then explores the development of municipal archival programs in Delta and Richmond, British Columbia to reveal how they were conceived, advanced and sustained. The study concludes that local archival programs do fit into the Canadian tradition of "total archives", however, a conceptual framework which includes both the cultural and administrative purposes of archival institutions appears to be lacking. The conclusion summarizes some of the aspects of a conceptual framework including: the nature of archives, the legal status of public records and the need for archival legislation, the administrative role of an archival program, the need for a commitment of adequate resources, and the need for local governments to recognize their duty to preserve and make accessible public records of continuing value. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.142-150).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas, Austin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 282-317). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [255]-267).

This thesis examines the informational needs of historians researching women as a subject in archives. The research methodology employed combines two types of user studies, the questionnaire and the reference analysis, in order to determine both the use and usefulness of archival materials and finding aids for historians researching women. This study begins with an overview of the literature on user studies. The thesis then outlines both the kinds of materials and the information historians researching women require. Finally, this study looks at the way historians researching women locate relevant materials and concomitantly the effectiveness of current descriptive policies and practices in dealing with the needs of this research group. This thesis concludes by suggesting a number of ways in which archivists can respond to the informational needs of historians researching women in archives. Firstly, a considerable amount of documentation relevant to the study of women remains to be acquired by archival repositories. While archives should continue to acquire textual materials, more emphasis needs to be placed upon the acquisition of non-textual materials since these materials are also very useful to historians researching women in archives. Secondly, archivists must focus more attention on the informational value of their holdings since the majority of historians researching women are interested in the information the records contain about people, events or subject area and not the description of institutional life contained in records. Thirdly this study demonstrates the need for more subject oriented finding aids. Archivists can improve subject access to their holdings through the preparation of thematic guides, by the creation of more analytical inventory descriptions and by indexing or cataloguing women's records. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis is an inquiry into the nature of current provincial and territorial archival legislation in Canada. It provides an analysis of archival legislation as a form of written communication and argues that the legislation suffers from the same deficiencies inherent in other forms of communication as a result of external social influences on its meaning. Chapter one therefore traces the evolution of the legislation from 1790 to the present and shows how the meaning of current legislative texts emerged neither from objective legal considerations nor archival theory, but as an ad hoc response to a variety of social influences. The remaining chapters are based on a detailed content analysis of the three main components of current provincial and territorial archival legislation: provisions establishing definitions of key terms, provisions establishing the scope and authority of administrative structures for archival programmes and provisions establishing programme elements. They elaborate on the argument advanced in chapter one that the social production of meaning, arising from the manner in which current provincial and territorial archival legislation has developed, adversely affects its ability to promote the preservation of documents in two ways. First, this process of development has meant that wording in legislative texts carries overtones of outdated attitudes and assumptions about archives. Second, it has led to inconsistency, conflict, vagueness and ambiguity in the meaning of the texts. These chapters also put forth prescriptive ideas regarding how the adverse affects of social influences on the meaning of current provincial and territorial archival legislation might be overcome. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate