A long-standing antipathy towards genealogists on the
part of archivists is suggested by a study of the archival
literature. However, there is evidence in the literature of
the past decade to indicate that many archivists are
reassessing their position vis a vis genealogists. There
appears to be several causes. Social historians and other
professionals also acknowledge that genealogical endeavours
are helpful to their own purposes. Genealogists themselves
recognize that their qualifications and standards must be
improved in order for them to command respect. Archivists
now recognize the lobbying power that can be exercised by
this large user constituency. The literature suggests that
all these influences are leading archivists to accept the
principle that genealogy and genealogists should receive
service and respect that is equal to that afforded academic
and other researchers.
Interviews with seven archivists at three Canadian
provincial archives were conducted. They suggest that
different archivists hold different attitudes towards
genealogists. One interviewee was clearly antipathetic, but
three were impartial and three were frustrated and
discouraged, not with genealogists per se, but with the
problems inherent in putting the principle of equality into
practice. Regardless of the attitude held, each interviewee
believed that an improvement in methods of accommodating
genealogists would not only aid the genealogist, but would
also provide some relief from the pressures of serving this
large and varied user constituency. But does such
accommodation through adjustments in the functions of
appraisal and acquisition, arrangement and description,
reference and access, and public programming undermine
archival theory? In general, it was found that sound
appraisal practices are compromised by an approach driven by
the needs of the user; however, genealogical research
required no adjustment of arrangement and description
practices following the principles of provenance and
original order. It was also found that the functions of
reference and access, and public programming could meet the
needs and approaches of genealogists without jeopardizing
the physical and intellectual aspects of the records.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/4966 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Edwards, Rhianna Helen |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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