Appraisal and selection focuses critically on the following themes: what is the traditional theoretical basis for appraisal of archival materials, both records and manuscripts, and the social setting for its emergence; what were the effects of the shift to a “documentation strategy” as social history gained importance after the 1960s in the US and elsewhere; what differences are there in appraising personal as opposed to organizational records; what are the changes implied and entailed by electronic records in both organizational and personal arenas; and what have been the impacts of changes in archival practice on the structure of the archival record.
Using the Alexander Architectural Archive, this paper compares appraising physical material to digital material in architectural archives.
MARISA L. MÉNDEZ-BRADY 