The Archival Enterprise

"The Archival Enterprise" from the first word recognises professional archival work as an "enterprise" - a big, bold and sometimes difficult undertaking requiring energy and initiative. Canons of good practice, tightened educational guidelines, and a certification programme indicate the dynamic, adaptive, and ever-changing nature of the archival profession. Reflecting the belief that archival work is fundamentally important to society, culture, education and economic progress, this work introduces archival theory and practice, describes the elements of historical records programmes, explains archival techniques and procedures, and analyses issues and challenges facing the profession today. Dearstyne's treatment of archival work is comprehensive. He begins with a discussion of archival terminology, the variety of historical records, and the many types of programmes that collect, maintain and make available historical records.
Chapter discussions include: programme planning, management, monitoring and reporting; preservation techniques, such as microfilming; organising and implementing a researcher service programme; "promotional marketing" efforts to increase public use of historical records; and electronic (computer generated and maintained) records. Not only intended for archivists, "The Archival Enterprise" addresses issues common with the concerns of librarianship from an archival perspective. Such topics include preservation, reference service, collection development and MARC data entry. For any person responsible for the appraisal, organisation and cataloguing of historical records, this work aims to provide valuable guidance. For special collections managers and archivists, "The Archival Enterprise" should also be helpful.