The State of Archival Appraisal Practices in the ESARBICA Region

Abstract

When archivists appraise records, they make a determination as to what to keep and destroy. In other words, they decide who has voice and who remains voiceless. Appraisal involves value prescription to records, and is one of the most important responsibilities of archivists. The future research potential of records is a variable that is difficult to determine, and this serves to highlight the delicateness of the appraisal task. Wrong appraisal decisions constitute a barrier to accessing records and archives. A variety of methodologies exist for archival appraisal, but for the East and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA), many archival institutions employ the value based approach. Despite this fact, the archival process is not being conducted in a professional manner which threatens the future of historical research, corporate memory and national heritage of the member states of ESARBICA. This is evidenced by the archaic legislation in place, and the lack of both expertise and defined standards to carry out the process.

African Journal of Library Archives and Information Science Vol. 17 (1) 2007: pp. 59-63