Archives Principles and practices

A newly revised edition of the 2011 Society of American Archivists' Waldo Gifford Leland Award winner.

This new and extensively revised second edition offers an international perspective on archives management, providing authoritative guidance relevant to collections-based repositories and to organizations responsible for managing their own institutional archives.

Written in clear language with lively examples, Archives: Principles and practices introduces core archival concepts, explains best-practice approaches and discusses the central activities that archivists need to know to ensure the documentary materials in their charge are cared for as effectively as possible.

Topics addressed include:

core archival principles and concepts
archival history and the evolution of archival theories
the nature and diversity of archival materials and institutions
the responsibilities and duties of the archivist
issues in the management of archival institutions
the challenges of balancing access and privacy in archival service
best practice principles and strategic approaches to central archival tasks such as acquisition, preservation, reference and access
detailed comparison of custodial, fonds-oriented approaches and post-custodial, functional approaches to arrangement and description.

Discussion of digital archives is woven throughout the book, including consideration of the changing role of the archivist in the digital age.

In recasting her book to address the impact of digital technologies on records and archives, Millar offers us an archival manual for the twenty-first century.

This book will be essential reading for archival practitioners, archival studies students and professors, librarians, museum curators, local authorities, small governments, public libraries, community museums, corporations, associations and other agencies with archival responsibility.