Our Archives, Our Selves: Documentation Strategy and the Re-Appraisal of Professional Identity

Abstract

The relatively recent realization that archivists are more often shapers of the past than neutral keepers of the past has its root in the intersection of appraisal theory and professional identity. This paper explores the relationship between the two through an analysis of the literature on archival documentation strategy. Though ultimately unworkable, documentation strategy caught archivists' attention because, as this paper argues, it represented a practical application of a larger identity shift within the profession.