n. (also acquisitions policy)synonym for collecting policyLamb 1970, 29I will add little more than a footnote or two to what has already been said, but I do want to make some suggestions for cooperation among archival institutions relevant to conflicts in collecting, but which go beyond acquisitions policy.SAA 1980, 414Archivists appraise records and papers with impartial judgment based on thorough knowledge of their institutions’ administrative requirements or acquisitions policies.Henry 1980, 63Special-subject repositories have not come to grips with the problems of setting acquisitions policies. They have defined them too broadly: anything and everything to do with their subject. But they have collected too narrowly: their vaults still bulge with papers of the elite.Burke 1983, 294The personal papers that we so avidly solicit because they are “just right” for our acquisition policy also happen to be “just right” for another institution’s acquisition policy because we are dealing with the written remains of complex personalities who led complex lives.Reed-Scott 1984, 25–26Problems of coping with the massive postwar information demand a systematic, planned, and defined collection strategy. Development of an agreed-upon framework for acquisition policies is an essential first step. This would prepare the foundation upon which to build a set of national collection guidelines for archives.Boles and Young 1985, 137As they now generally exist, acquisition policies are often open-ended statements designed primarily to grant a repository a perpetual hunting license for records. The way in which a repository defines, expands upon, and implements this very broad statement is the foundation of the appraisal process. As the model suggests, acquisition policies must be clear, focused, and refined in order for the archivist to reach sound appraisal decisions.Samuels 1986, 110, fn. 2Technically, archivists receive rather than collect archival material. Archivists have retention rather than collecting or acquisition policies. Since this article argues that both archivists and manuscript curators must rethink assumptions about the way they gather material, however, collecting will refer to both the transfer of archives and the acquisition of manuscripts, and archivists will refer also to manuscript curators. Terry Eastwood and others have argued that archivists should use the term acquisition rather than collection. I have continued to use the latter, but would welcome a change if the profession could agree on terminology.Hackman and Warnow-Blewett 1987, 15First, the archival community has not established guidelines or principles explaining how a repository establishes a responsible and carefully considered acquisition policy which takes into account either the archival documentation needs of the repository’s clientele or the broader community of institutions sharing a role in the archival documentation of the same subject, function, geographical area, or political subdivision. Literature on establishing a sound acquisition policy is among the skimpiest areas within archival writing.Hackman and Warnow-Blewett 1987, 26Archives and collecting programs are key actors in the implementation of a documentation strategy. They refine acquisition policies and appraisal priorities and methods in reaction to the documentation strategy statement. They cooperate formally with other archives and collecting programs in the development and implementation of these policies and priorities. They also report on their policies and activities, and support, seek effective representation in, and work generally to improve the documentation strategy process.CCA 1990An acquisition policy is the instrument which provides the archival institution with the direction for making appraisal and acquisition decisions and allocating resources. It is the backbone around which the archival institution can acquire comprehensive holdings in a planned, coordinated, and systematic manner. It delineates the parameters of what archival records the institution is permitted to acquire or required to preserve and becomes the foundation for the development of more detailed acquisition plans and strategies, appraisal criteria, and related procedures. The acquisition policy becomes a reference for staff when assessing potential acquisitions and for donors looking for a suitable repository for their records.Ericson 1991, 71A typical acquisition policy begins by enumerating the types of objects (personal papers, letters, diaries, corporate records) we wish to collect.Ericson 1991, 72In certain respects, the role of an acquisition policy is not to tell us what to collect; its real function is to delineate what we shall consider acquiring—an important distinction that we can use to good advantage.Cumming 1994, 235In 1988, the National Archives of Canada adopted an acquisition policy that recognized the role of other archival institutions in Canada in the acquisition of nationally significant private fonds. . . . The policy also stated that the content of new types of records was more important than their medium, thereby providing a focus to the meaning of intrinsic value.Haynes, Kaid, and Rand 1996, 49–50The acquisition policy describes an active effort to collect radio and television commercials available in each electoral cycle, as well as items from previous elections. The highest priority is to acquire commercials from presidential campaigns and major state-level races—U. S. Senate, House of Representatives, gubernatorial, and other statewide offices.Newhall 2000, 82For instance, only 39 percent of all repositories in the survey on which the report is based have written acquisition policies identifying the kinds of materials they accept and conditions or terms that affect these acquisitions.NYSA 2001, 3The assessment should note whether the organization has a formally adopted written acquisition policy that identifies the types of records the archives will acquire, whether it documents the acquisitions process (e.g., records transfers, deeds of gift), and whether it documents the provenance of all accessions.Hackbart-Dean and de Catanzaro 2002, 126Moreover, with the profusion of modem records in a myriad of formats, archivists must regularly review and update their institution’s acquisition policy and appraisal procedures.Millar 2010, 116The framework for establishing the logic behind archival acquisitions is the institutional acquisition policy. Building on core archives policy, the acquisition policy defines the scope of acquisitions: what will the archival agency acquire and what it will exclude from its holding.Grimm and Noriega 2013, 96The profession, in the United States and internationally, also took note that a shift in acquisition policies and collecting was needed to document better the history of immigrant and ethnic minorities, and a steady stream of literature appeared, beginning in the 1980s, that grappled with identity, ethnicity, and the role of the archivist.
