n.a systematic body of theory that supports the practice of identifying, acquiring, authenticating, preserving, and providing access to records of continuing valueHolmes 1938, 180Trained archivists should contribute to this result. If help is extended at this stage, archival science might be benefited in the future from lessons learned in the solving of these problems.Bemis 1939, 158In archival science the librarian can play a useful role, more useful than is admitted in European practice, but it should always be a subordinate role.Buck 1941, 84–85The body of knowledge that the archivist should have at his command in order to do this job effectively may for purposes of convenience be called archival science. It is an applied science rather than a pure science, of course, and, like medical science, it is compounded of parts of many other sciences or fields of knowledge, together with certain principles and techniques derived from practical experience.Kahn 1944, 243It appears probable, therefore, that I have been chosen to speak to you on this subject because no one can possibly accuse me of being an academic expert in the theory or principles of either library or archival science, for there can be few persons here who are more unlettered in these fields than I.Newsome 1963, 304Perhaps it will hasten the preparation and publication of a bibliography of archival science and a manual of archives embodying information of the best archival principles and practices.Brichford 1982, 91The lead article on archival science by von Medem covered archives, diplomatics, archival officials, and the official quality of archives. An article by Erhard discussed the concept and content of archives, the external position of archives, and the use of diplomatics, heraldry, history, languages, law, and political science in archival practice.Acland 1992, 58–59The pivot of archival science is evidence not information. Archivists do not deal with isolated and free-floating bits of information, but with their documentary expression, with what has been recently referred to in Australia as the archival document.Duchein 1992, 21One of the results of the autonomy of archives in the majority of European countries was that archival science developed independently of librarianship.Duranti and MacNeil 1996, 47Archival science, which emerged out of diplomatics in the nineteenth century, is a body of concepts and methods directed toward the study of records in terms of their documentary and functional relationships and the ways in which they are controlled and communicated.Brown 1999, 115Underneath the puffed-up bravado of archival science and the vocational discourse associated with establishing educational curricula and professional credentials are the legislated responsibilities associated with the day-to-day operations of dealing with the possession and control of the records of the state for the benefit and use of citizens.Mortensen 1999, 7In discussions of archival theories the attempt to develop what is termed an archival science alludes as well to this notion of theory. This is evident in the very choice of the term science and in the characterization of archival science as universally applicable, fully autonomous, and based on the nature of archives—a nature which is understood as little changed throughout its history, at least in its essential features.Ketelaar 2000, 324Archival science is a science in the German sense of Wissenschaft, but to avoid confusion with the natural sciences in the Anglo-Saxon meaning, I personally use the term “archivistics,” being the equivalent to the Dutch archivistiek, the German Archivistik, the French archivistique, and the Italian and Spanish archivistica. Archivistics consists of theory, practice, and methodology.Cook 2001a, 3The role of archival science in a postmodernist world challenges archivists everywhere to rethink their discipline and practice. A profession rooted in nineteenth-century positivism, let alone in earlier diplomatics, may now be adhering to concepts, and thus resulting strategies and methodologies, that are no longer viable in a postmodern and computerized world.Duranti 2001, 39Archival science comprises the ideas about the nature of archival material (i.e., archival theory) and the principles and methods for the control and preservation of such material (i.e., archival methodology). The analysis of archival ideas, principles and methods, the history of the way they have been applied over time (i.e., of archival practice), and the literary criticism of both archival analysis and history (i.e., archival scholarship) are also integral part of archival science.McKemmish et al. 2012, 108Emerging research and theory building in archival science have cleared the way for a refiguration of recordkeeping structures and values, and subsequently for developing, testing and implementing methods and tools for new recordkeeping and archival policies and practices which accord to modern societal needs and expectations.Gilliland 2014a, 3However, among them, the recordkeeping professions—archival science and records management—are, first and foremost, the professions of the record.Jones 2015, 18It’s plausible that these archivists had not been trained about the issues associated with contrived photography, perhaps because no archival science scholarship existed to assist in the education process.Konarski and Nowożycki 2017, 214This enabled him to connect the theoretical principles of archival science with everyday practice.Buchanan et al. 2017, 271We highlight a key difficulty within the archival science discipline, one that has historical roots: that of separating its issues into pure research or education spheres.
