n.care and control, especially for security and preservationNewsome 1939b, 221The major attention of the archivist will be devoted to the primary function of employing the best techniques and instrumentalities for the preservation of the archives in his custody. . . . But he is also concerned with the preservation of the records before they are transferred to his custody.Peterson and Peterson 1985, 20The last stage of the appraisal and accessioning process is the physical transfer of the records. When records remain within the institution that created them, the transfer of the records does not transfer legal title but only transfers custody. The dominion of the records—that is, the institutional hegemony with final, absolute control of ownership—does not change. Custody—the immediate charge and control, implying responsibility for the protection and preservation of the thing in custody—does. Dominion, as a property right, is the superior right.Bastian 2001, 97Custody, both legal and physical ownership of records, has long been recognized as a fundamental principle of archival management.O’Toole and Cox 2006, 222, fn. 9David Wallace has commented on the existence of three views of archival custody, including that embracing the actual physical custody, its opposite extreme where records are maintained in the offices of creation, and a middle ground offering adaptive methods suitable to particular circumstances of the records creator and the technologies of records creation and maintenance.Jimerson 2009, 147Even without the imprimatur of archival custody, records that can be authenticated provide a basis for constructing truth claims about the past.Leventhal et al. 2021, 335Additionally, questions of ownership and custody should be considered thoughtfully in an increasingly complex landscape of digital tools.
