Abstract
As our institutional archives mature and we gain more insight into what materials our researchers use, we become more discerning in what we collect and preserve. Real estate in any archives or special collections is valuable, and overcrowding is a common lament. In time, we become laser focused as to what collections within our holdings resonate with users. Equally, we all have collections that for whatever well-intentioned reason were accessioned, processed, and maintained, but that are inappropriate for our institutions. In her book Reappraisal and Deaccessioning in Archives and Special Collections, Laura Uglean Jackson has compiled 13 case studies describing various archival situations that focus on using reappraisal and deaccessioning as collection development tools to help build robust collections (p. ix). Rather than viewing it as a negative process, the archivists in Jackson’s book advocate for thorough reappraisal and targeted deaccessioning to address holdings in their repositories that are outside their collection scope or institutional mission. Jackson’s introduction includes concise abstracts of each chapter that provide a succinct description of each of the case studies summarized.
Highlights
Most of the authors noted a lack of current case studies to consult and model their reappraisal projects on
Greene from the early 2000s,4 were the most recent materials used as research
The cited articles are useful for reference, the case studies in Jackson’s book bring the use of reappraisal and deaccessioning into current best practices
Summary
Reappraisal and Deaccessioning in Archives and Special Collections. Edited by Laura Uglean Jackson. It is not critical to read the studies in any particular order; Marcella Huggard’s chapter “Good Intentions: Distinguishing Deaccession from Weeding,” the first in the book, is a good starting point She defines the distinction between weeding (removing unwanted items from a collection while accessioning or processing) and deaccessioning (removing entire holdings after careful reappraisal), which establishes a consistent way for the reader to view the terms in subsequent chapters. Huggard creates her argument for these definitions by meticulously guiding us through the Society of American Archivists’ Glossary of Archival Records and Terminology[1] and Guidelines for Reappraisal and Deaccessioning,[2] as well as international definitions provided by the International Council of Archives (ICA) and ISO standards. Past archivists unfamiliar with their organization’s records management retention schedules allowed accessions of materials that should have long since been destroyed
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