Appraisal & acquisition

Appraisal is the archivist's judgement about which records have enduring value and should be kept, and which may be destroyed. It is the single most consequential decision in the profession: what is not selected is usually lost forever. Acquisition is the related process of formally bringing records into the archive's custody through transfer, donation, purchase or deposit, governed by a clear legal instrument.

Appraisal is never about content alone. Archivists weigh evidential value (what records prove about the creator's functions and activities) against informational value (what records tell us about people, places and events), alongside cost, risk, and the institution's collecting mandate.

Approaches to appraisal

• Functional appraisal: analyse the functions and activities of the creator, then keep the records that document the most significant of them.
• Macro-appraisal: assess the importance of the creating body and its interaction with citizens before examining individual records.
• Documentation strategy: coordinate across institutions to ensure a topic or community is adequately documented without duplication.
• Sampling: retain a representative or systematic subset of high-volume, low-uniqueness series such as case files.

Acquisition instruments & provenance checks

Custody should never be informal. A signed deed of gift or transfer agreement should record ownership, intellectual property, access conditions, and any donor restrictions. For purchased or donated collections, verify legitimate provenance and title to avoid acquiring stolen, looted or illicitly exported material - due diligence expected under international heritage conventions.

Retention & disposition

For organisational records, appraisal decisions are captured in a retention schedule that specifies how long each records series is kept and its final disposition. Destruction of records not selected for permanent retention must itself be authorised and documented, so the archive can prove that disposal was deliberate rather than accidental loss.

Key takeaways

• Appraisal decides enduring value and is largely irreversible - approach it methodically.
• Formal acquisition instruments secure title, rights and access conditions.
• Retention schedules and documented disposal make appraisal decisions defensible.