-----Original Message-----
From: "bobd" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 7/5/06 8:06 PM
Subject: Re: [RM] Format Fetish - was all that other stuff....

Thanks for your thoughts....  Those of us not working in or familiar with the work of an archivist sometimes have
"tunnel vision". 


Bob Dalton, CRM
Dalton Consulting


-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of A.S.E. Fairfax
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 11:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [RM] Format Fetish - was all that other stuff....

Apart for any sentimentality,there are actually many clues in original
records that add to the value of the record itself. It depends in part on
how the records are used.  Archival records, if properly appraised have uses
beyond the evidentiary ones obvious in the content.  The type of paper used,
for example,  is historical context and can provide dating authentication of
a manuscript.  The type of hand script used gives us clues to the writer's
age, background and education, possibly county or country of origin and
class.  The way paper ages can indicate something of the storage and respect
given the record, and how much use it has been given.  

There are many contextual, subtle things about the original paper records
which will never come through in digital or digitized form.  Apart from
observation of the original and annotating profusely, the original record is
still the most prolific source of this information.  That is what primarily
interests archivists, but apart from that paper is also quicker to refer to
in many instances, if you know how to use it.  Hardly romantic, but
efficient.

Elizabeth Fairfax, MA,CA

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