Closing an Era

The importance of records in modern society is explored by re-examining some of the historical antecedents for critical functions in the modern records professions. The motivation for writing this book comes from a conviction of the importance of records and records professionals in organizations and society, as well as the need to possess a stronger sense of the events, trends, people, debates, and controversies producing the modern records professions.

Archivists and records managers have tended to discount the importance of their historical antecedents, ignoring the fact that many of the current debates and issues before the profession are not new but embedded in the historical evolution of the records professions. Re-examining some of the historical origins helps records professionals to re-examine their mission to manage records for the benefit of organizations and of all of society. Such re-evaluation also helps to remind records professionals and others that the concerns generated by new electronic recordkeeping technologies are not new at all but built deep within the fabric of traditional records creation and administration.

Preface
Mythic Modern Origins and the History of Records Management
The Birth of Records Management: The Ancients to the Dawn of the Industrial Age
The Birth of the Modern Records Regime and Profession
Building a National System of Records Administration
Shifting Strategies in Appraising, Scheduling, and Maintaining Records
Archives, Records, and Memory
Educating Records Professionals in a Hostile Age
Archives, Documentary Editing, and the Quarrel about Preserving Our Documentary Heritage
History's Future: American Archivists, Cyberculture, and Stasis
Index