Ethics, Accountability and Recordkeeping in a Dangerous World (Principles and Practice in Records Management and Archives) by Richard J. Cox

by Richard J. Cox

The new book from this eminent American archivist covers a wide range of recent issues and controversies related to the mission and work of archivists and records managers. The essays contained in it consider both the practical issues of administering records and the much more contentious issues related to public policy and recordkeeping. The book is intended to push both archivists and records managers to reconsider their notions of the ethical dimension of their work and how they define their societal and organizational priorities. Cox explores current issues confronting records professionals - such as censorship, intellectual property, truth and recordkeeping, and the control of government records and information - that may seem to threaten the integrity of their work and redefine the way in which they view their mission. Many of the essays reflect on the notion of whistle-blowing and its implications for archivists and records managers. This significant text will challenge archivists and records managers to re-think their own perspectives about such matters, asking if their professional associations' ethics codes are sufficient, given recent challenges to the control of records and information in government agencies, corporations, and even cultural institutions. Key topics From ethics to accountability, or when do records professionals become whistleblowers? Testing the spirit of the information age; Searching for authority and archivists, records managers, and electronic records; Why the Archivist of the United States is important to records professionals and America; America's presidents and their libraries; The world is a dangerous recordkeeping in the age of terror; Technology, the future of work, and records professionals; Records and truth in the post-truth society; Censorship and records; Personal notes - intellectual property, technology, and unfair stories; and, Archiving rethinking and revitalizing a concept. With a foreword by Sarah Tyacke, former Chief Executive of the UK's National Archives, this important debate will be of great interest to records professionals and archivists worldwide needing to know how the issues will impinge on their work.

Hardcover

About the author

Richard J. Cox is a professor and faculty member of the School of Information Science, University of Pittsburgh.

Reviews

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of these essays are pretty familiar from his lectures, but there are some interesting points. I especially like when he discusses his problems with Nicholson Baker's Double Fold. He touches upon a lot of contemporary issues for archives and archivists that probably the majority of unrelated professionals remain unaware of.