No Innocent Deposits: Forming Archives by Rethinking Appraisal

by Richard J. Cox

The public increase of interest in the past has not necessarily brought with it a greater understanding about how archives are formed. To this end, Richard Cox takes a serious look at archival repositories and collections. Cox suggests that archives do not just happen, but are consciously shaped (and sometimes distorted) by archivists, the creators of records, and other individuals and institutions. In this series of essays, Cox offers archivists rare insight into the fundamentals of appraisal, and historians and other users of archives the opportunity to appreciate the collections they all too often take for granted.

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

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

Reviews

[Ed Summers]

There is some good stuff in here, particularly around the idea of evidence in archival appraisal. Also Cox makes a strong case for archivists learning about media technologies to do their job. But much of the book reads like a rambling, unstructured conversation -- which in itself is fine, it's just not what I was looking for.

[Sarah]

Reading this for work, but the book is quite interesting. Recommended for fellow information professionals. :)

[Caitlin]

I'll be honest: I'm not a huge fan of this book. A bit too polemical for my taste.