From Polders to Postmodernism: A Concise History of Archival Theory

by John Ridener, Terry Cook (Foreword)

From Polders to Postmodernism is a broad ranging history of the conception and development of the theories that have guided archivists in their work from the late 19th through the early 21st centuries. Narrated through the controversial thread of archival appraisal theory, the book examines how archivists have engaged with theory through the tension between keeping records that reflect objective history "as it happened" and subjective decision making in the archive. Through an interpretive reading of archival theory, distinct periods emerge, with each paradigm contributing unique responses to difficult archival, historical, and theoretical contexts.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Library Science

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ed Summers]

This was a nice little find for my continuing self-education in archives. As its title suggests, it's a short survey (less than 200 pages), that traces a series of paradigm shifts in archival theory starting in the 19th century Netherlands leading up to the present. Ridener focuses on the approaches to subjectivity and objectivity in archival theory in order to show how the theories have changed and built on each other over the last 200 years. He does a nice job of sketching the context for the theories, the changes in society and technology that drove them, as well as some interesting biographical material about individuals such as Jenkins and Schellenberg. After having just read Controlling the Past I felt like I had some exposure to contemporary thinking about archives, but was lacking some of the historical background, so this book was very helpful. I think I might have to read Schellenberg's Modern Archives now, especially because of the NARA connection. But that might get sidelined to read more of Terry Cook's work on macro-appraisal. My only small complaint is that I noticed quite a few typos in the first half of the book, which got a little distracting at times.

[Tvrtko Balić]

This book is not bad it is not good either. It is just boring. But at least now I know what I don't want to continue studying. Now excuse while I read another book on archivism before the exam because I hate myself.

[Hilda Bordahl]

While interesting in regards to its content, this book was incredibly repetetive and could have had a much better disposition to avoid this. For instance, WHY was the last chapter not the first chapter???

[Jessica (JT) Thelen]

3.5 stars. Good info, but repetitive at times, especially towards the end.

[Viktorija B.]

3.5!!! It was nice to have the last chapter be a repetition chapter tbh. Ridener was a lovely host, tho my brain is fried

[penny shima glanz]

please see this post for details. (Sorry I still feel weird cross posting the reviews between LT & goodreads)