 Richard
J. Cox, Professor in the Department of Library and Information
Science, has just had published a new book, Closing an
Era: Historical Perspectives on Modern Archives and Records
Management (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000).
Closing an Era explores the importance of records in
modern society by re-examining some of the historical
antecedents for critical functions in 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.
Exploring the history of the field also demonstrates
many of 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.
This book includes chapters on the origins and history
of records management; the concept of a national system
of records administration; changing approaches to appraising,
scheduling; and maintaining records; archives, records,
and their relationship to public memory; the education
of records professionals; archives and documentary editing;
and the future of archival records.
Closing an Era is the fifth in a series of books on
the history and management of archives and records written
by Dr. Cox. A sixth volume, Managing Records as Evidence
and Information, is scheduled for publication by Quorum
Books in early 2001. |
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