From Polders to Postmodernism: A Concise History of Archival Theory

A specialist in map cataloging, Ridener (Earth Sciences and Map Library, U. of California-Berkeley) traces the evolution of core ideas that have steered the archiving profession over the past century. In part he is responding to challenges from both theoretical and technological directions about what an archive is, what it could be, and what it should be. The feature by which he compares the theories is the degree to which an individual archivist is considered free to determine the contents of an archive. He begins with the consolidation and standardization of many practical and localized practices in the Netherlands during the 19th century, and proceeds through influential manuals to the 21st century. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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.