The concept of documentation, with its emphasis on the need to understand a phenomenon in all its complexity and to identify the universe of available records as the basis for an informed selection for preservation, has profoundly affected the theory -- if not always the practice -- of acquisitions policy and appraisal. Much of the recent literature has focused on macro-level interinstitutional planning. This article draws on the experience of the Social Welfare History Archives to illustrate how the documentation concept can be applied to analyze and refine the collecting and appraisal strategy of a particular repository. It describes the emergence of archival interest in social service records, the growth of the service sector, and the increase in consumer activism. It discusses the extent to which agency and organizational archives reflect the participation and perspective of consumers and presents issues related to identification and acquisition of consumer-created records.
David J. Klaassen, "Achieving Balanced Documentation: Social Services from a Consumer Perspective," Midwestern Archivist 11:2 (1986): 111-124
Klaassen, David J..
Achieving Balanced Documentation: Social Services from a Consumer Perspective.
Midwest Archives Conference.
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