Appraisal Methodology
Records Examination: During the Office Visit

Visiting an office and consulting with staff offers the best means to understand the office's organization, function, and the records created and/or maintained there. Although the tools and techniques listed below can be used on-site, via email, or over the phone, the bureau/office visit provides for the most accurate appraisal of records and an opportunity for SIA outreach.

Research conducted in preparation for a bureau/office visit formulates certain safe assumptions and expectations of what the appraiser will find. Understanding what has been transferred in the past, what function the office performs, its place within a larger entity (e.g., a museum or division), and selecting questions formulated for specific offices, provides a context in which to view the records and to ask informed questions about the records' function, creation, and maintenance.

Prior to, or during the visit, the appraiser may also send the office written guidelines outlining prior appraisal decisions that exist in the General and Agreements File, and/or general guidelines on the Archives website, which lists broad categories of records that SIA wants and does not want. This information educates the records creator regarding current and past archives practices, often allowing for a more constructive conversation during the bureau/office visit.

During the Records Examination stage, the appraiser employs tools to test his or her assumptions and to refine his or her understanding of the office and its records. The following are some tools and resources at SIA that can assist the appraiser in conducting bureau/office visits and records surveys. A detailed list of the tools and resources is attached as Appendix F.

Information about Records

The appraiser engages the records creator in an informative discourse about the records, asking questions prepared before the actual visit—during the Research and Preparation stage. General questions concern the office's organizational structure, filing systems, and records created or maintained by the office (see Appendix D). The answers gathered from these questions will lead to follow-up questions and final appraisal decisions. Specific questions address certain office activities (e.g., exhibition/design, curatorial, conservation, education, registrarial, outreach activities/public affairs, and professional activities - see Appendix E), and office functions (categorized by the Appraisal Criteria functions - see Appendix C). Additional questions may also come to mind during the discourse that are not covered in the prepared lists of standard and specific appraisal questions.

During the interview with the records creator, the appraiser determines the office of record for each record series he or she surveys during a bureau/office visit, asking whether the records are unique to the office or if they are copies or fragments of an official (most complete) record set maintained elsewhere.

Taking sufficient notes is extremely important. The appraiser documents series titles, series descriptions (including the function and types of records found in the series), arrangement, volume, date spans, physical location and condition, restrictions, and often makes a preliminary appraisal decision regarding each series during the record survey. For large volumes of records, it is helpful for the appraiser to be accompanied by an additional staff person who can also take notes. This information will be used later when evaluating, justifying and documenting appraisal decisions, and when writing disposition schedules.

The appraiser identifies and describes record series as fully as possible. Understanding records functions is essential for a clear description of the series. Reviewing the contents of files informs the appraiser about the types of records found in each series and the series' functions. If the contents are unclear, the appraiser asks the records creator for clarification. The appraiser also measures the volume of each record series and asks the records creator to estimate the annual rate of accumulation of each series, and the frequency to which and length of time each series remains in active use within the office. This information will help in formulating a disposal/transfer cycle. The appraiser also documents the inclusive dates and arrangement of each record series (e.g., alphabetic, chronologic, numeric). If there is an arrangement within an arrangement (e.g., chronologic then alphabetic by correspondent), this is also noted. This information will help when advising an office regarding how to better organize its files for more efficient retrieval of active files and transfer of inactive files to the Archives.

Before ending the office visit, the appraiser makes certain that all records have been reviewed. The appraiser asks the records creator to show where all the records are stored. Sometimes there is an area where active files are stored and another area where inactive files are stored.

Information about Records Creators

During the bureau/office visit, the appraiser also gathers additional information about the functions and activities of the records creator. The appraiser asks questions regarding the office's functions, mission, staff and activities. What is the placement of the office in relation to other offices in the department? Is it an office to which other offices report (e.g., a director, department chair, registrar, etc.)? To which office(s) does it report and what is it required to provide to that office? (More questions are listed in Appendices C, D and E.)

The Appraisal Criteria

During the bureau/office visit, the appraiser always keeps in mind the assumptions made during the Research and Preparation stage, and the hypotheses contained in the Appraisal Criteria. In the Records Examination stage, the appraiser tests those assumptions and hypotheses and compares the records found during the survey against the Criteria. Were the assumptions correct? Did the appraiser find additional record series? Were certain series not found? Does the office perform more or less functions than expected?

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