AQC Archives and History

AQC for Today, for Tomorrow, and for ever . . . .

Archival Quality Communication


Archives are a major source of material for history. They are important for various reasons, particularly in that they tend to be very comprehensive.

Are they objective? Not necessarily any more objective than any other source. Archives tend to save material that is favourable to the institutions that they are associated with, and to suppress, destroy, or at least fail to acquire, materials that do not reflect well on the institution, or persons associated with it.

This means that archives should be used as selectively as any other source of material. There may be a built-in bias that is masked by the fact that many archives have so much material that it seems incomprehensible they do not have everything there is. Nevertheless, it may be so, and often is.

History does not depend on archives, however much or often historians may use them, history depends on evidence, and evidence is where you find it.

This is an AQC for 22 Aug 2007

James Duvall, M. A.
Annals of Boone County, Kentucky
Boone County Public Library
Burlington, KY

ABC means Archival Quality Communication

Archival Quality Communication

AQC for today, for tomorrow, and for ever . . . .

Archival Quality Communication

Archival Quality Communication

AQC for Today, for Tomorrow, and for ever . . . .