Reading 6

Ritzenthaler, M. L.; G. J. Munoff; & M. S. Long. (1984). "3. Appraisal and Collecting Policies." Archives & Manuscripts: Administration of Photographic Collections. Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists. (pp. 55-70).
ISBN: 0-931828-61-9

This is another book my supervisor recommended I look at, and I selected this chapter because, having taken a course in advanced archival appraisal, I find appraisal interesting and wanted to learn more about how appraisal methodology is applied to photographs. Since most of my work with appraisal has focused on written records, I wanted to to find out whether there are any appraisal considerations specific to photographs.

Up through the 1950s, many archivists "considered photographs to be of secondary importance" (55) to written records, and the relatively small volume of photographs taken in by repositories and uncertainty about how to manage them led to "passive accumulation" of visual records with little attempt to arrange or describe them. However, interest in photographs began increasing in the latter half of the twentieth century, and as demand and the number of photographs in archival holdings increased, it became necessary to start applying appraisal criteria to them.

The authors indicate that, just as in the case of written records, "only a small percentage of photographs have enduring qualities that justify their preservation" (55), and archivists need to be able to appraise the visual records available to them in order to select the best records for their repository. The most basic factor in these decisions is the repository's mission or collecting policy--all appraisal decisions are made within the framework of this policy. The authors note that most photographs will come to a repository as part of collections consisting primarily of written materials that are selected with the guidance of the collecting policy, which will usually ensure that they are relevant to the archives' mission. However, they indicate that "special care should be exercised to adhere to the collection policy and appraisal guidelines" (56) when acquiring individual photographs or collections that consist entirely of visual material.

When developing a photographs collecting policy, the authors indicate that, in addition to the larger mission statement or general collecting policy of the repository, the archivist should also consider whether the repository has the facilities and resources to responsibly care for the photographs, what kind of research use they will receive (for instance, will they primarily be used by researchers seeking to study the photographs themselves or will they more often be used by researchers seeking to illustrate their publications), and the collecting policies of other repositories in the same geographic or subject area.

The chapter lists several factors which archivists should consider when appraising visual records, and these factors are very similar to those used in various appraisal methodologies. The authors identify these factors as evidential value, informational value, research value, age, form, volume, copyright, relationship to other archival materials, and intrinsic value. Much of their elaboration on these factors echoes similar considerations in the broader appraisal literature.

They define evidential value as "evidence of the structure, organization, function, and activities of an institution" (56) and informational/research value as "information contained in the images that is useful to research in topics or subjects unrelated to the original purpose for taking the photograph" (56-57). In the informational/research value factor, the authors include considerations of the reliability or authenticity of the image, the completeness of the visual documentation, and the quality of the images (whether it is in focus, is properly exposed, etc. This seems to be the equivalent of the considerations of legibility and intelligibility in appraising written records).

The age, form, and intrinsic value factors take into consideration the age and form of the photograph, which can give it intrinsic value beyond its content. They authors note that daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes all have high intrinsic value due to their age and the fact that they are unique images. Such photographs are valuable as examples of these photographic processes.

The volume of the visual records under consideration is another appraisal factor the authors describe in detail. They indicate that "a series of successive images... may be of great research use in documenting an event or interpreting a subject or topic" (61) compared to "the often fragmentary nature of single photographs" (61). In dealing with a large mass of photographs, such as a collection of photographs from a newspaper, the authors make the interesting recommendation of selecting the most significant group from the larger collection to arrange and describe and store the the remainder as unprocessed materials with minimal inventory control so they are available for research use. The authors indicate that these materials can then be more thoroughly processed if the amount of use they receive merits it. This might be a workable solution for large repositories with significant amounts of space, but it might be less practical for smaller repositories.

The copyright of the photographs is another factor the authors recommend considering when acquiring images. While photographs for which the repository is unable to obtain the copyright can still be used for research purposes, they are less useful for patrons who are looking for images to publish, which is often a major use of archival photograph collections. Archivists should also consider the relationship of the photographs to other archival materials, since photographs which complement or supplement other archival materials may be more valuable.

After summarizing these appraisal considerations, the chapter then goes on to suggest potential sources of photographic collections, such as commercial photographers, newspaper photograph files, photographic clubs and organizations, private collectors, book and antique dealers, and personal collections. In the case of personal collections, the authors recommend conducting an interview with the donor to document as much information about the photographs as possible, and the chapter includes several example forms which can be given to donors to collect this information. The authors also suggest maintaining a "lead file" to keep track of known photograph collections which the repository hopes to eventually add to its collections which can be reviewed periodically.

Overall, while the chapter did not provide many new insights into appraisal, it was still a useful summary of some of the factors to consider when appraising photographs and included some interesting tips and techniques.