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2.10 PRESERVATION POLICIES
Building keys and keys to areas where materials of special value are kept should be strictly limited. A list of key-holders should be kept current, and staff members should be required to return keys when they leave the institution. All storage areas should be kept secure and clear policy guidelines provided on who has access to what areas. Access to storage areas should be strictly limited, and a staff member should accompany researchers if they have to enter these areas.
Use of materials by researchers should be carefully controlled and strictly monitored.
Researchers should never be left unattended. Bags, large folders and personal books should be left outside the reading area, and researchers should be allowed to bring only a pencil and paper into the room.
One area of security of archival materials that is often overlooked is employee theft. Employee theft can lead to considerable loss of archival documents. Archival institutions should make sure that they vet their employees before engaging them. The vetting can take the form of fingerprints that could be sent to the police or making a simple criminal history search on an individual's record. Educational and employment verification are equally important. In order to minimize theft archives should be careful on whom they hire and be sensitive to their problems.
existed, there were neither documents to support the claim nor coherent programmes to prove that preseIVation policies existed (Mbaye 1995 :42).
Policies are important because they can outline explicitly the responsibilities of the archivists for the preseIVation of archival materials of all types in order to guarantee access to the infonnation they contain, both for the current generation of archives and records users, and for generations to come. The Pan-African Conference on the PreseIVation and ConseIVation of Library and Archival Materials underscored the importance of preseIVation policies when it recommended that each country in Africa should establish a committee to develop a national preseIVation policy for implementation by its government (Recommendations 1995:170).
In general, policies set out goals to be achieved as well as guidelines for implementing them.
In other words, policies are concerned with "why" and "whaf', and plan with "what" (Menou 1991 :51; van Orden 1988:75). On the other hand, procedures statements explain "how" and identify "who" is responsible (van Orden 1988:75). Organisational management is sustained by policies (Snyman 2001: 14). According to Ranson (1995) policies can be defined as:
... statements which are typically expressed both in utterances and textual fonn. They have a distinctive and fonnal purpose for organisations and governments: to codify and publicise the values which are to infonn future practice and thus encapsulate prescription for refonn ... Policies are oriented to change and action, providing public intent of transfonning practice according to ideal values (Ranson 1995 :440).
Policy can be characterized as a set of principles, which guide a regular course of action (Menou 1991 :50). According to Menou's (1991 :50) model, policies can be typified as:
• de facto, that is, they can be inferred by obseIVing patterns of action and behaviour among key players;
• de jure, that is, they are stipulated in documents such as legal acts and regulations; and
• fonnalized policies codified in documents originating from stakeholders like professional associations and organisations.
Menou's (1991 :50) representation provides a useful framework for discussing preseIVation policies. The case for "codified and stipulated policies" or written policies has been articulated in the literature (Clayton & Gorman 2001 :20). Simply stated, the matter that the literature has
been trying to come to grips with is: Should information agencies depend on de facto or written policies? Whatever approach is adopted in determining the nature of any policies there should be room for flexibility, dynamism and responsiveness to changing circumstances as advised by Rowland (1996:15) in his discussion of information policy. A flexible policy is likely to accommodate all role players in the preservation field. How do we balance the need to be accommodative on one hand and the desire to be formal and prescriptive on the other?
Although, there is no consensus on the answer to the question, many practitioners advocate written policies because they offer a lot of advantages (Clayton & Gorman 2001 :21; Gardner 1981 :222). De facto policies can be conservative in that they tend to uphold the status quo. Of course, de jure policies would be the best with funds, staff and other aspects of implementation and monitoring specified. Written policies serve as binding contracts between the information agencies and the stakeholders. They help set standards. Written policies can be used as tools for staff training and evaluation. In addition, they assure continuity as well as informing staff and users of the scope and goals of the preservation programme. They also facilitate a planned response to technological change (Clayton & Gorman 200 1:21).
Essentially, similar arguments apply to preservation policies.
A written preservation policy provides a framework, a set of parameters, within which an archive can operate. The policy serves to clarify objectives and facilitates planning and coordination of activities. It is as useful tool of guiding staff on what is to be done and why. It is also essential for setting priorities and making decisions. A preservation policy would provide a legal and institutional framework within which preservation activities should take place. A preservation policy is key to fulfilling the two seemingly irreconcilable missions of archival institutions, namely, preservation and access (UNESCO 2000). A preservation policy can be composed of a number of policy statements that cover areas related to facilitating , access and preservation of the documentary heritage. Specifically, it should address issues related to how:
• documents can be made available without damaging them;
• documents can be preserved whilst being used;
• the deterioration of documents can be prevented, stopped or slowed down;
• the preservation conditions of holdings can be improved; and
• the content of documents can be safeguarded by creating their surrogates.
The policy should of necessity encapsulate the aims and objectives of the archival institution.
According to UNESCO (2000) a good preservation policy must guarantee access to the information and minimise document deterioration. Governments ought to provide leadership in developing more expansive and inclusive national preservation policies in terms of both programmes and funding. Where applicable, the policies should link the efforts of national, provincial and private archives in preserving materials that document the national and cultural heritage and making their content widely available to all citizens.
2.10.1 Infonnation contained in a preservation policy
This section draws extensively from the model provided by Maddick (1995 :22). Preservation policies should contain information relating to the archives' preservation goals. Typically, the policy includes an introduction, statement of the philosophy of the archives, statement on access to originals and parameters of the preservation programme. The introduction can contain statements on the purpose of the written policy, why the policy was developed, and the scope of the policy, the policy's intended audience, how the policy was formulated and who was involved. The statement of the philosophy of archives could include the mission statement of the archives and the goals. The rest of the policy document can contain some of the elements, adapted from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland's (1997) preservation policy document that are outlined below:
• Common standards for the preservation of records: fundamental preservation standards for their physical security and protection should be applied.
• Acquisition and selection of records: to meet their preservation obligations under archival legislation and save important records for future generations, the archival institutions must gain access to and control all records of enduring value relating to South Africa
• Records storage: storage is the primary means of guaranteeing the physical
~curity
and long-term survival of records.
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• Copying of records: when considering various methods of preventive p~servation, archival institutions should be prepared, where feasible, to copy archival materials onto alternative and more physically manageable mediums.
• Public displays and exhibitions: while seeking to encourage public awareness of archives archival institutions should also be aware of all risks to the physical safety of
.
, records associated with placing them on open display. Wherever records are publicly exhibited, the office must ensure that proper preservation standards are observed throughout the periods of public showing.• Conservation and repair of records: whenever necessary, archival institutions must submit any record(s) that are suffering or are at risk from serious physical damage or deterioration to remedial chemical and physical treatments.
• Disaster management: if archival institutions are to safeguard their records adequately, they must have effective procedures in place to prevent, or enable them to react swiftly to, sudden, unexpected events which could have destructive consequences for all or part of their holdings. Such procedures should be integrated into a fully functional disaster plan.
• Housekeeping.
• Ethics: preservation must respect and maintain the integrity of original material.
• Access.
Essentially, policies are planning documents. They compel staff to think through the archive preservation goals as well as identifYing the short and long-term needs of the programme.
Policies provide information to assist in allocating resources. The success of preservation po licies depends upon how they are taken at the highest level, and upon managers and staff having a clear awareness of the preservation goals. Staff should be aware of the existence of the policy as well as their own preservation responsibilities. Preservation plans can then be formulated on the basis of policies.