The Concept of the Archival Fonds in the Post-Custodial Era: Theory, Problems and Solutions

Abstract

This article is about the concept of the archival fonds.'It is an exploration in archival theory and descriptive practice, in problems surrounding the fonds and proposed solutions to those problems.It is not a direct commentary on descriptive standards or cataloguing rules.While it is true that the fonds is the broadest and most essential unit of records to which descriptive standards will be applied, my intention here is neither to challenge nor to confirm the standards outlined in the Bureau of Canadian Archivists' Rules for Archival Description (RAD).My argument is that such rules must conform to the central theory and conceptualizations of the archival profession, rather than vice versa.A "common language" needed for "dismantling the Tower of Babel," to quote the ACA 1992 Annual Conference theme, must first be based on a common understanding of common principles.Rules confirm such understanding; they do not create it.Without such understanding, moreover, rules will be ignored or applied with hopeless inconsistency, thus undermining the essential benefit of having standards in the first place.

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