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124-469: While archival collecting is sometimes equated with appraisal, appraisal is still seen as a critical function of the modern archival profession, even though it has been argued that historical societies contribute to the "general randomness of collecting", which stands against rigorous appraisal standards even as many collecting programs still "acquire the collections of private collectors" and some aspects require partnerships between varied institutions. Appraisal

248-449: A "participatory archiving model" in 2007 in an effort to re-orient archival concepts such as provenance , ordering of records, and appraisal, hoping that it would help alleviate some representation by multicultural communities, this model would occur with a "traditional archives" rather than a community archives. They also acknowledged, when proposing this model, that it was labor-intensive and outside scope of most archival institutions. In

372-411: A Canadian archivist, argues that North American appraisal theory is unplanned, taxonomic, random and fragmented, and has rarely embodied the concepts of institutional and societal dynamics which would lead archivists to a working model that would allow them to appraise the broad spectrum of human experience. His model is a top-down approach, which focuses on key processes through which a particular function

496-497: A balancing act between the demands of administrative and heritage objectives; between the context of creation and the use of records. Depending on the degree of her or his autonomy to make appraisal decisions, an archivist's role is more or less central to the memory of an institution or society. Jacques Grimard sees archivists as participating in the "management of the world's memory" in three ways, by developing, preserving and communicating memory. In Luciana Duranti 's view, appraisal

620-550: A broad range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, such as the right to life , freedom of expression , protection against enslavement , and access to education . The modern concept of human rights gained significant prominence after World War II , particularly in response to the atrocities of the Holocaust , leading to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by

744-552: A central focus in international relations and legal frameworks, supported by institutions such as the United Nations, various non-governmental organizations, and national bodies dedicated to monitoring and enforcing human rights standards worldwide. Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the events of the Holocaust , culminating in

868-422: A country's population economically in order dampen that population's view of its government. It is also argued that, counterproductively, sanctions on offending authoritarian governments strengthen that government's position domestically as governments would still have more mechanisms to find funding than their critics and opposition, who become further weakened. The risk of human rights violations increases with

992-400: A departure from Jenkinson's approach, necessitated by the advent of mass duplication and an overwhelming influx of documents into archives. In his work, he divides the value of records into primary values (the original value for the creator; for their administrative, fiscal, and operating uses) and secondary values (their lasting value after they are no longer in current use; for those other than

1116-579: A given country. Although not all NHRIs are compliant with the Paris Principles, the number and effect of these institutions is increasing. The Paris Principles were defined at the first International Workshop on National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Paris on 7–9 October 1991, and adopted by United Nations Human Rights Commission Resolution 1992/54 of 1992 and

1240-447: A larger institutional collecting policy and mission statement. The SAA also says, in their "Guidelines for College and University Archives", that appraisal should be based on the mission statement of the archives and that archivists, using appraisal, will determine what records belong in the archives, based on the "long-term administrative, legal, fiscal, and research value" of the records themselves. They also note that archives will obtain

1364-618: A mandate to investigate alleged human rights violations. 47 of the 193 UN member states sit on the council, elected by simple majority in a secret ballot of the United Nations General Assembly . Members serve a maximum of six years and may have their membership suspended for gross human rights abuses. The council is based in Geneva , and meets three times a year; with additional meetings to respond to urgent situations. Independent experts ( rapporteurs ) are retained by

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1488-675: A mandate to promote and safeguard certain of the rights later included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): the primary goal of the ILO today is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a non-binding declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, partly in response to

1612-723: A number of books on palaeography and diplomatic, and his Manual of Archive Administration (1922; revised edition 1937) became a highly influential work on archival practice in Britain and Ireland. He served as Honorary Secretary of the Surrey Archaeological Society . He took a leading part in establishing its daughter organisation, the Surrey Record Society , in 1912; and thereafter, as secretary and general editor until 1950, in establishing its principles of editing and records publication. He

1736-639: A personal capacity, and undertaken to a great degree early in his career. By contrast, in his professional career at the Public Record Office, and in particular as Deputy Keeper from 1947 to 1954, he was often seen as an autocratic and inflexible conservative. Elizabeth Shepherd comments that "it was only after his retirement that the PRO could finally develop a professional archival approach to its work", as Jenkinson did not like individual interpretations or differing viewpoints of his philosophy. Within

1860-567: A reaction to slavery, torture, genocide, and war crimes. The medieval natural law tradition was heavily influenced by the writings of St Paul's early Christian thinkers such as St Hilary of Poitiers , St Ambrose , and St Augustine . Augustine was among the earliest to examine the legitimacy of the laws of man, and attempt to define the boundaries of what laws and rights occur naturally based on wisdom and conscience, instead of being arbitrarily imposed by mortals, and if people are obligated to obey laws that are unjust . The Kouroukan Fouga

1984-449: A system-wide understanding of the intended life-cycle of the record . Within the archival field, there has been some debate about how to engage in appraisal in the digital realm. Some have argued that effective appraisal, which prioritizes acquisitions by archival institutions, is part of a coordinated approach to data, but that criteria for appraisal should incorporate accepted "archival practice", assessing not only significance of data to

2108-493: A typology of six paradigms of action that agents, such as human rights agencies, international organizations, individual states, and NGOs , could use to enforce human rights: (1) accountability, (2) inducement, (3) assistance, (4) domestic contestation and engagement, (5) compulsion, and (6) external adaptation. Responsibility to protect refers to a doctrine for United Nations member states to intervene to protect populations from atrocities. It has been cited as justification in

2232-540: A vice-president of the Council. Jenkinson's Manual of Archive Administration was first published in 1922, and republished in a second edition (revised and expanded, but not significantly altered in its principles) in 1937. It was reissued with a new introduction by Roger Ellis in 1965. The book is described by John Ridener as "one of the most widely recognized treatises on the theory of archives and archival work" for introducing continental archival concepts to Britain (and

2356-441: Is "appropriately weighed against other considerations". Other informational professionals have also connected appraisal to digital curation of data, saying that one of the key areas of digital curation and digital preservation is selection and appraisal of materials. Apart from macro-appraisal, documentation strategy, and debate about the place of appraisal in the digital world, there has been questions of how appraisal relates to

2480-642: Is a quasi-judicial organ of the African Union tasked with promoting and protecting human rights and collective (peoples') rights throughout the African continent as well as interpreting the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and considering individual complaints of violations of the Charter. The commission has three broad areas of responsibility: In pursuit of these goals, the commission

2604-498: Is an analogue for the archival profession as a whole. It is the duty of the profession to "act as a mediator between those who produce archives and those who use them, as a facilitator of public memory making and keeping". She is cautious in her use of the term value in the context of archives, if establishing value means compromising the relationships between documents and the "impartial societal evidence" they might convey to future generations. Other archivists have argued that appraisal

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2728-689: Is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States, also based in Washington, D.C. Along with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , based in San José , Costa Rica, it is one of the bodies that comprise the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights. The IACHR is a permanent body which meets in regular and special sessions several times a year to examine allegations of human rights violations in

2852-749: Is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the thirty-five independent states of the Americas. Over the course of the 1990s, with the end of the Cold War , the return to democracy in Latin America, and the thrust toward globalization , the OAS made major efforts to reinvent itself to fit the new context. Its stated priorities now include the following: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR)

2976-434: Is best "left up to the archivist during the appraisal process". Connected with the writings of Helen Willa Samuels , documentation strategy aims to reach beyond institutional frameworks when appraising collections. In the past, she says, archivists have been passive, concentrating on researchers’ needs rather than understanding a document in context. This has led to a circular problem, as researchers state their needs based on

3100-427: Is expressed by intersecting with structures and individuals. Macro-appraisal is distinguished from micro -appraisal in that the former seeks to appraise the institution by understanding the context of creation and the interrelationships between, for instance, the different ministries or agencies within a government. In Cook's view, this institutional understanding should precede and inform the latter, micro-appraisal;

3224-402: Is for writers in the archival and library field to create preservation priorities and appraisal methods. They have argued that archival managers understand the appraisal methods in setting preservation priorities in their archive, which is the first responsibility. Others have added to this that archivists have long recognized that "their first professional responsibility is to identify and protect

3348-464: Is important in order to maintain cultural heritage for future generations and can provide a legal record for those concerned about their human rights . Appraisal is considered a core archival function, along with acquisition, arrangement and description, preservation and access . The official definition from the Society of American Archivists (SAA) is as follows: In an archival context, appraisal

3472-540: Is impossible to be "neutral or invisible" in archival appraisal. This was in line with what Elizabeth Yakel noted in 2003: the need to re-examine old appraisal decisions, and the suggestion of scholar Richard Cox to attribute appraisal decisions to specific individuals. Despite Jimmerson's suggestions, ten years later scholars were still lamenting that archivists seemed to not document "transformative effects" of their appraisal decisions and recommended that archivists should not only acknowledge their own role in appraisal, but not

3596-410: Is mandated to "collect documents, undertake studies and researches on African problems in the field of human and peoples, rights, organise seminars, symposia and conferences, disseminate information, encourage national and local institutions concerned with human and peoples' rights and, should the case arise, give its views or make recommendations to governments" (Charter, Art. 45). With the creation of

3720-468: Is not only one of the acts of record creation, but it requires the impossible in that the archivist is looking into the future, making judgements "as to what information will be of value to researchers". Furthermore, other scholars have argued that appraisal allows for the real or perceived value of records to be determined, that value judgments are made by archivists, based on historical context and their personal beliefs, when they engage in appraisal, although

3844-488: Is now considered to be a central component of international customary law which may be invoked under appropriate circumstances by state judiciaries and other judiciaries. In 1966, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) were adopted by the United Nations, between them making the rights contained in

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3968-539: Is on the surface. One of the outgrowths of social change during that period and "rethinking" of archival principles, including of business records, was macro-appraisal in Canada and documentation strategy in the U.S., along with archives that reflect specific social issues and communities, reflecting a changing interest by archivists in "documenting the wider society" and a need to properly document not only society but "public interaction with state institutions". Terry Cook ,

4092-907: Is supported by the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW). CEDAW formerly held all its sessions at United Nations headquarters in New York but now frequently meets at the United Nations Office in Geneva; the other treaty bodies meet in Geneva. The Human Rights Committee usually holds its March session in New York City. The human rights enshrined in the UDHR, the Geneva Conventions and the various enforced treaties of

4216-563: Is the process of determining whether records and other materials have permanent (archival) value. Appraisal may be done at the collection, creator, series, file, or item level. Appraisal can take place prior to donation and prior to physical transfer, at or after accessioning. The basis of appraisal decisions may include a number of factors, including the records' provenance and content, their authenticity and reliability, their order and completeness, their condition and costs to preserve them, and their intrinsic value. Appraisal often takes place within

4340-399: Is to act as a steward of the records in his or her custody. Neither the archivist nor the historian is competent to make appraisal decisions. That process should be left to the donor. Jenkinson deals directly with destruction of records, which he sees as solely the purview of the creator of those records. As long as destruction is done in accordance with the needs of its "practical business" and

4464-471: Is widely accepted, debates persist regarding which rights should take precedence, how they should be implemented, and their applicability in different cultural contexts. Criticisms often arise from perspectives like cultural relativism , which argue that individual human rights are inappropriate for societies that prioritise a communal or collectivist identity, and may conflict with certain cultural or traditional practices. Nonetheless, human rights remain

4588-730: The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (under a protocol to the Charter which was adopted in 1998 and entered into force in January 2004), the commission will have the additional task of preparing cases for submission to the Court's jurisdiction. In a July 2004 decision, the AU Assembly resolved that the future Court on Human and Peoples' Rights would be integrated with the African Court of Justice. The Court of Justice of

4712-674: The First World War , he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery , and served in France and Belgium from 1916 to 1918. In 1906, Jenkinson joined the staff of the Public Record Office and worked on the arrangement and classification of the records of the medieval Exchequer . In 1912, he was put in charge of the search room, which he then reorganised in response to criticisms made in the first report of

4836-493: The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Subcommission , playing an important role in archives protection in those countries from the worst of the depredations of war. In 1947, Jenkinson, along with H. E. Bell, advocated the protection and preservation of a country's archives, even during times of war, so that the "sanctity of evidence" may be preserved in the records. From 1947 until his retirement in 1954, Jenkinson served as

4960-595: The National Archives and Records Administration (then called NARS). In 1986, Susan D. Steinwall, then at the Area Research Center at University of Wisconsin–River Falls , wrote that this case not only warns archivists to not rely too much "on the opinions of nonarchivists", like FBI agents, regarding the usefulness of the records of a specific agency, but it calls into question commonly-held archival assumptions. In her article, she describes how

5084-399: The United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This document outlined a comprehensive framework of rights that countries are encouraged to protect, setting a global standard for human dignity , freedom, and justice. The UDHR has since inspired numerous international treaties and national laws designed to promote and safeguard these rights globally. While the principle of universal human rights

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5208-1064: The United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council , and there are numerous committees within the UN with responsibilities for safeguarding different human rights treaties. The most senior body of the UN with regard to human rights is the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The United Nations has an international mandate to: ... achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. The UN Human Rights Council, created in 2005, has

5332-577: The University of Aberdeen . Jenkinson married Alice Violet Rickards in 1910. She died in 1960. Jenkinson died a year later on 5 March 1961 at St Thomas' Hospital , London. They had no children. After his death, Oliver W. Holmes wrote in the American Archivist that Jenkinson's work had become a reference source for all inexperienced staff. Writing in 1980, Roger Ellis and Peter Walne commented that "[n]o one man had more influence on

5456-485: The Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 encoded into law a number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Philosophers such as Thomas Paine , John Stuart Mill , and Hegel expanded on

5580-433: The common law and many later constitutional documents related to human rights, such as the 1689 English Bill of Rights , the 1789 United States Constitution , and the 1791 United States Bill of Rights . 17th century English philosopher John Locke discussed natural rights in his work, identifying them as being "life, liberty, and estate (property)", and argued that such fundamental rights could not be surrendered in

5704-922: The social contract . In Britain in 1689, the English Bill of Rights and the Scottish Claim of Right each made a range of oppressive governmental actions, illegal. Two major revolutions occurred during the 18th century, in the United States (1776) and in France (1789), leading to the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen respectively, both of which articulated certain human rights. Additionally,

5828-660: The "notion of archival neutrality". Apart from Zinn, Hans Booms also discussed, as did others, the societal role of archivists and how they influence appraisal, with some even posing feminist analysis of appraisal which bolstered social inclusion, placing archivists within ever-changing community dynamics. There have also been scholars who have emphasized the importance of appraising personal archives because they show an individual's character and attitude that theories like macro-appraisal do not account for, necessitating more of an "archives of character than of achievement", with efforts to document our "complex inner humanity" rather than what

5952-649: The 1864 Lieber Code and the first of the Geneva Conventions in 1864 laid the foundations of International humanitarian law , to be further developed following the two World Wars. The League of Nations was established in 1919 at the negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles following the end of World War I . The League's goals included disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation, diplomacy and improving global welfare. Enshrined in its Charter

6076-469: The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights entered into force in January 2004, but its merging with the Court of Justice has delayed its establishment. The Protocol establishing the Court of Justice will come into force when ratified by 15 countries. There are many countries in Africa accused of human rights violations by the international community and NGOs. The Organization of American States (OAS)

6200-539: The African Union is intended to be the "principal judicial organ of the Union" (Protocol of the Court of Justice of the African Union, Article 2.2). Although it has not yet been established, it is intended to take over the duties of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, as well as act as the supreme court of the African Union, interpreting all necessary laws and treaties. The Protocol establishing

6324-500: The Duty of Civil Disobedience which was later influential on human rights and civil rights thinkers. United States Supreme Court Justice David Davis , in his 1867 opinion for Ex Parte Milligan , wrote "By the protection of the law, human rights are secured; withdraw that protection and they are at the mercy of wicked rulers or the clamor of an excited people." Many groups and movements have managed to achieve profound social changes over

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6448-688: The English-speaking world), along with his own original interpretations. For example, Jenkinson rejected the practice of accepting singular documents into an archive, as well as the acceptance of private papers, which he considered to be a flaw of the French and Belgian philosophies. However, Margaret Procter argues that despite Jenkinson's "iconic" status, his work also rested to a considerable degree on an existing British theoretical tradition. Key elements in Jenkinson's archival theory included

6572-725: The FBI descriptions of their own files, discussing the records they were to dispose with FBI officials before "approving records disposition requests". After bringing in the writings of others in the field of archival appraisal, which was purportedly embryonic in the late 1970s, like Philip C. Brooks , JoAnne Yates, and Maynard Brichford she notes that often Schellenberg is evoked in discussion of appraisal because he provided archivists with vocab to describe documentation's "potential research values." She adds that in his book, The Appraisal of Modern Records , Schellenberg described how "modern public records" have two types of values, one for "immediate use of

6696-630: The General Assembly Resolution 48/134 of 1993. The Paris Principles list a number of responsibilities for national institutions. The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of fifty-five African states. Established in 2001, the AU's purpose is to help secure Africa's democracy, human rights, and a sustainable economy, especially by bringing an end to intra-African conflict and creating an effective common market. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR)

6820-542: The Netherlands Association of Archivists (1898), commonly referred to as the "Dutch Manual", assumed, generally, that the archives would keep each record it acquired. The authors articulated concepts of provenance and original order that privileged an "organic bond" in a collection that precedes its transfer to an archival repository. Appraisal decisions that involve selecting individual records or groups of records for exclusion would consequently lie outside

6944-570: The Royal Commission on Public Records. After his military service, he worked at the War Office until 1920. Returning to the Public Record Office, he reorganised the repairing department and later the repository, to which he moved in 1929. He was appointed secretary and principal assistant keeper in 1938. During 1944 and 1945, he paid several extended visits to Italy, Germany, and Malta as War Office Adviser on Archives, attached to

7068-462: The School of Salamanca, defined law as a moral power over one's own.50 Although they maintained at the same time, the idea of law as an objective order, they stated that there are certain natural rights, mentioning both rights related to the body (right to life, to property) and to the spirit (right to freedom of thought, dignity). The jurist Vázquez de Menchaca, starting from an individualist philosophy,

7192-403: The UDHR and accompanying treaties, but the UDHR quickly became the priority. Canadian law professor John Humprey and French lawyer René Cassin were responsible for much of the cross-national research and the structure of the document respectively, where the articles of the declaration were interpretative of the general principle of the preamble. The document was structured by Cassin to include

7316-552: The UDHR binding on all states. They came into force only in 1976, when they were ratified by a sufficient number of countries (despite achieving the ICCPR, a covenant including no economic or social rights, the US only ratified the ICCPR in 1992). The ICESCR commits 155 state parties to work toward the granting of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) to individuals. Numerous other treaties ( pieces of legislation ) have been offered at

7440-528: The United Nations are enforceable in law. In practice, many rights are very difficult to legally enforce due to the absence of consensus on the application of certain rights, the lack of relevant national legislation or of bodies empowered to take legal action to enforce them. There exist a number of internationally recognized organisations with worldwide mandate or jurisdiction over certain aspects of human rights: The ICC and other international courts (see Regional human rights below ) exist to take action where

7564-412: The United States in the 1960s and 1970s, existing Jenkinsonian and Schellenbergian ideas held by archivists began to be shaken, with efforts to broaden historical records beyond "elites and socially dominant groups", leading some to say that social justice was a call for justice for archives and tying it to appraisal itself. Some, within the field, like Tyler O. Walters, have written about how challenging it

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7688-431: The adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Ancient peoples did not have the same modern-day conception of universal human rights. However, the concept has in some sense existed for centuries, although not in the same way as today. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights , which first appeared as part of

7812-561: The agency of origin refrains "from thinking of itself as a body producing historical evidence", its actions should not, in Jenkinson's view, be considered illegitimate, even by succeeding generations. In 2010, scholar Richard J. Cox noted that many archivists still cling to Jenkinson's ideas on appraisal, which claims objectivity in appraisal because record creators engaged in “selection decisions” rather than archivists. T. R. Schellenberg 's work in Modern Archives (1956) represents

7936-607: The appraisal criteria they applied and the assumptions they made in processing and describing records, along with the records they decided to not keep. Human rights Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws . These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning they belong to every individual simply by virtue of being human , regardless of characteristics like nationality, ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic status. They encompass

8060-486: The appraisal of documents. His approach to macro-appraisal does not just derive from the position of the creating body within an established hierarchy. It is not top-down in a conventional, bureaucratic sense. It is top-down in that it moves from macro to micro-appraisal. This requires a planned, logical approach—archivists embarking upon appraisals are equipped with an understanding of the record creator, its mandate and functions, its structure and decision-making processes,

8184-447: The appropriate records that meet appraisal criteria, and that using the appraisal criteria, archives will develop a regularly updated, written acquisitions policy. Others have described appraisal as a unique skill that archivists bring to the table, especially when it comes to maintaining records and data, with problems when organizations have engaged in appraisal when they didn't have trained archivists on staff. Appraisal can be viewed as

8308-505: The archival field, more, like Christian James and Ricardo L. Punzalan , have said that the core archival functions of provenance, original order, appraisal, and arrangement to be inadequate. Part of this change is a focus on bias and value judgments by archivists. Randall C. Jimmerson wrote about this in 2007, archivists need to be conscious of their "potential bias" by not only working to preserve records which are often overlooked but by documenting their appraisal decisions, while recognizing it

8432-543: The archival profession take up this mantle. The latter was the case with a community archive documenting police brutality in Cleveland, Ohio , with scholars noting that citizen archivists maintain responsibility over management and direction of this people's archive, specifically as it pertains to outreach and appraisal of the archive itself, describing not only the archives' purpose but its construction. Even though, two archivists, Katie Shilton and Ramesh Srinivasan, proposed

8556-417: The archival profession, Jenkinson's core tenets regarding the objectivity of archives and the archivist as neutral custodian have undergone considerable criticism and revision in recent years. Writing in 1997, Terry Cook commented: "At its most extreme, Jenkinson's approach would allow the archival legacy to be perverted by administrative whim or state ideology, as in the former Soviet Union , where provenance

8680-470: The archivist as being a "profession of faith," a serious professional that is uncompromising in their duty. Jenkinson had a number of theoretical differences of opinion with T. R. Schellenberg , his American counterpart, particularly over the question of the archivist's role in appraisal and selection. John Ridener ascribes their differences in outlook to the fact that, in contrast to Schellenberg's concern with modern records management , Jenkinson's theory

8804-426: The archivists who appraised the FBI records not only relied on Schellenberg's manual, The Appraisal of Modern Public Records , but on FBI reference material and his own experience. Not only did NARS approving disposal requests for the FBI in 1945 and 1946, but it wasn't until 1978 that they reviewed their appraisal decisions of FBI files under "mounting public pressure", and in appraising these records they had relied on

8928-491: The basic principles of dignity, liberty, equality and brotherhood in the first two articles, followed successively by rights pertaining to individuals; rights of individuals in relation to each other and to groups; spiritual, public and political rights; and economic, social and cultural rights . The final three articles place, according to Cassin, rights in the context of limits, duties and the social and political order in which they are to be realized. Humphrey and Cassin intended

9052-484: The capacity to make appraisals in the "context of online representation and interpretation" is becoming possible. At the same time, some scholars have said that digitization of records may influence decision-making of appraisal since the greatest proportion of users for archives are generally family historians, often called genealogists , leading to implications for future record-keeping and entailing that digitization be clearly defined as just one component of appraisal which

9176-450: The concept of human rights has been argued as a strategy to prevent human rights abuses. Many examples of legal instruments at the international, regional and national level described below are designed to enforce laws securing human rights. The United Nations (UN) is the only multilateral governmental agency with universally accepted international jurisdiction for universal human rights legislation. All UN organs have advisory roles to

9300-485: The context of records, or series of records, for their potential research values, macroappraisal assesses the significance of the context of their creation and contemporary use. The benefits of this process are theoretical (identifying the important functions in society which should be documented) and practical (the ability to focus appraisal activities on records of the highest potential archival value). Cook also argued that in any appraisal model archivists need to remember

9424-420: The context that they deduce from the archives, and as the archives create an artificial context based on researchers’ stated needs. "Archivists are challenged to select a lasting record", Samuels says, "but they lack techniques to support this decision making" (1992). Samuels argues that while archivists once needed to know and understand the complex bureaucratic structures of organizations, they must now understand

9548-585: The core international human rights treaties. They are supported by and are created by the treaty that they monitor, With the exception of the CESCR, which was established under a resolution of the Economic and Social Council to carry out the monitoring functions originally assigned to that body under the Covenant, they are technically autonomous bodies, established by the treaties that they monitor and accountable to

9672-734: The council to investigate alleged human rights abuses and to report to the council. The Human Rights Council may request that the Security Council refer cases to the International Criminal Court (ICC) even if the issue being referred is outside the normal jurisdiction of the ICC. In addition to the political bodies whose mandate flows from the UN charter, the UN has set up a number of treaty-based bodies, comprising committees of independent experts who monitor compliance with human rights standards and norms flowing from

9796-437: The course of the 20th century in the name of human rights. In Western Europe and North America, labour unions brought about laws granting workers the right to strike, establishing minimum work conditions and forbidding or regulating child labour . The women's rights movement succeeded in gaining for many women the right to vote . National liberation movements in many countries succeeded in driving out colonial powers. One of

9920-605: The degree of use of records as the only means that acquisition or appraisal can be evaluated. The archival appraisal theory of Schellenberg was a major factor in the American Friends Service Committee, et al. v. William H. Webster, et.al (1983) case, which began in June 1979 as social action organizations, historians, journalists, and others, sued the U.S. government to stop destruction of FBI files challenging an existing "archival appraisal decision" of

10044-682: The deputy keeper (chief executive officer) of the repository at the Public Record Office. During this tenure, he was instrumental in acquiring more facilities in Ashridge, Hertfordshire as further records storage, and facilities in Hayes, Middlesex to serve as temporary housing for records in the process of being transferred to the Public Record Office. Jenkinson lectured on palaeography , diplomatic , and archives in Cambridge, and at King's College London and University College, London . He wrote

10168-478: The establishment of the profession of archivist in Great Britain than Sir Hilary Jenkinson". Terry Eastwood in 2003 called Jenkinson "one of the most influential archivists in the English-speaking world". Jenkinson influenced University College, London 's decision to establish an archives diploma course, and would later present its first lecture. Such a course provided advancement towards his desire for

10292-437: The events of World War II . The UDHR urges member states to promote a number of human, civil, economic and social rights, asserting these rights are part of the "foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world". The declaration was the first international legal effort to limit the behavior of states and make sure they did their duties to their citizens following the model of the rights-duty duality . ... recognition of

10416-1009: The experience of sexual initiation rites with men and passing sex training tests on girls are designed to make them more appealing as marriage prospects. Measures to help the economic status of vulnerable groups in order to reduce human rights violations include girls' education and guaranteed minimum incomes and conditional cash transfers , such as Bolsa familia which subsidize parents who keep children in school rather than contributing to family income, has successfully reduced child labor . Human rights abuses are monitored by United Nations committees, national institutions and governments and by many independent non-governmental organizations , such as Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch , World Organisation Against Torture , Freedom House , International Freedom of Expression Exchange and Anti-Slavery International . These organisations collect evidence and documentation of human rights abuses and apply pressure to promote human rights. Educating people on

10540-657: The following: Jenkinson saw "the good Archivist" as "perhaps the most selfless devotee of Truth the modern world produces". "His Creed, the Sanctity of Evidence; his Task, the Conservation of every Scrap of Evidence attaching to the Documents committed to his charge; his Aim, to provide, without prejudice or afterthought, for all who wish to know the Means of Knowledge." He further reaffirmed this position by designating

10664-582: The former more desirable for preservation. Schellenberg desired a forward-thinking practicality in the approach to archival appraisal that took into consideration the needs of future patrons (in stark contrast to Jenkinson's conservative approach), while maintaining Jenkinson's notions of record relatedness, evidentiary value, and "truth" in archival holdings. In a private letter, Schellenberg dismissed Jenkinson as "an old fossil". Jenkinson's greatest influence on archival theory and practice emerged from his publications, teaching and other activities undertaken in

10788-478: The hemisphere. Its human rights duties stem from three documents: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights was established in 1979 with the purpose of enforcing and interpreting the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights. Its two main functions are thus adjudicatory and advisory. Under the former, it hears and rules on the specific cases of human rights violations referred to it. Under

10912-400: The inclusion of all rights in a Unity Resolution, the rights enshrined in the UDHR were split into two separate covenants, allowing states to adopt some rights and derogate others. Although this allowed the covenants to be created, it denied the proposed principle that all rights are linked, which was central to some interpretations of the UDHR. Although the UDHR is a non-binding resolution, it

11036-548: The increase in financially vulnerable populations. Girls from poor families in non-industrialized economies are often viewed as a financial burden on the family and marriage of young girls is often driven in the hope that daughters will be fed and protected by wealthier families. Female genital mutilation and force-feeding of daughters is argued to be similarly driven in large part to increase their marriage prospects and thus their financial security by achieving certain idealized standards of beauty. In certain areas, girls requiring

11160-628: The inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world The UDHR was framed by members of the Human Rights Commission, with Eleanor Roosevelt as chair, who began to discuss an International Bill of Rights in 1947. The members of the Commission did not immediately agree on the form of such a bill of rights, and whether, or how, it should be enforced. The Commission proceeded to frame

11284-600: The international level. They are generally known as human rights instruments . Some of the most significant are: In 2021 the United Nations Human Rights Council officially recognized "having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment" as a human right. In April 2024, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, for the first time in history, that the Swiss government had violated human rights by not acting strongly enough to stop climate change. Charles Beitz proposes

11408-531: The issue of the term universal , the declarations did not apply to domestic discrimination or racism. Henry J. Richardson III argued: The onset of the Cold War soon after the UDHR was conceived brought to the fore divisions over the inclusion of both economic and social rights and civil and political rights in the declaration. Capitalist states tended to place strong emphasis on civil and political rights (such as freedom of association and expression), and were reluctant to include economic and social rights (such as

11532-401: The latter has been contested, and that seeing "naturalness" and "utility" in records upsets existing archival appraisal theory. Whether this argument is accepted or not, a professional assessment which constitutes appraisal, requires specific knowledge and careful planning. It cannot only can be linked with records management but with documents management as part of this analytical procedure. In

11656-534: The latter, it issues opinions on matters of legal interpretation brought to its attention by other OAS bodies or member states. There are no Asia-wide organisations or conventions to promote or protect human rights. Countries vary widely in their approach to human rights and their record of human rights protection. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which

11780-698: The manner in which an archivist could perform appraisal based on these criteria, placing a stress in every case on the importance of research and analysis on the part of the archivist. According to Schellenberg, informational value is based on three criteria: Other scholars have added that evidence and information are among the goods that records provide underlines his appraisal model, since it emphasizes evidential and informational values, and that effective records management necessitates an appraisal process. Some have even said that new thinking on appraisal led some to see distinctions between Schellenberg's "evidential" and "informational" values as artificial, while others see

11904-638: The medieval natural law tradition. It developed in new directions during the European Enlightenment with such philosophers as John Locke , Francis Hutcheson , and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui , and featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution . From this foundation, the modern human rights arguments emerged over the latter half of the 20th century, possibly as

12028-595: The most influential was Mahatma Gandhi 's leadership of the Indian independence movement . Movements by long-oppressed racial and religious minorities succeeded in many parts of the world, among them the civil rights movement , and more recent diverse identity politics movements, on behalf of women and minorities in the United States. The foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross ,

12152-462: The national legal system of a state is unable to try the case itself. If national law is able to safeguard human rights and punish those who breach human rights legislation, it has primary jurisdiction by complementarity. Only when all local remedies have been exhausted does international law take effect. In over 110 countries, national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have been set up to protect, promote or monitor human rights with jurisdiction in

12276-467: The original creator). He defines evidential value as deriving from the "evidence records contain of the organization and functioning of the Government body that produced them", and informational value as related to the "information records contain on persons, corporate bodies, things, problems, conditions, and the like, with which the Government body dealt". After defining the terms, Schellenberg details

12400-838: The originating agency and secondary for later use by other agencies and users", with secondary values considered "evidential or informational", with many larger series of records in the National Archives accessioned for information they "contained regarding matters other than government actions". She ends her article by arguing that this case, often called the "FBI files case", shows that government archivists should reconsider Schellenberg's appraisal philosophy, and notes how some archivists, like Frank Boles and Julia Marks Young , have advocates for not interpreting what Schellenberg says literally, noting that at times, records that have minimal administrative value may have not have, conversely, "minimal value to research." With social movements in

12524-434: The people who slip through the cracks of society, with the voice of marginalized groups often only heard and documented through "their interaction with such [white, male, and capitalist] institutions and hence the archivist must listen carefully to make sure these voices are heard". Julie Herrada, an archivist, added to this by noting there is value in collecting contemporary material and noted that sorting and weeding of records

12648-483: The phenomenon of community archives, or archival institutions which are run by and for the communities they serve, rather than a government or other external entity. Scholars are divided on approaches archivists should take, some saying that appraisal not only needs to be reframed when looking at community archives, while others say that communities should directly be enabled to participate in the appraisal process, defining what they see as valuable records, rather than having

12772-520: The process, archival appraisal theories can be consulted, especially in the case of random sampling and elimination of records, which have short-term or routine uses, from consideration as possible records within an archival institution, since they are not inactive records. Mostly concerned with the records of government bodies, the Manual for the Arrangement and Description of Archives: Drawn up by

12896-476: The records creator is responsible for determining which records should be transferred to the archives for preservation. Since in his view records are "impartial", the task of selection is merely a matter of choosing documents that best describe "what happened". Jenkinson staked out a limited role for the archivist, positioned between the administrative body transferring the records and the researcher who might seek to access them. The archivist, according to Jenkinson,

13020-429: The research community, but significance of data source and context, how materials would complement existing collections, uniqueness of data, potential usability of data, and "anticipated cost of processing". Additionally, others have described appraisal and selection by web archives as including selection of materials to be digitally "captured" and URLS where a " web crawler will start", which fits with those who argue that

13144-444: The responsibilities of the archivist, in their view. Sir Hilary Jenkinson was a British archivist and Deputy Keeper of the Public Record Office upon his retirement. His great contribution to appraisal theory is his Manual of Archive Administration (1922; revised 1937; reissued 1965) in which he argued that archives are "documents which formed part of an official transaction and were preserved for official reference". For Jenkinson,

13268-478: The right to work and the right to join a union). Socialist states placed much greater importance on economic and social rights and argued strongly for their inclusion. Because of the divisions over which rights to include and because some states declined to ratify any treaties including certain specific interpretations of human rights, and despite the Soviet bloc and a number of developing countries arguing strongly for

13392-652: The rights in the UDHR to be legally enforceable through some means, as is reflected in the third clause of the preamble: Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law. Some of the UDHR was researched and written by a committee of international experts on human rights, including representatives from all continents and all major religions, and drawing on consultation with leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi . The inclusion of both civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights

13516-471: The small portion of the overall record that has long-term value." Some of these changes involved borrowing from experiences of librarians . In 1977, Howard Zinn argued that institutions has ignored "experiences of marginalized peoples", saying they had gaps in their collections which are often "presented as comprehensive representations of social history", following his speech to the Society of American Archivists seven years earlier when he openly questioned

13640-662: The state parties of those treaties – rather than subsidiary to the United Nations, though in practice they are closely intertwined with the United Nations system and are supported by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and the UN Centre for Human Rights. Each treaty body receives secretariat support from the Human Rights Council and Treaties Division of Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva except CEDAW, which

13764-414: The structures between organizations and ignore institutional boundaries. However, this is increasingly impossible; archivists need to examine documentation in a comprehensive manner. A documentation strategy is, then, "a plan formulated to assure the documentation of an ongoing issue, activity or geographic area". Its development includes records creators, archivists, and users, and it is carried out through

13888-439: The theme of universality during the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison wrote in a newspaper called The Liberator that he was trying to enlist his readers in "the great cause of human rights", so the term human rights probably came into use sometime between Paine's The Rights of Man and Garrison's publication. In 1849 a contemporary, Henry David Thoreau , wrote about human rights in his treatise On

14012-582: The use of recent military interventions. An example of an intervention that is often criticized is the 2011 military intervention in the First Libyan Civil War by NATO and Qatar where the goal of preventing atrocities is alleged to have taken upon itself the broader mandate of removing the target government. Economic sanctions are often levied upon individuals or states who commit human rights violations. Sanctions are often criticized for its feature of collective punishment in hurting

14136-412: The way it creates records, and changes to these processes over time. Macroappraisal assesses the societal value of both the functional-structural context and the work-place culture in which the records are created and used by the creator(s), and the interrelationship of citizens, groups, organizations – the "public" – with that functional-structural context. If appraisal designates the long-term value of

14260-414: The well-known Valladolid Debate that took place in 1550 and 1551. The thought of the School of Salamanca, especially through Francisco Vitoria, also contributed to the promotion of European natural law. From this foundation, the modern human rights arguments emerged over the latter half of the 20th century. Magna Carta is an English charter originally issued in 1215 which influenced the development of

14384-560: Was a British archivist and archival theorist , regarded as the figure most responsible for bringing continental European concepts of archival theory to the English-speaking world. Born in Streatham , London, Jenkinson was the son of William Wilberforce Jenkinson, a land agent, and Alice Leigh Bedale. He was educated at Dulwich College and Pembroke College, Cambridge , graduating with first class honours in Classics in 1904. During

14508-830: Was a founder (1932), Joint Honorary Secretary (1932–47) and Vice-President (1954–61) of the British Records Association ; President of the Jewish Historical Society of England (1953–55); and President of the Society of Archivists (1955–61). He also played an important role in the setting up of the National Register of Archives in 1945. He served as the British representative on the UNESCO committee convened in 1948 to establish an International Council on Archives , later becoming

14632-627: Was a mandate to promote many of the rights which were later included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The League of Nations had mandates to support many of the former colonies of the Western European colonial powers during their transition from colony to independent state. Established as an agency of the League of Nations, and now part of United Nations, the International Labour Organization also had

14756-546: Was decisive in the dissemination of the term iura naturalia . This natural law thinking was supported by contact with American civilizations and the debate that took place in Castile about the just titles of the conquest and, in particular, the nature of the indigenous people. In the Castilian colonization of America, it is often stated, measures were applied in which the germs of the idea of Human Rights are present, debated in

14880-775: Was formed in 1967 by Indonesia , Malaysia , the Philippines , Singapore and Thailand . The organisation now also includes Brunei Darussalam , Vietnam , Laos , Myanmar and Cambodia . In October 2009, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights was inaugurated, and subsequently, the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration was adopted unanimously by ASEAN members on 18 November 2012. Hilary Jenkinson Sir Charles Hilary Jenkinson CBE FSA FRHistS (1 November 1882 – 5 March 1961)

15004-454: Was founded on "medieval record structures", and was unsuited to dealing with the increased bulk of modern records. To Schellenberg, it was a matter of quality in the archives. Having an undisturbed and impartial bulk in appraisal and accession does not, in his philosophy, serve the main purpose of the modern archives: making available useful material to patrons. Some records have higher evidentiary value, while others fall short on worth, making

15128-477: Was predicated on the assumption that basic human rights are indivisible and that the different types of rights listed are inextricably linked. Although this principle was not opposed by any member states at the time of adoption (the declaration was adopted unanimously, with the abstention of the Soviet bloc , apartheid South Africa, and Saudi Arabia ), this principle was later subject to significant challenges. On

15252-555: Was the constitution of the Mali Empire in West Africa . It was composed in the 13th century, and was one of the very first charters on human rights. It included the "right to life and to the preservation of physical integrity" and significant protections for women. Spanish scholasticism insisted on a subjective vision of law during the 16th and 17th centuries: Luis de Molina, Domingo de Soto and Francisco Vitoria, members of

15376-526: Was undermined by the establishment of one state fonds and archival records attained value solely by the degree to which they reflected the 'official' view of history." Jenkinson was appointed CBE in 1943 and knighted in 1949. As well as being a member of the Society of Archivists of Great Britain, he was an honorary member of the Society of American Archivists . He was granted an honorary fellowship at University College, London , and an honorary LLD at

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