Macroappraisal Kiwi Style: Reflections on the Impact and Future of Macroappraisal in New Zealand

Abstract

Both macroappraisal and the Australian records continuum-based DIRKS methodology have been influential in the New Zealand debate on appraisal in recent years. The primary influence of macroappraisal has been in the area of prioritisation of appraisal work. This paper considers New Zealand thinking on prioritisation, and the influences of risk management and functional analysis on this issue. A lack of agreement on the purpose of appraisal in the professional literature is noted, and some personal suggestions are offered on a model taking elements from macroappraisal and other methodologies.The development of macroappraisal has been followed with some interest in New Zealand since the 1990s as the (then) National Archives of New Zealand grappled with the need to operate a robust appraisal process in the face of changing administrative and technological conditions, and with the responses offered in an increasingly mature professional discourse.This article outlines the recent engagement with macroappraisal in New Zealand, and the context within which this engagement has occurred. It explores the appeal of macroappraisal as a practical response to the challenges of appraising contemporary public records, and sets this in an environment of profound professional debate on the nature of appraisal. In conclusion, some suggestions are offered on combining aspects of various methodologies in a single appraisal approach.

Documentary genre and digital recordkeeping: red herring or a way forward?

“…Review methodologies focusing on individual files developed for the paper environment such as Schellenberg's (2003) were found to be ineffectual in the digital environment (Bearman 1989). A top-down approach involving analysis of the functions of an organisation or society was advocated as the only way in which the exponential quantities of digital records being generated can be appraised (Bearman 1989), and this has found significant uptake internationally [see accounts of practice in Australia (Cunningham and Oswald 2005), the Netherlands (Jonker 2005) and New Zealand (Roberts 2005)]. Subsequent attempts to develop taxonomies have become more complex, with one of the most notable developed by Frank Boles and Julia Young (Boles and Young 1985).…”