Custodial changes and first, second, and third custodial phases

Jenkinson’ s view of archives as evidence is linked to the importance of custody. In his 1947 paper entitled The English Archivist: a new profession: being an inaugural lecture for a new course in Archive Administration, Jenkinson (1947, p.

240-241) referred to three custodial phases and the importance of custody. The three custodial phases to which reference was made can be summarised as Phase 1: Records Management - first custodial phase; Phase 2: Limbo/Transfer - second custodial phase; and Phase 3: Archival Management - third custodial phase. The transmission of records from the records management phase through to archival management phase is discussed in the archival literature already mentioned (Maclean, 1962; McKemmish, 2001; Upward, 2000) however the terminology of first, second and third phases seems only to have been used by Jenkinson in 1947.

Discussion of the arrangement for a collection of records produced by a first phase custodian who knew the creator of the record and associated relationships between the record and the organisation, has its own particular tone. The discussion about the arrangement of the collection by a third phase custodian is different; he/she does not know the creator of the record nor the organisation in which the record was raised because both no longer exist in this third phase custodian’ s life span. Similarly an archival collection in the third custodial phase may revert to the second custodial phase through such trauma as being ravaged by fire, flood, or disintegration of the country’ s infrastructure through war, oppression or some other catastrophic event.

Table 3 sets out Jenkinson’ s (1947) three custodial phases populating the phases with the main stages of the documents’ survival, and the movement of the documents from original use to secondary use. Original use¹⁷ is the use for which the records were used by their creating agency; secondary use¹⁸ is the use for which the records were used other than original use.

17 See entry for original use in the Glossary section of this thesis.

18 See entry for secondary use in the Glossary section of this thesis.

Table 3: First - Third Custodial Phases - documents move from the custody of records managers to the custody of archival managers and usage of the

documents move from original use to secondary use First Custodial Phase

(records management) Second Custodial Phase

(limbo / transfer) Third Custodial Phase (archival management)

Document may or may not be used by future researchers – Secondary use.

Livelton (1996, p. 74) discusses the writings of Jenkinson and Schellenberg observing,

“ Jenkinson’ s definition of archives, like Schellenberg’ s of records, emphasizes the original use and preservation of documents, whereas Schellenberg emphasizes their selection and secondary use”. Leaving aside which use should be emphasized while acknowledging that use is an influence; all record-keeping activities by records managers and archivists contribute to the custodial history of a particular archival collection. Though archivists may have different views from records managers on which record-keeping activities should take precedence, documentation of the records’ custodial history must include details of the original use, and why the documents were preserved or selected. The advantage of being able to describe in which custodial phase the records are located can show how much influence the record-keeping activities carried out in the first and second custodial phases have had on the collection surviving to reach the third custodial phase.

These three custodial phases can also be discerned in Bruebach’ s (2003, p. 394) description of record-keeping developments in Germany after 1954. In the 1920s archivists in Germany, being involved in the development of new disposition schedules and retention periods, became aware of an emerging gap between the records management phase and the archival management phase. Bruebach noted that after 1954 “ in-between” institutions, that is record-centres or “ limbos” , were

established to bridge the gap. Bruebach used the term “ limbos” in his 2003 article though he does not provide a citation for it. However he uses “ limbos” as a reference to the second custodial phase or transfer phase. He contended, “ new concepts of

appraisal, based on the principle of provenance and analysis of functions became adoptable” because of the initiative the archivists had taken to become responsible for the installation and management of the record-centres as “ in-between” institutions.

The conclusion from this initiative is that German archivists demonstrated they

understood the necessity of providing good custodianship of the records in the second custodial phase, Jenkinson’ s transfer/limbo phase; and they would ensure a smooth transfer of the records into the third custodial phase. Conversely, poor custodianship of the records in the second custodial phase meant more analytical work for archivists in the third custodial phase which, in turn, could have been avoided with planning and due care.

Jenkinson (1960, p. 371-373) felt that archivists should “ want and need” to include analysis as part of their archival activities so they could understand the “ how, why and what” of their archives, and they could pass on the information gathered by notating on each of the series of records with its administrative history. These administrative histories could be used for later archivists to understand the content and context of the records, particularly where the handwriting was difficult to read or decipher. As well, Jenkinson felt that the Archivist must “ engage himself actively” in adding to the administrative history as needed. He was quite clear that such analytical activities should only be conducted on archives in their third custodial phase. Discussion of Jenkinson’ s analytical activities regarding the RAC Archives early in his archival career, occurs in chapter 6.

The three custodial phases described by Jenkinson in 1947 may appear similar to those of the “ three ages of archives” approach in the European version of the life cycle model for the physical relocation of records. McKemmish (2000, p. 6) describes these as “ based upon the storage of active, semi-active and inactive

records”. In Jenkinson’ s (1947) quote above he makes the distinction that documents in the second “ limbo/transfer” custodial phase may be needed either by the originating office for purposes of precedent or to show the historical background of work done by the office, which in early twenty-first century terminology, would equate to demonstrating effective governance was carried out by the office. The documents may be needed to show impartial evidence of the transaction work carried out by the office, thereby having a continuing value. Records no longer active (inactive) from

the third stage of the life cycle model may be found moving from the first to second custodial phase, that is, moving from the records management phase to the transfer phase. Thus, while the life cycle model treats the movement of records from the records management phase (active) to the transfer/storage phase (semi-active and inactive), it does not cover records once they have been moved into the archival management phase. Therefore, the life cycle model has a records management perspective whereas Jenkinson’ s three custodial phases have a perspective from the records themselves as they move from the records management phase through the transfer phase to the archival management phase.

Jenkinson’ s three custodial phases’ model assumes a period of neglect during the second custodial phase is inevitable for “ old” records, and that arrangement and description of the records must be undertaken in the third custodial phase. However, for “ modern” records, the second custodial phase should be an ordered and managed transfer period, as the records would have been kept in an organised business context from their creation and, upon being identified as archival, move into the third

custodial phase with their arrangement and description intact. This process of unbroken management and care of the records is central to the Records Continuum Model, developed by Frank Upward (Upward, 1996, 1997).

The concept of records having a continuing value is the basic premise for the Records Continuum thinking which Sue McKemmish (2000, p. 7) states, “ goes back to fundamentals to define the record and the role of record-keeping in society, informed by a unifying concept of records inclusive of records of continuing value, i.e.,

archives, one that stresses their evidentiary and transactional nature”. The Records Continuum Model provides an overview of the processes that set out the multiple purposes that records can have over time; its perspective comes from the records themselves, not being restricted to the record-keeping activities of an individual record-keeping profession. Similarly, Jenkinson’ s three custodial phases are also grounded in the records themselves.