In the 1990s new subjects, such as records management and digital preservation,
and new delivery mechanisms, such as open and distance learning and more
flexible part-time study, were offered. Huge shifts in the professional skill set
and a major investigation into education and training of the work force in 2003
posed questions about how best to provide for future professional education.21
The entire professional landscape, and therefore educational needs, changed
radically by 2010.
Conclusion
In many countries national and local archives are regulated by legislation,
which requires, or enables, public authorities to acquire archives, preserve them
and make them available in a variety of ways for users, who may be interested
in historical research or may be seeking information for the purposes of
accountability or administration. The structural models for archival systems,
the strength of legislative requirements and the funding levels for archives vary
between countries and regions. Legislation for archives and records in England is
strong for the records of central government ministries, under the Public Records
Acts 1958 and 1967, but much weaker for records of other public authorities,
such as local government, hospitals and universities. However, the Data
Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 imposed greater
obligations on public authorities of all kinds to maintain and make available
information (and, by implication, records). The National Archives is responsible
for monitoring and inspecting archive services, and appointing places of deposit
for public records. However, legislation in England does not specify the means
by which public authorities should fulfil their records obligations, nor does it
regulate the archives and records profession in any way.
Few countries have achieved the position of a regulated or chartered profession
for archivists, although qualifications for employment in public service are
regulated in some countries, such as the Netherlands and France. In England,
an occupation called 'archivist' developed, mainly in local government archives,
by the mid-20th century. The development of graduate educational programmes
after the Second World War consolidated the occupational knowledge and
scope. However, it has never been the case in England that employers must
employ someone with a university qualification in archives to serve in the post
of archivist. They are free to employ whomever they think suitable. In the 1970s
and 1980s the occupation of records management emerged strongly in England
and caused a difficulty for archivists: was this part of the same occupation or a
separate one? And in the late 1990s and early 2000s a similar dissonance was
caused by digital preservation: again, was this a part of the same occupation or
different? In the first case, archivists adapted: the broad field is now generally
called 'archives and records management' in England, although there is also an
occupation concerned with information and records management. The digital
question is unresolved: there are archivists and records managers who curate
digital records and there are digital curators who manage digital resources of
all kinds. Such uncertainties about the boundaries of the occupations make it
difficult to assert that there is a single profession.
PROFESSIE
21 National Council on Archives, Archive Workforce Report London: NCA/MLA (2003).
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