Sorry to be pedantic, but I would suggest that "probably the most important of all an archives' functions" is acquisition - after all, if nothing is collected, there is nothing to review (although I accept that 'acquisition' and 'appraisal' are often inter-linked). The question of whether only qualified archivists should be responsible for pro-active acquisition is an interesting one. Certainly, in the US, important collections relating to minority ethnic communities have been acquired only as a result of employing 'intermediaries' within those communities who don't have an archive background.
> Appraisal is probably the most important of all an archives' functions and should only be undertaken
> by experienced professionals...it's the appraisal process, after all, which decides once and for all > what the historians of the future are going to use and interpret.
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