"The Surest Proof:" A Utilitarian Approach to Appraisal

What follows is an analysis of the role of research use in making appraisal and reappraisal decisions at the series level. Building on the "Minnesota Method" approach to selection and appraisal of modem business records as described in a paper published in The Records of American Business, this article analyses and assesses application of the Minnesota Method's appraisal criteria, using three studies of rates of use of business records by scholars and the general public. Ultimately, the validity of use as an appraisal criteria comes down to the fundamental question: what are archives? If archives are objectively identifiable evidence of business transactions then use is irrelevant as an appraisal consideration. However, if (as Terry Eastwood has said), "archives are social creations for social purposes" that have no validity aside from the value that an institution or society places on them, then use is the only measurement we have of that value (and of the success of archives operations as a whole). After examining the pros and cons of use as an appraisal criterion and the results of the three studies, the author concludes that "use of the archives and the growth of its reputation" is the "surest proof of sound records appraisal." This article is an analysis of the role that information about patterns of research use can and should have as criteria in making appraisal and reappraisal deci-