General Knowledge Statements

Archivists know and can apply knowledge about:

K-1   the impact of social, cultural, economic, political, and technological factors on the evolution and characteristic of archival records and materials and their management.

K-2   the origins, development, and definitions of archival concepts, terms, principles, practices and methods.

K-3   the development of archival institutions and programs in society.

K-4    the similarities and differences in the administration of organizational archives, personal papers, and manuscript collections.

K-5   the physical and technological characteristics of archival records and materials and how these characteristics influence their appraisal, acquisition, preservation, and use.

K-6   archival theory, methodology, and practice appropriate for archival records and materials on all media.

K-7   the standards and accepted professional best practices that apply to archival work, including their rationale and implications.

K-8   the concepts of the life cycle of records and the records continuum.

K-9   the relationship between accepted professional policies and practices and institutional applications of these policies and practices.

K-10   how the core archival functions (selection, appraisal, and acquisition; arrangement and description; reference services and access; preservation and protection; and outreach, advocacy and promotion) relate to each other and influence the administration of archival records and materials.

K-11   the different institutional settings in which archival programs may exist and the implications of placement within a particular institution.

K-12   how the administration of archives is related to, different from, and draws upon the theory, methodology, and practice of such allied professions and disciplines as: history, library and information science, records management, museology, historic preservation, historical editing, and oral history.

K-13   how archival theory, methodology, and practice are influenced and affected by evolving electronic and other technologies.