Toward More Honest Description¹

This article argues that the convention of archival description has been to hide the variety of shaping processes that lead to the eventual formation of an archival aggregation. It suggests that archivists need to more carefully consider three types of archives shaping: shaping by the archiving I; shaping by other interested parties; and shaping by the archivist. After examining the extent to which such shaping is reflected in a number of archival finding aids created for writers' records, the article suggests means by which archival description could better account for the inevitable “constructedness” of the fonds.