The effect of the phenomenon of record that changed in the digital era on traditional applications of arrangement and description in archives

It is considered that the archived electronic records have an impact on the archive practices which are shaped by traditional methods. There has recently been development in such practices as the production, verification and distribution of e-records in current times. There are also developments in the processes after that records become a material of archive. Among them are the maintenance of uniqueness, protection of record hierarchy and establishment of archival connection. One of the advancements is in arrangement and description. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the efficiency of traditional methods used during the intellectual control known as the arrangement and description of e-records that have been transferred to the archive. In addition, it is also attempted in this study to demonstrate what kind of changes e-archives brought about in traditional practices. The problems of the paper are; to discuss whether such principles as provenance and original order are sufficient, especially when electronic records based on information technologies are started to be used immensely; and to rethink about the necessity of implementing the principles. The hypothesis of the paper is defined to be "the effect of the concept of record that changed in the digital era on the applications of arrangement and description in archives" since there are discussions present in theories and practices. Two methods are followed in the process of testing the hypothesis: First of them is to determine the situation in the light of experts' opinions in the literature. The second is to do a field study in institutions by making interviews with related individuals. For the field study, experts from different institutions in Turkey are selected as samples. These experts have experience in the practices of e-record management and archive processes. In this regard, interviews are made with eighteen (18) participants from fifteen (15) different institutions. More than one participant from one institution contributed to the interview. In the observations and interviews done in the field, the results obtained are as follows: It is a fact that the effects of e-records on arrangement and description are not yet sufficiently dealt with. Data stores that organizations use for current records appear to be e-archive of institutions. Solutions regarding e-records are usually for immediate access and usage. It is questionable how useful these solutions will be in the long-term regarding archived e-records. The reason why a permanent solution cannot be created is analyzed to be the fact that archivists do not have enough procedures to guide them. Another point understood with the field study is that new description areas have emerged with e-records, and that consequently this affected the practices. The participants stated that they use these new description areas by adding into previous practice standards. It is seen in the thesis that e-records caused traditional archival approaches to be reinterpreted. The important reason for this is that archived e-records have a sensitive form regarding the features of information holder, registration environments and formats, information safety, maintaining originality for a long time and maintaining the value of evidence. There have been concerns, especially while the literature was being analyzed, that provenance and original order as archival principles will be of no use. Despite this, in the thesis it is drawn as a conclusion that these principles will be required in order to protect the organic connection and providing a hierarchy of records.