346 American / Summer 1988

Education and the Role of the Archivist in Italy

LUCIANA DURANTI

Inevitably, the development of a nation's sible for legal and financial use. To accom- and the training and role of its ar- plish this large task for centuries of records, Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 chivists are intimately linked. As there still a complex system of archives was created appears to be much debate in North Amer- under the direction of the Ministry of In- ica about both the role which terior. Today, the system survives intact should adopt and the training which they under the Ministry of Cultural and Envi- should receive, it would perhaps be instruc- ronmental Properties. The Central State tive to look at Italian archives and the ed- Archives preserves the documentation cre- ucation and role of Italian archivists. ated and accumulated by the ministries and Since at least the unification of Italy in central agencies of the Italian nation since 1860, Italian archivists have talked about unification and private papers of individu- archives as cultural assets and about the als of national significance. The Italian cultural role of the archivist. It was only in Parliament, Senate, and ministries of for- 1975, however, with the creation of the eign affairs and defense each have their own Ministry of Cultural and Environmental historical archives. There are also ninety- Properties and the inclusion of state ar- five state archives in as many Italian prov- chives under its jurisdiction, that archives inces, which preserve documentation cre- became the official responsibility of a cul- ated by the former states of the Italian tural agency.1 In fact, the system of Italian peninsula as they existed at the time of uni- state archives originated in the years fol- fication, documentation created by the lowing unification in response to adminis- provincial agencies of the Italian nation after trative rather than cultural needs. Archives unification, documents of the religious or- primarily were considered guardians of the ders suppressed during the Enlightenment rights of citizens by preserving all docu- and Napoleonic periods, the archives of no- ments created by the former states and the taries, and private archives which the State new Italian state and making them acces- owns or has on deposit. In addition, there

'The Ministry of Cultural and Environmental Properties has four branches: Central Office for ; Central Office for Environmental, Architectural, Archaeological, Artistic Properties; Central Office for Archival Prop- erties; and General Direction for General Affairs and Personnel. The Central Office for Archival Properties has five divisions: General Affairs, State Archives, Nonstate Archives, Archival Technology, and Archival Docu- mentation. The second division, State Archives, has jurisdiction over the Central State Archives and over ninety- five state archives. On the state archives depend the commissions of surveillance for in the state agencies; the seventeen schools of archival science, paleography, and of the state archives; and forty sections of state archives. The third division, Nonstate Archives, has jurisdiction over eighteen archival superintendencies, which take care of all the archives owned by public institutions different from the state and by private persons or bodies. Therefore, virtually all the documents—active, semi-active and inactive, public and private—created and accumulated in the Italian territory are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Cultural and Environmental Properties, which also controls the education and training of archivists and all publications in the archival field.

Luciana Duranti has been assistant professor in the Master of Archival Studies Program in the School of , Archival and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, since 1 July 1987. She is a graduate of the University of Rome, Italy, where she received a B.A. in in 1973 and an M.A. in archival science in 1975. She also holds a master's degree from the School of Archival Science, Paleography and Diplomatics of the State Archives of Rome. She served as archivist in the Italian National Research Council from 1974 to 1977, as archivist and assistant professor in the master's program in the State Archives of Rome from 1978 to 1982, and as professor-researcher in archival science in the Special School for Archivists and of the University of Rome from 1982 to 1987. She is a specialist in foreign archives, and currently teaches courses in archival science, diplomatics and paleography, and records management. The International Scene 347

are forty sections of state archives in as bered aspiring archivists.3 many municipalities of great historical im- After unification, the Cibrario Commis- portance, some of which were once the sion was appointed in 1870 by the Italian capital of a state. They preserve local doc- government to define the nature of ar- uments created for state purposes before chives. The commission's final report, in unification and private papers relevant to which archives were defined as cultural Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 the history of that territory. Finally, there properties, strongly argued that "the doc- are over eight thousand municipal archives ument which enters the archives enters the preserving the records created by the or- domain of history. If we put in archives gans of municipal government. officials provided with a large education, This system of Italian archives was built and maintain inside the archives a special with the aid of a strong tradition of edu- training, so that not historical but archival cation for archivists. Archivists had to have works come out of them, archives assume a knowledge of all those disciplines nec- the form and nature of scientific institu- essary to understand the nature and signif- tions."4 icance of the records entrusted to their care. The national archival legislation of 1875 Consequently, they had to receive an in- required aspiring archivists to pass a na- dependent education. tional open competition, in which compe- The first school for archivists was cre- tence in legal subjects was essential.5 After ated in Bologna in 1765, and was followed employment, each archivist had to enter and by the schools of Milan (1770), Naples graduate from one of the schools of state (1777), Padua (1806), Turin (1820), Pal- archives. The archivists received a salary ermo (1843), Venice (1854), and Florence from their governments while attending (1856).2 These schools, placed under the courses full time. direction of the state archives, were at the The archival legislation of 1875, follow- university level, and their diploma was ing the recommendations of the Cibrario equivalent to a master's degree. As of 1840 Commission, affirmed the principle of the they were public, open to everyone with a multiplicity of the schools, which were of- bachelor's degree. Their mandate was not ficially and uniformly called "Schools of only to train archivists, but also to promote Paleography and Archival Science." De- an understanding of archives in society at centralization was characteristic of the Ital- large. Italian archival schools regularly ed- ian archival system, so Italian archivists had ucated large numbers of researchers. Stu- to be trained in the historical district in which dents attending the schools in order to they worked.6 Consequently, schools were acquire a knowledge of paleography, dip- created over the years in all the most im- lomatics, and chronology, and to learn how portant state archives. In 1963 these schools to conduct archival research, often outnum- all took the title "School of Archival Sci-

2In the rest of , the first schools for archivists were created in Paris and Munich (1821), Vienna (1854), and Madrid (1859). •This situation has continued from Italian unification to the present. For instance, in 1874 the school of Turin had 165 students, only seventeen of them aspiring archivists. In 1975 the seventeen schools of state archives had 3,491 students, only three of them aspiring archivists. 4"Sul riordinamento degli Archivi di Stato. Relazione della Commissione instituita dai Ministri dell'Interno e della Pubblica Istruzione con decreto 15 marzo 1870," in Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d'ltalia, n. 338, Florence, 9 December 1870. 'Legal competence was necessary because a large part of the material transferred to state archives immediately after unification was still active, even though the entities that created it had ceased to exist. The justification for the decentralization of archival schools is particularly valid in Italy, because there the principle of is rigidly respected both for government records and private papers; each document must remain, by law, in the territory where it was created. An immediate consequence of the application of such a principle is that the best guide to research in Italian archives is the history of administration. 348 American Archivist / Summer 1988

ence, Paleography and Diplomatics," and ence and education. since that date they have been fixed by law The modern Italian archivist was born at seventeen.7 A student can obtain his di- primarily through Cencetti's efforts to in- ploma before or after employment as ar- troduce into archival practice a scientific chivist; it is also mandatory for nonstate approach to the methodology of history as positions (such as bank or corporation ar- practiced by the archivist. He wrote about Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 chivists). The two-year standardized pro- the "historical method" of arranging and gram consists of courses in general archival describing documents, respect for their his- science (archival theory), special archival torical context, the continuity between cur- science (history of institutions, intended as rent records and historical archives, and the the history of the ways in which institutions permanent bond linking all documents in a express their activities and functions in sequence to one another.11 None of these documents and series), history of archives, concepts was new, but Cencetti organized archival legislation, conservation, Latin them into an autonomous archival theory paleography, and diplomatics. Series of with its own corpus of ideas. As one of the lectures are given in chronology, sigillog- professors of the Special School for Archi- raphy, heraldry, numismatics, and other al- vists and Librarians at the University of lied disciplines.8 Rome, Cencetti taught archival theory to archivists, aspiring archivists, and users of Even though the study of archival prin- archives, thereby assisting in molding a new, ciples and practices was officially intro- autonomous profession.12 Under Cencetti's duced in 1875 and in some schools "archival guidance, archival science no longer strove doctrine" was taught well before, archival to facilitate scholarly research of other dis- science (theory) as an independent disci- ciplines which might use archives. Even pline began to develop only in the 1920s. though the application of archival princi- The first Italian manual of archival science ples facilitates research use of archives, since was written in 1928 by Eugenio Casa- 9 Cencetti's time, archival science has been nova. He detailed the history of archives studied primarily for its own sake. Students from ancient to modern times and advanced of archival science do not study individual a complex conception of archival theory and documents, but rather the relationships practice. His work has been widely hailed among documents and as a whole. as "the most complete general text on the 10 Moreover, and most importantly, the goal subject." True as that may be, Casanova of scholarly research in the archival field must give way to Giorgio Cencetti as the is the advancement of archival science and, progenitor of modern Italian archival sci-

The seventeen state archives schools are located in the state archives of Bari, Bolzano, Bologna, Cagliari, Florence, Genoa, Mantua, Milan, Modena, Naples, Palermo, Parma, Perugia, Rome, Trieste, Turin, and Venice. "See Donato Tamble, "The Teaching of Archival Science in Italy and the Role of the Schools of the State Archives," Archivaria 19 (Winter 1984-85): 247-48. 'Eugenio Casanova, Archivistica (Siena: Lazzeri, 1928). '"Lester K. Born, "Archives," Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed. (1968), 2nd. vol., 329. See also, Adolf Brenneke, Archivkunde (Leipzig: Koehler & Amelang, 1953), 1. "Actually, this method was called historical for the first time in the middle of the nineteenth century by Francesco Bonaini, archivist of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, not because its purpose was to be useful for the study of history, but because the recreation of was based on the history of the agency and of its archives. History was then the means, not the end of the science of archival arrangement. See Giorgio Cencetti, Scritti Archivistici (Rome: II Centro di Ricerca editore, 1970); this is a collection of his articles written since 1937. I2There are two university schools for archivists and librarians in Italy—in Rome and in Florence. They are not to be confused with the seventeen state archives schools, which are at the university level but independent from the university, being under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Cultural and Environmental Properties, not of the Ministry of Public Education. The International Scene 349

thereby, the work of the archivist. gard a background in a broader range of In analyzing the subjects necessary to the fields as extremely useful for prospective professional training of archivists, Cencetti archivists, in view of the nature of many objected to the study of administrative his- modern records the treatment and under- tory divorced from the way in which each standing of which requires extensive agency actually created its records and ar- knowledge of such fields as economics, en- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 chives. He coined the term "special archi- gineering, and architecture. Of course, in val science" to encompass the archivist's Italy all graduates, regardless of their field, study of the history of the growth and de- have obtained a general knowledge of hu- velopment of institutions through the influ- manistic disciplines in high school. More- ence of their activities on their records. over, they are trained at the university to The birth of the discipline of archival study and do research in original docu- science, which is only briefly outlined here, ments. There is not an architect, for in- determined the future course of the edu- stance, who, before getting his degree, has cation and training of Italian archivists as not used archives for historical research on distinct from that of historians, librarians, subjects related to his future work. or any other professional, and gave to all One of the arguments in favor of admit- archivists a common intellectual outlook. ting all degrees to the open competition is We may best see how Cencetti's ideas that the real training for archival work be- worked themselves out by following the gins with the study for the competition it- preparation of an archivist in Italy today. self. In preparation, candidates often take In order to be eligible to participate in university courses in the various disciplines the national open competition for positions which will be included in the competition. in Italian state archives, it is necessary to The examination is in two parts, one writ- have a degree in the arts, philosophy, po- ten and one oral. The written examination litical science, or law, each of which re- takes place seven or eight months after the quires some study of history. (The degree announcement of a competition, and the oral in history is quite new in Italy, first created exam after another seven or eight months, in 1970 by the University of Genoa, but in order to give the candidates enough time has not been widely imitated by other uni- to prepare. The timing of the announce- versities.) The current degree requirements ment is determined by the availability of for the open competition were set in 1963 positions; the interval between competi- and reflect the longstanding perception that tions has never been less than three years. only students of humanistic disciplines and The written examination consists of one 13 law would have an affinity for archives. essay on history and one on the history of Today there is a growing tendency to re- Italian institutions and law. The questions

"Curiously, the passage of archives from the dependence on an administrative ministry to the dependence on a cultural ministry coincided with the evolution of the training of archivists, from one based on history, the arts, and literature, to one based on history, economics, and law. Actually, as Elio Lodolini pointed out mArchivistica: principi e problemi ([Milan: Franco Angeli, 1984], 230), such contradiction is only apparent; juridical training for archivists is necessary because archives are "cultural institutions," institutions of research where the scientific activity has as its subject the documentary material created during a juridical-administrative activity. The scientific work of the archivist—arrangement and description—is related much more to juridical than to humanistic sci- ences. In 1918 Antonio Panella explained that the historical method of arrangement leads to a juridical approach in archival studies. Arrangement by subjects could have as its foundation many branches of knowledge; instead, le —the preservation of the original order—implies only one branch, the history of institutions and law, with each agency being a juridical body. See Antonio Panella, Scritti Archivistici, ed. by Arnaldo D'Addario, Publicazioni degli Archivi di Stato 19 (Rome: Ministero dcll'Interno, 1955), 72. Today, after the development of archival science as an independent discipline, Italian archivists say that le respect des fonds requires one general branch of knowledge—history of institutions and law—and one specific branch—archival science. 350 American Archivist / Summer 1988

cover the period from the fall of the west- an understanding of financial records, but ern Roman Empire to the present, and there mainly because archivists are themselves is no choice of topics. administrators inside state government. The oral examinations, which are taken Similarly, they must know all the legisla- only by candidates who have passed the tion concerning the ministry of which they written one, are on the following subjects: are officials. Language skills are obviously Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 history (same period as the written exami- important, particularly for earlier records. nation); history of Italian institutions and The central subject of the competition should law (same period); constitutional law; ad- be archival science. Nevertheless, the leg- ministrative law; accounting methods of state islation does not give it the same emphasis government; archival science, history of as history and the history of institutions and archives, archival law and organization; or- law, because knowledge of archival theory ganization of the Ministry of Cultural and and practice is acquired primarily after a Environmental Properties, and legislation person has obtained a job, when he or she on cultural properties; Latin; and one or must study for the degree offered by the more foreign languages. schools located in the state archives or the These subjects have been designated by universities. law in order to meet the needs of the job After winning a position by competition, of archivist, needs determined in large part neophite archivists are on probation for six by the kind of material preserved in Italian months, during which time they are trained state archives. When documents are trans- in archival practices and techniques by the ferred from creating agencies to state ar- divisional or sectional chiefs of the ar- chives (there are no records centers in Italy), chives where they are employed. After the they have lost most of their administrative archivist has gained a sound general knowl- value and have already acquired historical edge of his archives and its operations, he importance.14 They are, however, open to is assigned to a particular section.16 In or- various juridical or legal uses and must be, der to advance in the profession beyond the to use the words of Hugh Taylor, applied entry level, each archives official must at- to a somewhat different but comparable tend courses and earn a master's degree from context, "perceived as the original reality, one of the schools of state archives or of the 'instrument,' tangible, concrete, and the university archival schools. immensely powerful as evidence in a vis- Given the above-mentioned characteris- 15 ually oriented society." Italian legisla- tics of the seventeen schools of state ar- tion provides for the education of archivists chives, and Donato Tamble's explanation who must not only be historical research in Archivaria of their role and structure, it officers with extensive knowledge of polit- is now necessary to present the university ical, administrative, and legislative history, schools in order to complete the picture.17 but also government officials who can Archival science was first taught at Italian identify all the legal implications of the universities in 1925, when Eugenio Casa- documentation in their custody and protect nova, director of the State Archives of the rights of citizens. Knowledge of the Rome, was appointed as chair of archival state's accounting methods is required for science in the Faculty of Political Science

14The only exception is the notarial archives, which receive notarial deeds at the retirement or death of each notary and, after one hundred years, transfer them to the state archives responsible for the district where the notary practiced. 15Hugh Taylor, "Information Ecology and the Archives of the 1980s," Archivaria 18 (Summer 1984): 16. 16Each section looks after a specific group of fonds. This means that Italian archives are internally divided according to the provenance of the material, never by media. "Tamble, "Teaching of Archival Science in Italy and the Role of the Schools of the State Archives." The International Scene 351

at the University of Rome. Beginning in tary disciplines, and to communicate the 1927, Casanova also taught archival sci- results of such research. The examination ence in the Special Section for Librarians and definition of theory and methodology and Archivists of the graduate School of are undertaken not only to achieve progress Medieval and Modern History of the Fac- in scientific work, but also to extend the ulty of Arts and Philosophy at the Univer- cultural areas in which these professions Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 sity of Rome. Eventually, this special section are involved. The school offers a concep- became a graduate school, which, since tual approach to the study of archival sci- 1963, has been independent of the Faculty ence which emphasizes that theoretical of Arts and Philosophy as the Special School education is not separate from a consider- for Archivists and Librarians. Also in 1925, ation of the realities of work in archives Antonio Panella was appointed as chair of and libraries, but is integrated with practi- archival science in the Special School for cal experience in handling original docu- Librarians and Archivist-paleographers of mentary material. The courses also provide the University of Florence—in existence as students with the education necessary to such since 1875—where he taught until enter the open competition for archival or 1950. library positions. The two schools of the universities of The school offers instruction leading to Rome and Florence have the only master the three degrees of archivist-paleographer, of archival science programs offered by , and keeper of manuscripts. These Italian universities. Added to the seventeen degrees correspond to the North American master of archival science programs of the master's degree in that the admission qual- state archives schools, Italy offers a total ifications require students to have a first of nineteen master's programs. degree in a relevant discipline. Today, archival science is also taught as Each student's plan of studies must in- a single course in the faculties of arts of clude the fundamental subjects of the cho- seventeen Italian universities and seven sen section, which provide the required teachers' colleges. A great many students professional qualifications, and at least three who are not preparing for archival work other subjects selected either from a list of study archives in such courses in order to eligible subsidiary subjects or from the fun- learn how to conduct research using archi- damental subjects of one of the other two val materials.18 sections. Brief mention should also be made of the The fundamental subjects of the section School of Paleography, Diplomatics and for archivists are general archival science Archival Science of the Vatican Archives, and the history of archives, special archival which was founded in 1884 as a graduate science, diplomatics, elements of law for school of paleography, and is still today archivists and librarians, the historical-jur- devoted mainly to the study of paleography idical exegesis of Italian documents, Latin and diplomatics. paleography, and the history of the admin- In Italian universities, archival science istrative-legal systems of the Italian states. finds its richest expression in the Special For the section for librarians, the funda- School for Archivists and Librarians of the mental subjects are the general study of University of Rome. It is useful, therefore, books, or bibliology; bibliography; conser- to examine the curriculum of the school's vation of books; elements of law for ar- programs. The school aims to promote and chivists and librarians; Latin paleography; develop scientific research in the spheres and cataloging and classification. For keep- of archives, libraries, and allied documen- ers of manuscripts, the fundamental sub-

18Elio Lodolini, Archivistica, 249-50. 352 American Archivist / Summer 1988

jects are conservation, the science of country. Seminars and practical exercises manuscript books, elements of law for ar- take place in the State Archives of Rome, chivists and librarians, Latin paleography, and special lectures are given in conser- Greek paleography, and the history of li- vation and records management. There are braries. also lectures in heraldry and sigillography. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 The subsidiary subjects common to the Special archival science treats the gen- three sections are technical applications to eral problems, theories, methodologies, and archives and libraries (essentially the study terminologies of archival organization in It- of applications of automation); chronol- aly and abroad, and also introduces the stu- ogy; the theory of documentation and its dent to the scientific study of the relationship relationship to scientific research; medieval between the nature of bureaucratic organi- Greek; medieval Latin; medieval and mod- zations and the creation, purposes, and ern juridical institutions and their docu- contents of archives in the historical con- mentary practices; auxiliary sciences of text in which they were created. At the history; history of the administration of the University of Rome, the study concentrates Italian state since 1860; history of book en- on the history of the institutions of the Pa- graving, decoration, and illustration; his- pal State from the end of the Middle Ages tory of manuscript decoration in , to 1870, and on an analysis of related ar- Spain, and Italy; and history of the manu- chives preserved in the State Archives of script tradition. Rome. Students examine the criteria fol- To obtain the degree, students must pass lowed in the original arrangement of doc- all the examinations in the fundamental and uments and the methodology adopted for chosen subsidiary subjects, write an ex- their archival arrangement and description. amination consisting of an essay of a prac- Legal subjects include the study of jur- tical nature involving knowledge of all the idical rules, the evolution of Italian admin- subjects studied, and write and orally de- istrative law, constitutional law, the fend a thesis on a topic related to one of evolution of legislation pertinent to ar- the subjects in the plan of studies. The whole chives and libraries, current law relating to course of studies takes a minimum of two archives and libraries, and the legal status years to complete. of the archives of ecclesiastical bodies. From the point of view of North Amer- Studies in the historical-juridical exegesis ican archivists, the heart and soul of Italian of Italian documents concentrate on private archival education is the instruction in gen- archives in the medieval period and the eral archival science and the history of ar- origins of the Italian profession of notary. chives, special archival science, and aspects Students also study notarial archives of a of the study of law and its effect on ar- chosen century. chives. The education of archivists in the special General archival science treats principles school reflects the effort begun by Cencetti and problems concerning the nature, crea- to distinguish archival science from both tion, transmission, selection, preservation, and history, and from any arrangement, and description of archives, other discipline. The objects in the care of concentrating mainly on those preserved in archivists and librarians are different, and Italy by state, local, and ecclesiastic bod- the procedures, methods, and corpus of ideas ies. Students also closely study the organ- by which each profession is nourished dif- izational problems and relationship with fer in many respects. Nevertheless, in the historical research of Italian archives from school, there is a tendency to attenuate the a chosen century, and examine the history differences and to give archivists and li- of archives and archival guides of a foreign brarians a common education distinguished The International Scene 353

only in areas of study constituting the au- two professions exists in North America than tonomous, theoretical, and practical basis in Italy, and this interface may be expected of each profession. Both the archivist and to be reflected in the education of the two the librarian are a research officer who must professions. When it is not possible for per- know the various methodologies necessary sons with the distinct proper training to work to the research use of their distinct but with the very different materials of archives Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 closely related material. While there is every and libraries, it can only be hoped that the reason to promote mutual cooperation be- archivist-librarian or librarian-archivist will tween the two professions and even to share strive for objectivity, ensuring that one of an element of common professional prep- the two professions does not prevail over aration, this does not mean that the two or interfere with the other. professions are or should be interchangea- Although in Italy the materials to be cared ble. In Italy it sometimes happens that an for by archivists and librarians are carefully archivist becomes a librarian or vice versa; distinguished from one another in law and but in any such case, it is necessary to have in practice, there is no similar distinction specialized training for the profession to between the objects in the care of records meet the requirements of open competition. managers and archivists.19 Italian archival Even more importantly, it takes consider- theory makes no distinction between active able personal effort to give up the outlook records and archives,- and assumes that ar- and ideas, the forma mentis, of the one chivists must control the entire life cycle profession for those of the other. of documents, as all records are archives It may be supposed that this is also true from the moment they are created. The word in North America, even though the situa- "archives" is commonly used to refer to tion of the two professions is quite different active records, and the word "archivist" from that in Italy. Generally, Italian librar- to refer to the employee who looks after ies do not have archival fonds, and if they them in the agency in which they are cre- have manuscripts, they are miscellaneous ated. Archivists in the various state ar- collections brought together artificially and chives always attend to the management of not in the organic way in which archives active records by determining the methods are accumulated. Since such collections are by which they are created, registered, almost always literary in nature and con- classified, described, and preserved, and by controlling those activities through com- stituted by autonomous items—that is, not missions established by law to superintend linked by an archival bond—they tend to records keeping in all agencies of the state. be organized and described like books. Hence, there is but one ethos of archives; Hence, there is little of the day-to-day com- the attitudes of managers of active records merce between archivists and librarians and keepers of historical archives are not working in the same institutions that exists "antithetical" in Italy, as George Bolo- in many institutions in North America, 20 tenko argues they are in North America. where many libraries preserve private ar- chives and many archives preserve miscel- The training of archivists in Italy, there- laneous collections and even materials fore, emphasizes the continuity between considered, in Italy, to be the preserve of active records and historical archives. Des- libraries, such as oral history materials. ignated to work with both current and his- Consequently, greater interface between the torical archives, archivists receive training

19See Luciana Duranti, "Records Management in Italy," American Archivist 49 (Fall 1986): 459-62. 2oGeorge Bolotenko, "Archivists and Historians: Keepers of the Well," Archivaria 16 (Summer 1983): 19, and "Of Ends and Means: In Defence of the Archival Ideal," Archivaria 18 (Summer 1984): 242. 354 American Archivist / Summer 1988

in the methods by which records are cre- arrangement and description, history ac- ated and maintained, and they imbibe a the- complishes an auxiliary function of archi- ory which assumes a community of interest val science, being the means through which between records managers and archivists (to the archivist understands the archival real- use North American terminology) to pro- ity. As Margaret Cross Norton recognized vide, as R. Scott James puts it, "identifi- long ago, the goal of the archivist is some- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 cation, preservation and availability of the thing broader and more varied than merely greatest number of permanently valuable the preservation of sources for the writing records."21 Ultimately, there is one ethos of history.24 The social, political, eco- of records keeping, as many North Amer- nomic, and cultural uses of archives are ican archivists have recognized; the diffi- varied and multiform, covering all possible culty is to get that ethos accepted in society. expressions of the world which generates It hardly seems that the way to do it is to archives, and possess as well legal, judi- emphasize the distinction between the rec- cial, and administrative substance vital to ords manager's concern for efficiency and a well-ordered society. In Italy, therefore, the archivist's concern for history. Rather, archivists do not regard themselves as a as Jay Atherton has argued, the continuity specialized breed of historian. In Italian inherent in the management of records and legislation they are defined as "scientific archives and the common service function researchers," and are placed at the highest of records managers and archivists ought level in the hierarchy of state officials. In to be emphasized.22 The documentary fact, archivists constitute the only profes- sources for history are born and must be sion in Italy in which post-degree training defended in the making of files in the of- is required by law. fices. To understand what "scientific re- The attainment of a degree from a school searcher" means in relation to archivists, of state archives or from a university ar- one must examine the tasks of the Italian chival school concludes the specific train- archivist. According to archival legislation, ing of Italian archivists both in archival they are to arrange, describe, and make science and in those disciplines auxiliary to available to the public the documents pre- archival science, knowledge of which fa- served in historical archives; to oversee the cilitates the communication of archives to life cycle of records in the agencies, ap- all kinds of researchers.23 With a paradox praise them, prepare the transfer to the his- in which Italian archivists take pleasure, torical archives of those records selected we customarily put history among the aux- for permanent preservation, and control the iliary sciences of archival science. In fact, application of the law on reprography; to when the archivist uses historical knowl- monitor the archives of interest to private edge and methodology for archival pur- bodies and individuals and acquire those poses, history becomes instrumental to which are offered for deposit, donation, or archival science. History and archival sci- sale, and those running the risk of destruc- ence constitute two processes logically dif- tion or sale; to teach archival, paleograph- ferent; but in the archival work of ical, diplomatic, and juridical-

21R. Scott James, "A Wearisome Issue," Archivaria 17 (Winter 1983-84): 303. 22Jay Atherton, "From Life-Cycle to Continuum: Some Thoughts on the Records Management-Archives Relationship," Archivaria 21 (Winter 1985-86): 43-51. 23Archival science, commonly considered in Italy a juridical-administrative-historical science, is defined as an interdisciplinary science. 24See "The Archives Department as an Administrative Unit in Government," in Thornton W. Mitchell, ed., Norton on Archives: The Writings of Margaret Cross Norton on Archival and Records Management (Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1975): 3-12. The International Scene 355

administrative-historical subjects in the gally prescribed for all archivists working schools of the state archives; to carry on in public and semipublic historical archives scientific research in the archival and doc- and in private archives declared to have umentary field and publish the results; and notable historical interest, the Italian ar- to promote archives among a broader pub- chivist has developed a well-defined iden- lic through various activities, such as pre- tity and role. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/51/3/346/2747699/aarc_51_3_v70t1614160665n5.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 paring permanent and temporary exhibitions The Italian writer Luigi Pirandello has of archival material, with related published often, but most openly in "II fu Mattia Pas- catalogs, and introducing high school stu- cal," shown that no one has an existence dents to archives. The most distinctive as- outside the network of relationships tying pects of an archivist's research activities one to the others in one's life. Such rela- are associated with the functions of ap- tionships are ruled in part by law in all its praisal, arrangement, and description. In aspects, and the function of the law is ob- fact, the objects of archival research are the jectified in archival documents. The archi- actual documents, their nature and context, vist, therefore, not only creates and produces the relationships among them, and their po- conditions favorable to the study of soci- tential use. Research results are commu- ety, but through study and practice, con- nicated to anyone interested in archives. For tributes fundamentally to the continuity and this reason, the archivist needs the special protection of society. It is important work insights gained by having a familiarity with and its correct accomplishment must be various disciplines and the objectivity and guaranteed by sound professional educa- impartiality, afforded by being an apostle tion, uniformly structured and sanctioned of none of them. The Italian system of ar- by law or tradition in every society. No chival education meets this need, providing aspect of the archival mission is more im- the archivist with a solid foundation of ar- portant than the proper education of its chival principles and the skills offered by professional practitioners. In North Amer- allied and auxiliary disciplines of archival ica, as in Italy, the measure of success of science. By means of such an education, the archival mission is largely a question which is independent, standardized, and le- of education.