Professional archive codes treat undocumented holdings as having dubious origins

Evidence

Jarrett was trained as an archivist and in this same letter he cited the International Council on Archives (ICA) Code of Ethics, published in 1995, which states, “Archives and archivists should observe faithfully and apply impartially all agreements made at the time of acquisition, but, in the interest of liberalization of access, should renegotiate conditions in accordance with changes of circumstances.” He added that “no such agreements” had been provided by Harvard that would “more than meet the criteria of documents of dubious origins” for which the ICA provides a “clear, unambiguous ethical mandate.” — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 1227

Categorization

• DEFINE: Quotes the ICA 1995 code on archivist obligation to apply acquisition agreements and renegotiate under changed circumstances.