The Fine Art of Destruction Revisited

  • Ian E. Wilson

Abstract

This article is ssentially the text of a speech given by National Archivist of Canada Ian E. Wilson in May 2000 to the Riley Seminar on the Destruction of Records and Proposed Access Act Amendments. As Richard Brown explains in the foreword, the article draws its inspiration from an article by former Dominion Archivist W. Kaye Lamb, entitled “The Fine Art of Destruction.” Wilson focuses on the management of information as a corporate resource and asset of the government and indicates that the National Archives of Canada can contribute to the development of information industry standards with government-wide application while pursuing its own interests to preserve records with archival and historic importance.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article est essentiellement le texte d’un discours prononcé par l’Archiviste national du Canada, M. Ian E. Wilson, au début de l’an 2000, lors du Séminaire Riley qui portait sur la destruction des documents et des amendements projetés à la Loisur l’accès. Comme l’explique Richard Brown en présentation, l’article s’inspire d’untexte publié par l’ex-archiviste fédéral W. Kaye Lamb et intitulé “The Fine Art of Destruction.” M. Wilson met l’accent sur la gestion de l’information comme une ressource corporative et un actif pour le gouvernement; il signale que les Archives nationales du Canada peuvent à la fois contribuer au développement de normes pour l’industrie de l’information, lesquelles peuvent s’appliquer à l’ensemble du gouvernement, tout en pour suivant leurs propres intérêts quant à la préservation des documents ayant une valeur archivistique et historique.

Author Biography

Ian E. Wilson
Ian E. Wilson was appointed National Archivist of Canada in July 1999. He has been closely associated with the development of the archival profession in Canada since the 1970s and, during the course of his long career, has served as archivist of Queen’s University (1970–1976), Saskatchewan (1976–1986), and Ontario (1986–1999). He is adjunct professor in the faculties of Information Studies and Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto and is President of the Champlain Society.
Published
2000-02-18
How to Cite
Wilson, Ian E. 2000. “The Fine Art of Destruction Revisited”. Archivaria 49 (February), 124-39. https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12741.
Issue
Archivaria 49 (Spring 2000)
Section
Articles

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