Archival Interventions and Disentangling Legacy Records

Appraisal and disposition of government records at Library Archives Canada (LAC) focuses primarily on acquiring the “right” to best document a given function Government Canada. Once pass into LAC’s care, access is provided through an inconsistent approach online descriptive on-site finding aids, often with minimal or incorrect contextualizing information that hinders their overall discoverability use. Through study both legacy photographic in National Film Board Fonds recontextualization project currently underway LAC, author examines history record, from recordkeeping practices transfer some interventions by archives describe shape these over several generations custodial care. All various actions have had hidden impact use understanding individual larger collection. This article provides case how rearrangement based research creators, organizational systems, archival can draw out complex, multiple provenances provide researchers fuller contextual record.