Preserving Context and Standardising Physical and Digital Archives Arrangement

This book presents a groundbreaking approach to one of archival science's most overlooked yet foundational challenges: the arrangement of records. Bridging the gap between physical and digital archives, this book introduces a standardized, context-preserving method that empowers archivists to maintain the authenticity, structure, and discoverability of records while adapting to the complexities of modern archival systems.

Drawing upon archival science, architecture, information architecture, design theory, and user experience, the book demonstrates how archivists can preserve the structure, content, and—most importantly—the context of records while improving their discoverability, intelligibility, and long-term evidential value. By building on foundational principles such as provenance and original order, it presents a practical methodology that integrates organizational structure, functional relationships, and archival control into a cohesive framework, rather than viewing arrangement as an intuitive or ad hoc process. Backed by empirical research including global surveys and expert interviews, this book demonstrates the effectiveness of her method in reducing backlogs, clarifying relationships, and enhancing user navigation. Case studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology-State University of New York (FIT-SUNY) and the System Dynamics Society showcase real-world applications of her innovative approach.

With its interdisciplinary insights, practical tools, and forward-looking perspective, this book will be an essential resource for archivists, researchers, and educators.