The 19th-century centralization of archives, precursor to the 20th century's nationalism, has been opposed by some. Historian Craig Robertson posits that "archives do not neutrally store documents; rather, objects captured through archival practices are transformed into knowledge." He goes on to say that the "historicization of state archives can make explicit how archives create national narratives and, more importantly, national characters, prioritizing and privileging specific stories and peoples." The concept of the archivist as a custodian of records originated in the late 19th century and was championed by Hilary Jenkinson. His concept, that "the Archivist is not and ought not be an Historian" and that the archivist "is the servant of his Archives first and afterwards of the student Public" reflect the idea that archivists should primarily serve as objective custodians of records. This contrasted with the prior practice of archives serving to embellish the histories of politicians and other wealthy patrons. The retention of records in a national archive would then become a universal bureaucratic norm rather than the retention of a select few records for a predetermined purpose. Jenkinson also specified that rather than holding source documents piecemeal, that the integrity of an organic archive group must be maintained.
Political impact on the administration of archives has been common in both dictatorships and democracies.
The various national archives of Latin American countries were founded in the 19th and 20th centuries. Much of those archives benefited from the Spanish and Portuguese colonial practice of keeping a record on hand of outgoing correspondence. Copies of orders from the monarchy were kept in the General Archive of the Indies or the Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino while the message itself would be sent to the New World and then archived by the respective viceroy in the Americas. The colonial offices would likewise keep a copy of their outgoing message locally while sending the original note to the home office in Europe. Roscoe R. Hill opined in 1945 that although very old records had been kept in Latin American archives, the archives themselves were mismanaged and the climate damaged many documents. The retention of records by so many government agencies as well as provincial offices has resulted, in Hill's words, that "in no country is the national archive really national in scope."
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Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, pp. 23–24. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Millar 2010, pp. viii–ix. - Millar, Laura A. (2010). Archives: Principles and Practices. New York: Neal-Schurman Publishers. ISBN 9781555707262.
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, pp. 152–153. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 21. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 124. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Burton 2005, p. 70. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Burton 2005, p. 71. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Jenkinson 1922, pp. 106–107. - Jenkinson, Hilary (1922). A Manual of Archive Administration. Economic and Social History of the World War. Clarendon Press. https://archive.org/details/manualofarchivea00jenk
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, pp. 37–39. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Jenkinson 1922, p. 84. - Jenkinson, Hilary (1922). A Manual of Archive Administration. Economic and Social History of the World War. Clarendon Press. https://archive.org/details/manualofarchivea00jenk
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, pp. 163–164. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Millar 2010, pp. 30–31. - Millar, Laura A. (2010). Archives: Principles and Practices. New York: Neal-Schurman Publishers. ISBN 9781555707262.
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 144. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Taylor, Hugh A. (Winter 1982). "The Collective Memory: Archives and Libraries As Heritage". Archivaria (15): 130. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-23. Retrieved 2014-09-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20141023003149/http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/viewFile/10975/11908
Cox, Richard J.; Wallace, David A., eds. (2002). Archives and the Public Good: Accountability and Records in Modern Society. Quorum Books. pp. 37–38. ISBN 9781567204698. LCCN 2001057863. 9781567204698
Millar 2010, pp. viii–ix. - Millar, Laura A. (2010). Archives: Principles and Practices. New York: Neal-Schurman Publishers. ISBN 9781555707262.
Burton 2005, p. 161. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 21. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Burton 2005, p. 162. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 22. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Jenkinson 1922, p. 44. - Jenkinson, Hilary (1922). A Manual of Archive Administration. Economic and Social History of the World War. Clarendon Press. https://archive.org/details/manualofarchivea00jenk
Hill 1945, p. xi. - Hill, Roscoe R. (1945). The National Archives of Latin America. Joint Committee on Latin American Studies. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674365384. https://books.google.com/books?id=lOEiAAAAMAAJ
Hill 1945, pp. xiv–xv. - Hill, Roscoe R. (1945). The National Archives of Latin America. Joint Committee on Latin American Studies. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674365384. https://books.google.com/books?id=lOEiAAAAMAAJ
Hill 1945, pp. xi–xii. - Hill, Roscoe R. (1945). The National Archives of Latin America. Joint Committee on Latin American Studies. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674365384. https://books.google.com/books?id=lOEiAAAAMAAJ
Hill 1945, p. xiv. - Hill, Roscoe R. (1945). The National Archives of Latin America. Joint Committee on Latin American Studies. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674365384. https://books.google.com/books?id=lOEiAAAAMAAJ
Burton 2005, pp. 100–104. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Burton 2005, pp. 54–55. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Millar 2010, p. 34. - Millar, Laura A. (2010). Archives: Principles and Practices. New York: Neal-Schurman Publishers. ISBN 9781555707262.
Jenkinson 1922, p. 24. - Jenkinson, Hilary (1922). A Manual of Archive Administration. Economic and Social History of the World War. Clarendon Press. https://archive.org/details/manualofarchivea00jenk
Jenkinson 1922, p. 115. - Jenkinson, Hilary (1922). A Manual of Archive Administration. Economic and Social History of the World War. Clarendon Press. https://archive.org/details/manualofarchivea00jenk
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, pp. 21–22. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Millar 2010, p. 34. - Millar, Laura A. (2010). Archives: Principles and Practices. New York: Neal-Schurman Publishers. ISBN 9781555707262.
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, pp. 32–35. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Report of the Committee, appointed to inquire into the State of the Ancient Public Records and Archives of the United States, March 27th, 1810. Washington D.C.: R. C. Weightman. 1810. p. 1. /wiki/R._C._Weightman
Burton 2005, pp. 72–73. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Jones 1969, p. 6. - Jones, H. G. (1969). Records of a Nation: Their Management, Preservation, and Use. New York: Atheneum Books. ISBN 9781125127001. LCCN 69014373. https://archive.org/details/recordsofnationt0000jone
Burton 2005, pp. 74–75. - Burton, Antoinette, ed. (2005). Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336884. https://books.google.com/books?id=xN0jsYpAQCMC
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 37. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Jones 1969, pp. 10–14. - Jones, H. G. (1969). Records of a Nation: Their Management, Preservation, and Use. New York: Atheneum Books. ISBN 9781125127001. LCCN 69014373. https://archive.org/details/recordsofnationt0000jone
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 98. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC
Blouin & Rosenberg 2011, p. 98. - Blouin, Francis X.; Rosenberg, William G. (2011). Processing the Past: Contesting Authority in History and the Archives. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199964086. https://books.google.com/books?id=S6v9rqWQ9WMC