reviews


Book Reviews  379

 

 

 

 

Book Reviews 

Cox, Richard J. Closing an Era: Historical 
Perspectives on Modern Archives and 
Records Management. Westport, Conn.: 
Greenwood Pr. (New Directions in Infor­
mation Management, no. 35), 2000. 252p. 
$65, alk. paper (ISBN 0-313-31331-8). LC 
99-089071. 

In this age of “information as you need 
it” and virtual communities created in the 
changing landscape of the Internet, archi­
vists and records managers concern for 
the record and its long-term preservation, 
may seem passé. To the public, the records 
manager and the archivist are imagined 
operating in dusty basements with boxes 
of old papers, useful only to the academic 
scholar or the genealogist. Richard Cox, 
in his book Closing an Era: Historical Per­
spectives on Modern Archives and Records 
Management, presents a compelling case 
for the profession through a historical 
recounting of the role of records in soci­
ety and the development of efforts to 
manage them.

 Whether in the form of a digital ex­
pression or a stone tablet, the record, as 
Cox explains, should be preserved for 
reasons of accountability, evidence, and 
memory. Although advances in technol­
ogy and communications have collapsed 
time and place and have certainly caused 
changes in work methods, the essence of 
the archivist’s and records manager ’s 
work is still based on this historical foun­
dation.

 Beginning with a historical survey, 
Cox explores the changes brought about 
in society and in the archivist’s profession 
as a result of the digital age. He examines 
recent issues related to records manage­
ment and archives, such as the court con­
troversy over White House e-mail and 
what is and is not to be considered a 
“record.” Cox also reviews the argument 
between documentary editors and propo­
nents of electronic records management 
that resulted from the National Histori­

cal Publications and Records 
Commission’s (NHPRC) setting 
of funding priorities. He la­
ments that the profession is 
splintering into archivists and 
records managers rather than 
working together as records 
professionals. Finally, Cox describes edu­
cational programs for the archivist and 
discusses his views on what should be the 
best education for the archivist and the 
records manager. 

Closing an Era is a carefully docu­
mented review of the historical founda­
tions of the archival profession and an 
exploration of the changes occurring in 
the profession as the result of electronic 
records and communication through the 
Internet. It will be an extremely useful text 
for introducing students to the history 
and theoretical basis of the profession as 
well as to the current issues involved in 
working in a digital environment. Unfor­
tunately, the book is printed in a very 
small font with faint print that makes 
reading difficult and the inclusion of ex­
haustive documentation can be tedious 
going, but the ideas presented make read­
ing the book worth the effort.

 Richard Cox is a professor at the Uni­
versity of Pittsburgh’s School of Informa­
tion Science. His teaching experience 
combined with his past work as an archi­
vist and editor of the journal of the Soci­
ety of American Archivists (SAA) gives 
him a broad perspective for understand­
ing the profession. With this book, Cox 
has made a significant contribution to the 
body of publications focusing on the 
records profession; for archivists, librar­
ians, and records managers, Closing an Era 
is a book worth reading.—Norma Myers, 
East Tennessee State University. 

Kaser, David. Just Lucky, I Guess: My Ad­
venturous Life as a Hoosier Librarian. New 
York: Vantage Pr., 2000. 231p. $13.95, pa­

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