Diplomatic records, archival description, and the Canadian Department of External Affairs in the 1920s

• Main Author: Shumilak, Anna E.
• Other Authors: Nesmith, Thomas (History)
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: diplomacy; archives; Canadian; external affairs; recordkeeping; description; foreign affairs; history
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/5276

This thesis examines records created through diplomatic activities and considers approaches to their archival description, using those created by the Canadian Department of External Affairs in the 1920s as a case study. The objective of the thesis is to explore the history of this record genre with a focus on how archivists can provide users with access to more authentic and meaningful diplomatic records. Chapter One will provide a broad overview history of the diplomatic genre as well as the place of such contextual knowledge about the creation and characteristics of these records. Chapter Two will introduce a key strategy that archives can implement to more effectively relay contextual knowledge to archival users through the function of description. Chapter Three will then introduce a case study, building upon the approach identified in Chapter Two, and based on Canada’s Department of External Affairs in the 1920s.