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n. ~ APPRAISAL • a larger than usual file of records that is considered more likely to be important because of that characteristic
Broader Term
sample
Related Terms
exceptional selection
exemplary selection
oversample
probability sample
purposive sample
random sample
statistical sample
stratified sample
subjective sample
systematic sample
Note
The concept that "fat files" might be more important than smaller files, along with the term itself, probably began with the work Michael Stephen Hindus and his colleagues did appraising and sampling the files of the Massachusetts Superior Court in the 1970s. The idea behind this concept is that files become larger when they represent more contentious, more complicated, and, thus, more important issues of greater historical importance. However, some archivists question the validity of this concept. There is no set term for the concept of the importance of the fat file, so archivists use various terms, such as "fat file hypothesis," "fat file method," and "fat file theory." Although this term was created with the concept of paper records in mind, it also works conceptually with digital records. The concept is used exclusively when dealing with large series of case files—situations where a subset of a series may reasonably, though never perfectly, stand in for the series as a whole.
Cited In
Bearman, David, “Archival Strategies,” The American Archivist 58:4 (Fall 1995): 399.
Bradsher, James Gregory, “The FBI Records Appraisal,” Archival Issues 25:1/2 (2000): 109.
Cook, Terry, “‘Many are called, but few are chosen’: Appraisal Guidelines for Sampling and Selecting Case Files,” Archivaria 32 (Summer 1991): 42–43.
Hindus, Michael Stephen, Theodore M. Hammett, and Barbara M. Hobson, The Files of the Massachusetts Superior Court, 1859–1959: An Analysis and a Plan for Action (Boston: G.K. Hall and Company, 1979): 15.
Lyle, Jared, “Sampling the Umich.edu Domain,” Paper presented at 4th International Web Archiving Workshop (2004): 8.
Review of Appraisal of Department of Justice Litigation Case Files: Final Report in The American Archivist 53:4 (Fall 1990): 706.
Roberts, John W., “Archival Theory: Much Ado about Shelving,” The American Archivist (Winter 1987): 72–73.
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