| The challenge for the archival profession is to develop a more balanced approach to map archival theory, one which understands cartographic records not only as statements of technologies, but also as value-laden products of human activity with rich contextual information.; This thesis outlines general trends in the historical development of cartographic archives in Europe and North America which have influenced the content-based approach to Canadian map archives. It then suggests how postmodernism can reinterpret traditional assumptions about map archiving, particularly in regard to notions of the archival map as socio-cultural text, the relationship between author, audience and text and the role of the cartographic archivist as co-creator of the mapping record. Using the map programme at the Provincial Archives of Manitoba as a case study, the thesis concludes by examining how a postmodern perspective might influence the development of policy in the archival functions of appraisal, acquisition, arrangement/description and public service of a contemporary map archives. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
