Terminology

Jennifer Barnett <reginatextilia [at] orange__fr> writes

>During a current revision job, I was confronted with the term 'life
>expectancy' applied to paper archive objects and set to searching
>for an accurate alternative for this incorrect term: objects are not
>alive. Therefore they are also incapable of 'suffering', often used
>as a term in textile conservation, but that is another issue though
>probably connected to this one.

Surely these are just metaphors, which help us to understand what is
otherwise quite difficult to express--as you're finding.  It may
just be a more complex issue than can be described in one elegant
term--you might need a paragraph to explain which "life" or purpose
of the object you are talking about--the one it was originally
created to serve or the subsequent one/s after that purpose was
fulfilled.

Archivists use the term "life-cycle" widely when discussing the
creation, use and disposal of records.

Robyn Waymouth
Archivist
Royal Women's Hospital
Melbourne


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:64
                   Distributed: Tuesday, May 5, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-22-64-013
                                  ***