Articles

From White Gloves to White Coats: A Call for Partnership between Archivists and Hoarding Psychologists

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Abstract

With a wary eye on future expectations for American archives and archivists, this article examines informal appraisal and selection evaluations in society at large through the prism of hoarding psychology. With examples of self-storage and E-mail hoarding trends culled from popular news sources, and calling attention to psychological studies revealing that clinical compulsive hoarders make “normal” appraisal judgments but over-inclusive selection decisions, this article posits that a study of hoarding therapies might benefit archivists who rely in part on the retention decisions of creators and collectors.

How to Cite:

Broaddus, L., (2010) “From White Gloves to White Coats: A Call for Partnership between Archivists and Hoarding Psychologists”, Archival Issues 32(1), 23–31. doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/archivalissues.10965