Archival Science 3: 1–25, 2003. © 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. 1 Archival Representation ELIZABETH YAKEL University of Michigan, School of Information (E-mail: yakel@umich.edu) Abstract. This paper defines and discusses archival representation and its role in archival practice. Archival representation refers to both the processes of arrangement and description and is viewed as a fluid, evolving, and socially constructed practice. The paper analyzes organizational and descriptive schemas, tools, and systems as a means of uncovering repre- sentational practices. In conclusion the paper argues that the term ‘archival representation’ more precisely captures the actual work of archivists in (re)ordering, interpreting, creating surrogates, and designing architectures for representational systems. Keywords: archival arrangement and description, archival cataloging, archival practice, archival processing, finding aids A man hath perished and his corpse has become dirt. All his kindred have crumbled to dust. But writings cause him to be remembered in the mouth of the reciter. 1 In The Design of Everyday Things Donald Norman argues for a user- centered approach to the design of the daily artifacts we take for granted. 2 While archives and archival collections are not everyday things for most people, they are embedded in everyday archival practice. Furthermore, archival representations and representational systems must characterize these everyday things for potential researchers. The term ‘representation’ is used to refer both to the process or activity of representing and to the object(s) produced by an instance of that activity. The process of representing seeks to establish systematic corre- spondence between the target domain and the modeling domain and to capture or ‘re-present,’ through the medium of the modeling domain, the object, the data, or information in the target domain ... To the extent that this re-presentation corresponds to, or models, the object, 1 Egyptian author, unknown (Invocation at the beginning of the University of Michigan Kelsey Museum of Ancient and Mediaeval Archaeology Archives Finding Aid). 2 Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things (New York: Doubleday, 1990).