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Re: [ARSCLIST] Archive/Archives



In the archives biz, at least in the US, "archives" (with an s) refers to the collection itself (singular) and to the building or institution that holds the collection (also singular). You can see definitions of both "archives" and "archive" in the Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology on the Society of American Archivists web site.

archives: http://archivists.org/glossary/term_details.asp?DefinitionKey=156

archive: http://archivists.org/glossary/term_details.asp?DefinitionKey=8

Essentially, if there's an s on the end, the term is a noun. If there's not an s on the end, the term is a verb, although you'll find archivists who don't think the term "archive" should be a verb (as in "Our method of archiving our sound recordings is to....")

-----Original Message-----
From: Steven Smolian <smolians@xxxxxxxxx>
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent:         Sun, 11 Dec 2005 07:28:10 -0500
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Archive/Archives

News to me, and I worked on it. This seems a usage by the editor.

Steve Smolian

----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Richter" <mrichter@xxxxxxx>
To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 5:56 AM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Archive/Archives

> The report "Copyright Issues Relevant to Digital Preservation ..." uses > the word 'archives' as a singular, typically in a phrase such as
> a libary or an archives ...
> That's a construction new to me and not reflected in the OED. It seems > unlikely to be a typographic error, so can someone explain the distinction > between 'archive' (singular) and 'archives' (singular)?
>
> Mike
> -- > mrichter@xxxxxxx
> http://www.mrichter.com/
>
>
> -- > No virus found in this incoming message.
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> Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.13/197 - Release Date: 12/9/2005
>


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