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Archival science originated within the European tradition, crystallizing around the canonical Provenance and Original Order School. This framework, codified in the 1898 Dutch Manual, established foundational principles like respect des fonds, treating archives as organic accumulations to be preserved neutrally for evidentiary integrity. It dominated early practice, emphasizing archival objectivity and passive custody, and formed the core syllabus for decades, reflecting a positivist historiography that viewed records as static artifacts of administrative activity.
By the mid-20th century, the Lifecycle Model emerged as a dominant paradigm, particularly in North American records management. It introduced a linear, stage-based approach to records from creation to disposal, aiming to systematize control and appraisal. This school often clashed methodologically with the Provenance School over archival intervention, prioritizing managerial efficiency over organic preservation. However, its positivist underpinnings were later challenged for being too rigid and administrative-centric, ignoring the dynamic contexts of record creation and use.
The late 20th century saw a major shift with the Records Continuum Model, developed primarily in Australia as a direct critique of the Lifecycle Model. This framework rejected linear stages in favor of a multidimensional, concurrent view of recordkeeping, emphasizing societal and technological contexts. Concurrently, Postcustodial Archival Theory gained traction, arguing that archivists should manage records rather than physically custody them, especially with digital proliferation. These schools introduced constructivist methodologies, debating the nature of evidence and archival authority against traditional positivism.
From the 1990s onward, interpretive and critical schools expanded the field. Postmodern Archival Theory deconstructed archival neutrality, highlighting power dynamics in selection and description. This dovetailed with Social Justice Archival Theory, which incorporated feminist, postcolonial, and community-based approaches to advocate for inclusive, participatory archives. These frameworks often engage in methodological disputes with earlier schools over objectivity versus subjectivity, and custody versus stewardship, reflecting broader humanities turns toward critical historiography.
Today, archival science integrates these canonical frameworks, with ongoing debates between continuum and lifecycle adherents, and between positivist and constructivist epistemologies. The field continues to evolve through critical lenses, ensuring that core principles of provenance and evidence are continually reinterpreted within digital and globalized contexts, maintaining a dynamic historical spine from traditional custody to inclusive, context-aware practice.