Loose coupling and the archives of a Large mid-western state university

Abstract

This article examines organizational theory's concept of loose coupling in relation to a university archives. The situations which would lead to an archives being tightly coupled to the organization it serves and why archives in educational organizations are likely to be loosely coupled are discussed. The development of the particular archives studied is related to its ties to the university administration, the university library, outside organizations, and the archival profession. Ties to the university and library were loose and characterized by limited oversight and limited funding. This situation did not prevent the archives from developing a strong commitment to user service, but it has limited the ability of the archives to expand its services, specialize its operations, and adopt technologies promoting end user access.