Bare Record: The Nephite Archivist, The Record of Records, and the Book of Mormon Provenance
This paper looks at the Book of Mormon through the lens of library science and the concept of archival provenance. The Nephites cared deeply about their records, and Mormon documented a thorough chain of custody for the plates he edited. However, ideas of archival science and provenance are recent developments in the western world, unknown to biblical authors or to anyone at Joseph Smith's time. Understanding this aspect of Mormon's authorship and Joseph Smith's translation provides additional evidence to the historical validity of the Book of Mormon. I often thought of the prophet Mormon as I studied library science and learned about collection development, cataloguing, and archive management. In addition to his roles as author, historian, prophet, and military general, Mormon worked as an archivist, librarian, and records manager. Reading the Book of Mormon with that in mind, some intriguing insights emerge about what is fundamentally a record of records. The concept of provenance, which is the description of a chain of custody used to verify sources, is a prevailing component of Mormon's work. This is vital to claims of authenticity in our modern world but is less evident in Joseph Smith's time or in biblical tradition. From its creation to its translation and publication, the Book of Mormon is profoundly and essentially a book that discusses its own authorship and editing at length. It is self referential, unique from other books as it examines its own genesis and future. Even a non LDS writer observed: Bare Record: The Nephite Archivist, The Record of Records, and the Book of Mormon Provenance