Archives Management
Martha Lund Smalley
Archives Management: Part I: Setting the stage
Types of collections in a repository:
1. Records of your organization
- official/non-official
- predecessor organizations
2. Administrator / faculty papers
3. Personal papers and/or archival collections
gathered to document a particular subject area / era / etc.
4. Records of parent organizations
Types of materials:
- Administrative records
- Minutes, annual reports, committee records
- Program documentation
- Publications
- Financial records
- Student records
- Correspondence
- Writings
- Artifacts / memorabilia
- Photographs / videos
- Rare books and manuscripts
Be realistic about what you can
create and sustain.
What is needed to proceed?
Commitment of support for:
- Staff
- Space
- Materials
Statement of Goals & Policies
A foundational document, “for the record”
- Have it in written form & distributed!
- Defines the rationale and parameters for your
archives program
Content of the Statement of Goals
- Whose records are being collected?
- Who is going to use the records?
- What is the relationship between the archives
repository and creator of the archives?
- Who (specifically which person) is responsible
for caring for the archives?
Collection Development policy:
- How will you collect it?
Use Policy:
- Who is allowed to use materials?
- How will the use of materials be regulated?
- What about photocopying, borrowing, etc.?
Get it in writing!!
- Organization is committed to provide staff,
space, and materials
- You know in theory what types of records we
will seek to collect.
- You know who will be allowed to use these records
and in what setting.
Getting the material into the repository:
Acquisition: obtaining material
Accession: registering material
Appraisal: determining the value of material
Acquisition:
Make an inventory what is already “in house”
Gather appropriate materials from offices
or individuals who have them.
If you need to create new content, consider
the following:
- Ask appropriate leaders to write down their
memories.
- Send a questionnaire asking for information.
- Develop an oral history project
Accessioning:
Register incoming material with paper-based records
or a simple computer database or spreadsheet
Additional record-keeping:
- Deed of Gift form for personal papers - formal
agreement that the person has donated his/her papers.
- Organizational agreement - formal agreement
regarding the donation or deposit of records in the archives.
For currently-produced records of your institution,
Records Management is the key:
In most situations, records fall into the following
four categories:
Have an “Archives Day”
Appraisal: deciding exactly what to keep
How do we decide about the value of records?
Archives Management Part II Arrangement and
Description
What’s the difference between an archivist
and a file clerk?
Arrangement and description
A little bit of archival theory:
Another archival concept:
Step 1: Preliminary Inventory
Step 1: Preliminary Inventory
Step 2: Initial sorting / grouping / establishing
“record groups”
Example of establishing record groups: A seminary
has
- Record Group #1: Archives
of the Seminary
Step 3: Establish “series”
Some possible series titles:
Example of Record Groups and Series at academic
institution (Lady Doak College):
Record Group 3: Student & Alumnae Records
Step 4: Organize material within series:
Step 5: If possible, put the records in new
acid-free folders
Example of folder labeling:
Step 6: Prepare a finding aid
The parts of a finding aid:
Putting finding aids on the Internet: nice
but not necessary
Ideal but not necessary: a delivery system that
searches throughout all available finding aids
Archives Management Part III Preservation
The ideal storage area for records:
Why does paper deteriorate?
What is the best defense against paper deterioration?
Preservation common sense:
Microfilm still the most stable way to preserve
records
Repairing materials:
Sources of archival supplies:
Special needs for photographs
Electronic records:
Basic strategies for preserving electronic
data:
Format conversion: converting the data
format in order to reduce the number of different formats being used in
a particular setting, e.g. converting WordPerfect word processing files
to a Word format.
The most important thing that an archivist can
do at this point is to work with those generating the records to raise
their consciousness about the problems involved in preserving electronic
data. If records are received in electronic format, repositories
may need to reformat them at intervals to avoid obsolescent formats and
the need for obsolete hardware. A schedule should be put in place,
and a particular person made responsible, to intentionally verify at specific
intervals that the following types of electronic data are still readable:
· Email, Word processing and web documents, Databases.
Disaster preparedness
Archives Management Part IV: Promoting Use
Make your archives a professional operation,
but also a place where people feel welcome
Spreading the news about your archives :
Spreading the news (2):
Spreading the news (3):
Other ways to spread the news:
Digitization can be a way to promote use of
the archives
BUT REMEMBER: digitization is NOT the same as
conservation / preservation (lack of permanence)
Considerations if you decide to digitize:
Archives Management: Conclusion
1) Your first task is to convince the leaders
of your organization that there are concrete, practical advantages to maintaining
an archives program:
Please feel free to contact me if you have
questions: [email protected]
- It’s about being proactive instead of reactive
- Begin with a survey or inventory of the types
of records being produced by your organization.
- Communicate with the people who are creating
these records.
- Write down your policy about retaining records
- make a “records retention schedule”
1. Records that are used daily or weekly -- should
be close at hand in the organization’s office
2. Records that are used infrequently (monthly
or a few times a year), or which need to be retained for a set period of
years -- can be stored in a more remote storage area (e.g., a storeroom
within the office).
3. Records that have historic value but are not
used frequently -- should be deposited in the organization’s archives,
a safe and secure place
4. Records that do not have lasting legal or
historic value, are no longer used, and are not needed for tax or legal
purposes -- should be discarded.
- Many organizations find it useful to have one
day annually when records are evaluated.
- On this “archives day,” infrequently used records
are removed from current office files and placed in boxes that are clearly
labeled with an indication of the contents and the date until which they
should be retained.
- Records with historic value are sent to the
archives.
- Records without lasting value are destroyed
or recycled.
- On this day, the records manager should check
the storage area and disperse all records dated for removal.
* It’s okay to discard some material!
* Don’t discard on an item-by-item basis - too
time consuming
* Types of things that can be discarded:
- Multiple copies -
2 is enough to keep
- Printed material from another
organization
- Redundant financial records
- Routine administrative material
- Primary value- the records’
functional use to the person or agency that created them.
- Secondary value - their
value for research, both now and in the future.
- “Archival” value - how do
they fit in to your context?
- An archivist has a sense
of perspective.
- The archivist has a role
in forming the history of an organization or person.
- This power to form the history
is regulated by certain archival principles
- Increasing standardization
in the archival field.
- But there is no one right
way to do things!
The concept of "provenance” (originating source):
records generated by a particular individual or agency should be kept together,
not mixed with records from another individual or agency.
- When records come to a repository with an existing
system of organization, this system should be kept intact as much as
possible. . The archivist's task is to discover or clarify this system
of organization and keep it intact.
- This is more true for organizational archives
than for personal papers.
Step 2: Initial sorting / grouping / establishing
“record groups”
Step 3: Establish “series”
Step 4: Organize material within series
Step 5: Put the records in folders (best quality
available); label and number the folders & put in containers
Step 6: Prepare a finding aid
Step 7: Make a catalog record
- Find and read material that provides an idea
of the background and significance of the individuals or organizations
in question.
- Go through each box or file cabinet drawer
and make a preliminary inventory of what types of material are present
- Preserve the original order of the collection
at this stage.
- You may need to establish the “provenance”
of the material. Who generated or created the records?
- A “record group” reflects the source or provenance
of the material.
- Annual reports of seminary
- Faculty minutes
- Personnel Committee /other
committees
- Publications / events /
programs of seminary
- Records of local churches
- Souvenir booklets of local
Christian schools
- Unpublished biographies
of church leaders
- Church conference journals
- Student papers on individual
churches
- Photographs
- Record Group #2: Local Church
and School Records
- Record Group #3: Records
of Parent Church Body
- A series is a grouping of similar material
within the larger record group. The material may be similar in format
or in purpose. The series can be defined in any
manner that makes sense.
- Creating series allows for a kind of architecture
or structure that will make the collection as a whole easier to describe
and access.
- Legal and policy records
- Formational documents
- Committee records
- Correspondence
- Executive director’s files
- Collected material
- Financial records
- Audio-visual materials
Record Group 1: Administrative Records
- Formational documents
- Principal’s office [Files,
reports, minutes]
- Bursar’s office [Budget,
scholarships, etc.]
Record Group 2: Academic Affairs
- Dean’s office [Academic
Council reports, etc.]
- Academic calendars, course
bulletins
- Vice Principal’s office
[Attendance, Alumnae records, students database]
- Student Services office
[Student activities, Union, clubs]
Record Group No. 4: Administrator and Faculty
Records
- Material regarding founder
- Biographical material or
publications for other administrators or faculty
Record Group No. 5: Departmental Records
- By department
- Seminars, conferences
- Activities: invitations,
reports
- Publications
- Library
- Record Group No. 6: Programs
and Centers
- Child programs
- Women’s Study Center, Etc.
Record Group No. 7: Publications
- Books
-Newsletter
- Brochures, publicity
- Record Group No. 8: Photographs
- Faculty and administrators
- Student activities
- Buildings….etc.
Record Group No. 9: Collected Material and Related
Organizations
- Material from other colleges,
etc..….
- Put each series into an
appropriate order - alphabetically, chronologically, by subject, by type,
or whatever.
- But not all materials are
important enough to warrant painstaking efforts to put them in alphabetical
or chronological order.
- Use common sense
- Putting records into folders of manageable
size facilitates identification of appropriate segments of the records
and makes it more likely that the records will be kept in good order when
they are used in the future.
- Label the folders with descriptive headings,
not with a list of each item in the folder.
- It is useful to number the folders -- and the
boxes, or drawers in which the folders are housed -- so that material can
be more easily retrieved and re-filed.
Box 5
Record Group 9
Executive Committee
Folder 31
Alumni Board
Minutes 1999 Jan-May
- The finding aid provides
the researcher with information necessary to evaluate and gain access to
a group of papers
- It can be distributed so
that others learn about the contents of the collection or archives.
- An historical or biographical
note regarding the organization or individual documented
- An introduction describing
the kinds of materials in the collection, the quantity of materials, and
the general arrangement
- A folder listing (or sometimes
a box or drawer listing) for each series
- Encoded Archival Description
(EAD) - a way of coding finding aids that allows for more sophisticated
searching.
- http://www.loc.gov/ead/
- Finding aids can also be
made as word-processed documents and “saved as” HTML to put on Internet.
Also good to make a catalog record
- Physical maintenance of
the records
- All metal paper clips, rusting
staples, and rubber bands should be removed.
- Documents should be in containers
that prevent dust from entering
- Large items should be stored
flat.
- Amenable to consistent environmental
control (temperature and humidity)
- No water pipes running nearby
- Little or no natural light
- Wood pulp = acid content
= slow burn
- Any paper manufactured since
the mid-19th century -- unless it is of the type designated permanent/durable
or acid-free -- has an expected useful life
of less than fifty years.
Environmental controls
- A chemical reaction is taking
place in acidic paper, and this reaction is accelerated by high temperatures
and high humidity
- Ideal temperature: 16-20
degrees C
- Ideal relative humidity
level: 40-60%
If ideal conditions cannot be
reached, try to maintain
CONSISTENT conditions
- Some records are valuable
as physical artifacts while others are valuable primarily for the information
they contain.
- For some deteriorating items,
photo-copying them onto acid-free paper and discarding or restricting use
of the originals makes more sense than spending money to deacidify,
repair, or encapsulate them.
. - Optical scanning
and digitization are solutions of the future.
- “Latourette
Initiative” - program of Yale Divinity School Library to subsidize microfilming
of materials.
- NEVER use cellophane tape
- Get some basic supplies:
*
archival repair tape, e.g. “Filmoplast”
*
wipe cloths
*
acid free paper
- Light Impressions: http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com
- University Products http://www.universityproducts.com
1) Never label photographs
on their reverse with ballpoint pen. The ink may bleed through to
the front. Reference numbers on mounts should be written discreetly
in light-resistant ink. Reference numbers on the back of photographs that
have not been mounted can be written with a soft pencil that leaves a clear
mark.
2) If possible, put photographs
in chemically stable polyester or paper sleeves (e.g., made of a material
such as Mylar, or acid-free paper.) Such sleeves help prevent curling of
photographs and reduce physical contact with the photos. It is also
possible to label the sleeves with identifying information or to insert
a separate written label inside the sleeve.
3) If it is not feasible for
you to use sleeves, be sure to store the photographs in such a way that
they will not curl over time and will not be subject to excessive handling.
- The conservative stance for a repository to
take regarding electronic records is to require that all records be deposited
in hard copy.
- This stance will be increasingly untenable
as organizations and individuals wholeheartedly enter the electronic age.
- Even now, there is a danger in requesting hard
copy printouts of records to be saved. The extra steps of selecting and
printing records to be saved will inevitably limit the number and variety
of records saved.
- Medium refreshing: copying data from one physical
carrier to another of the same type, e.g. backing up a hard drive, diskette,
or CD ROM.
- Medium conversion: transferring electronic
data from one medium to another – this might mean transferring to a non-digital
medium.
* High quality acid neutral
paper can last a century or longer and archival quality microfilm is projected
to last 300 years or more. Paper and microfilm have the additional advantage
of requiring no special hardware or software for retrieval or viewing
Migration: converting the data so that
it can operate with different hardware and software than originally intended.
This could involve transferring data to a central server or computer housed
in the archives.
- A disaster plan in the event
of fire or flood should be an integral part of any repository's program.
- It is important to have
the plan in written form because of potential chaos and confusion at the
height of the emergency
- If there should be water
damage, it is best to rescue photographs, microfilm, and any materials
with coated (glossy) paper
first.
- Define your access policy
and procedures
- Prepare an appropriate reading
area
- Make a repository guide:
*
provides an overview of materials available
*
Can be printed form or online – preferably both.
*
Distribute it at conferences and meetings
- Write an article for your
institution’s newsletter.
- Engage the faculty at your
institution. See if they will give the students an assignment that requires
use of the archives.
- Make an exhibit
- Originals should be displayed
only in secure area - use reproductions if appropriate
- Lighting should be restrained
- Items should be well-supported
- Choose items with visual
appeal, e.g. 3D
- Captions need to be large
enough
- A portable exhibit can be
brought to various venues.
- Publications
- Speaking engagements
- “Marketing”
- increases accessibility
and visibility (service)
- enhances usefulness: search
abilities, linking, navigation, multimedia
- enhances manipulation: annotations
-> microfilm still the standard for preservation
-> electronic formats become obsolete
- Is it worth digitizing the
materials? -> selection
how unique is the item; value of its content; demand; risks to the material
- Can the material be scanned
without damaging it?
avoid improper handling of the materials; avoid rescanning
- Do you have the proper equipment
to digitize at high quality?
- Have you taken into account
the costs of storage of the files and necessary back-up procedures?
-- Maintaining good archival
records can help save the time and energy of staff members who need certain
information in order to accomplish their duties
. -- Archival records are a good source
of material for an organization’s publications. They can make planning
of programs and events more efficient.
-- Archives are important
for establishing and preserving the identity of our organizations.
Organizations need the support of successive generations in order to survive
and archives can play an important role in fostering this support.
When financial support for an archives program
is lacking, or the leaders of an organization question the need for archives,
it is important to remember these very practical advantages that archives
have for an organization.
2) Be very intentional about the subject of saving
archives. Put specific policies and procedures in place, otherwise, as
time goes on, the enthusiasm about keeping archives may diminish and the
program will begin to disintegrate.
It is important to have a formal Statement of
Goals that has been approved by the highest leaders of the organization.
3) It is very important to have a particular
person who is responsible for maintaining the archives in an organization.
This person must have the authority to request and receive organizational
records on a regular basis to be kept in the archives . Every organization
should have someone who is the designated “archivist” or “records manager”
or “historian.”
4) The archives should have a designated place
5) The archivist needs to have some training
and familiarity with the organization.
6) Begin by making a survey of what types of
records are available and where they are currently kept. Decide what types
of records the archives should contain. Establish procedures for getting
records to the archives.
7) Make accession records and preliminary inventories
for all materials received in the archives. Have some means of controlling
backlog.
8) Organize the materials according to archival
principles.
9) Make finding aids that describe the records
in a way that makes them useable.
10) Make a distributable guide or brochure that
describes your archives.