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Archival Processes Overview: Practical Approaches and Preservation Strategies

Explore appraisal, arrangement, and preservation processes in archiving. Learn efficient organization strategies to enhance accessibility and protect valuable records. Understand preservation techniques for diverse materials. Discussion on privacy concerns and prioritizing preservation actions.

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Archival Processes Overview: Practical Approaches and Preservation Strategies

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  1. Archives 101 Randi Beem, Instruction Archivist Katie Howell, University Archivist J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte

  2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE INTRODUCTIONS APPRAISAL ACTIVITY OVERVIEW OF BASIC ARCHIVAL PROCESSES • Arrangement & Description • Preservation • Growth RESOURCES QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION

  3. 1. INTRODUCTIONS

  4. HELLO! Randi Beem, Instruction Archivist + Katie Howell, University Archivist J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte

  5. 2. ACTIVITY

  6. COLLECTION SURVEY Imagine you are starting your first day as an archivist at your institution. During your first morning, you are approached by the retiring Dean of Students Professor James Farnsworth, who would like to give his departmental papers to the archives. He has been at the college since the 1960’s and has seen the changes in the student body as well as the changing of faculty. Your first task as College Archivist is to process this collections that is over 45 cubic feet. You only have 30 cubic feet open in your shop so you will need to make some decisions about what to keep. During this process you will want to come up with any possible series and subseries for this collection.

  7. THINGS TO CONSIDER Privacy What privacy concerns might these records have? Do they contain PII? Do they cover controversial topics? Are there legal issues to consider? Value What value do these record have for the institution? Consider historical value, research potential, and the cost to maintain and preserve these records. Space Remember: you only have limited space available, so some decisions will have to be made about what to keep and what to toss.

  8. LET’S DISCUSS What problems did you find? What decisions did you make? What possible arrangement decisions did you make?

  9. 3. ARRANGEMENT & DESCRIPTION

  10. ARCHIVAL PROCESSING IDENTIFY THE PARTS UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE What do you have in your collections? What existing order is present? How do the parts (series, sub-series) relate to the whole? How can you present these relationships through arrangement and description?

  11. MORE PRODUCT, LESS PROCESS Gets collection materials to users faster Materials are arranged adequately for users’ needs Takes the minimal steps necessary to ensure physical preservation Describes material well enough to promote use Source: Greene, Mark A., and Dennis Meissner. “More Product, Less Process: Revamping Traditional Archival Processing.” The American Archivist, vol. 68, no. 2, 2005, pp. 208–263.

  12. PHYSICAL VS. INTELLECTUAL Don’t obsess over physical rearrangement when an intellectual rearrangement can accomplish the same goal.

  13. The principle reason for archival description is to enable and to ease access by users. -- Mark A. Greene & Dennis Meissner Greene and Meissner, “More Product, Less Process,” 233-234.

  14. LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION Depend on various factors. • Size of Collection • Notoriety of Donor • User Needs • Possible anniversaries or important events surrounding collection

  15. FINDING AIDS • Description should be top-down • Record only what’s necessary at each level and don’t repeat • Describe to the same level as the arrangement • Include notes about context, scope and content

  16. 4. PRESERVATION

  17. First: Do No Harm

  18. PRESERVATION Stacks Collections Building Roof, windows, plumbing, insulation, risk for natural disasters, pest control, fire protection Security, temperature and humidity, light, location within building (attic or basement?), housekeeping, shelving Acid-free, fully supported, labels, enclosures, collections policies for use and reproductions

  19. PRIORITIZING PRESERVATION Prioritize your preservation actions • Most significant impact • Most feasible • Most important Consider use, value, condition, storage Prioritization grid - Pamela Darling, modified by Sherelyn Ogden - CC BY-NC-ND

  20. PRESERVATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photographs are a great asset to your collections but can be a preservation issue. However, there are multiple ways to combat these problems. • Photographs may need seperate storage boxes • Photographs do need some kind of protective separate storage • Examples: polyethylene sleeves or photograph envelopes

  21. PRESERVATION OF MOVING IMAGES Moving Images can contain a multitude of various formats including VHS, 16 mm film, and Beta. Moving Images are great records of historical note but can pose storage and preservation issues. Storage Solutions: • Separate and describe the materials based on format • Specialized storage solutions including Betamax Boxes and VHS Boxes • Can also just leave in an archival box together

  22. DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLAN Disaster Preparedness Plan is a way to guide care of collections when an emergency or problem arises. Disaster Preparedness Plan does not need to be multistep or complicated but should exist and may include an idea of where to store collections until an emergency is over and how to store materials. Examples may include: • Ad hoc off-site storage • Plastic Bins to keep collections free from water or other harmful elements • System in place of how to move the materials

  23. 5. GROWTH

  24. GROWING YOUR COLLECTIONS • Look to the retention schedule • Find allies on campus • Outreach • Alumni Associations • Neighboring Institutions

  25. 6. RESOURCES

  26. RESOURCES • Preservation 101, Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) • Online textbook or course offered • NEDCC Preservation leaflets • State Archives of NC • Traveling Archivist Program • Records management training • Digitization, NC Digital Heritage Center

  27. RESOURCES • Demystifying Born Digital, OCLC • Society of American Archivists • Arrangement & Description Certificate Program • Listservs, publications, toolkits, courses • Sections, especially Lone Arrangers • Regional organizations (SNCA, SCAA, SGA, etc.)

  28. RESOURCES • Wisconsin Historical Society-Free Webinars regarding audience, collections, and preservation • Connecting to Collections Care-Free Webinars focused on preservation of materials • Efficient Processing Guidelines, University of California Libraries

  29. RESOURCES • Digitization tips • Library of Congress • Scanning on demand, guide by OCLC

  30. 7. Q&A

  31. THANKS! Any questions? You can find us at: rbeem@uncc.edu katie.howell@uncc.edu

  32. CREDITS Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free: • Presentation template by SlidesCarnival • Photographs by Unsplash

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