Brooklyn Historical Society - Council on Library and Information
Contents
1. s life time Where was this person born Where was he she educated institution degree dates Where did he she live Where did he she work or conduct business Did he she travel explore 13 e Did he she die Why e Why is this person significant e Why should people use this collection PROCESSING WORKSHEETS Historical Note for Corporate Business or Organizational Records or Collections on a Corporation Business or Organization e Who is the collection about e Name changes Dates e Who were key players in the corporation business or organization e Who did the corporation business or organization serve What e What did the corporation business or organization do e What was the mission statement e What are significant accomplishments or achievements of the corporation business or organization and their dates When e When was the corporation business or organization created e When did it stop its activities e What are significant timeframes dates within the corporation business or organization s life cycle Where e Where was the corporation business or organization located e Did its location change at any point 14 e Why is this corporation business or organization significant e Why should people use this collection PROCESSING WORKSHEETS Scope and Content Note THINK ABOUT THE COLLECTION FROM THE RESEARCHERS POINT OF VIEW What kinds of materials are in the collection If one type2. o Functions or activities resulting in the creation of the records How the collection fits into the more general context of history o How the collection may be useful to researchers this is really the highlights section Example Researchers interested in colonial medicine may find the diaries which include entries on treating yellow fever to be useful O OOO O 10 Abstract e The abstract is a brief and tidy statement that sums up the collection usually it includes the most basic and important information from the bio history note and the scope and content note e Itis useful for providing researchers with the most essential facts about the collection e You should describe the collection in just a few sentences o Who or what is the collection about o What is contained in the collection o Include the most important keywords Step IV Assigning Subject and Name Headings General Guidelines Each collection will be assigned subject and name headings by survey team members As a general rule use name and subject headings from the Library of Congress Authorities http bit ly 5XFuPU For genre terms use the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus AAT http bit ly wTGOk In some cases there will be names you want to assign to a collection that will not have authorized headings in the LC Authorities When this happens consult Chapters 12 14 of DACS for information on creating standardized forms of personal corporate or fa
3. Return to the existing descriptive documents o Make certain that all the most important information included in those documents is included in your Notes o Check to see if the date ranges are correct o Have you reduced or increased the size of the collection through processing If you did check to see that the correct extent is reflected on the finding aid o Check to see if there are any names subjects or genres that should be added to or removed from the authority list Again don t hesitate to ask one of your survey teammates to review the finding aid a fresh pair of eyes can see amazing things Step V Finishing Up e Create new labels for large collections over 4 linear feet that are being removed from the A box numbering sequence if applicable e If the physical location of the collection changes over the course surveying and processing record the new location coordinates in AT and in the ArMs Master List database 12 Who PROCESSING WORKSHEETS Biographical Note for Personal Papers or Family Papers or Collections on a Person Who is the collection about Name changes Who was his her family Are other significant people in the collection and their relationships to creator subject What did the person do for a living What are significant accomplishments or achievements of the person and their dates When was the person born When did he she die What are significant timeframes dates within the person
4. fair to poor document a famous person place etc appeal to a wide audience but are not necessarily unique and are somewhat historically significant not terribly unique Materials of interest to a limited audience Materials in average physical condition physical condition Survey Categories and Ratings Survey Instrument Guide to Minimal Archival Processing adapted from CLIR PACSCL s Minimal Processing Manuah Processing Levels Level Description Arrangement Preservation Collection Level DACS compliant As is Re house only if unserviceable in Processing collection level current housing please check with collections MARC record Matthew or Chela before re housing under 4 linear feet no action taken other than the creation of the collection level record anything as fresh archival supplies are at a premium Check for acidification mold pests and nitrate film Series Level Processing collections larger than 4 linear feet DACS compliant collection level MARC record and finding aid with series list Put series or volumes in order within boxes DO NOT arrange materials within folders Re house only if unserviceable in current housing please consult with Matthew or Chela before re housing anything as fresh archival supplies are at a premium Check for acidification mold pests and nitrate film Introduction
5. of material or topic makes up the bulk of the collection make note of that What are the main subjects contained within the collection What is the date range of the collection Are there gaps in the collection What are the highlights or specific strengths of the collection Are their unique perspectives on topics within the collection How does the collection fit within the more general context of history 15 How will this collection be useful to researchers PROCESSING WORKSHEETS Abstract Who is the collection about What are the dates of the creator subject What is the significant contribution of the creator subject What is in the collection What are the dates of the collection 16
6. putting together a long list of headings to assign to a collection Once you have put together an exhaustive list of keywords go to the LC and AAT websites enter your keywords into the search engines and pick the most appropriate subject or name heading yielded by your search If you are unsure about the best heading to assign to a collection consult 11 one of your fellow surveyors for advice Once you have put together a list of name and subject headings to assign to a collection link them to the collection s accession and resource records in AT see the BHS AT User s Manual for instructions on how to add new name and subject headings and link those headings to collections Step V Proofread Your Work e Checking for spelling and grammatical mistakes o Inthe Archivists Toolkit copy and paste the text of your bio history note scope and content note and abstract and paste it into MS Word o Run spell check paying close attention to proper names and place names because spell check may not identify them as incorrect o Read through the text of the notes to make sure you pick up and correct any grammatical errors that spell check might miss o If you are unsure of anything or just want a fresh set of eyes to look over your work ask one of your survey teammates to review it o Make sure to copy the corrected text and paste it back into the appropriate note fields in AT replacing the old text and re saving the resource record e
7. to Minimal Processing 1 Mark Greene and Dennis Meissner introduced the concept of minimal processing in their article More Product Less Process http bit ly 91PiTk in order to handle late 20th century collections Minimal processing is designed to reduce the backlogs created by accruals and the time intensive nature of processing The goal is to make collections accessible to researchers even if they are not perfectly processed 2 The real key to minimal processing is taking advantage of all the information that is already available Look at what is written on the boxes and how folders are labeled Use the processing plan and the information in your packets 3 While working remember that this project requires that minimal processing is employed do not get overly absorbed in the collection 4 Work efficiently and take good notes so that you do not have to return to reinvestigate topics For the purposes of this project processing is divided into 5 steps I Familiarize Yourself with the Collection and Take Notes II Arrange the Collection HI Describe the Collection Create the Finding Aid IV Proofread Your Work V Finishing Up Step I Familizarize Yourself with the Collection and Take Notes e Examine Existing Descriptive Documents o These documents may include survey notes accession records existing container O lists processing plan etc In the survey notes or accession record look at Biography History Note
8. Brooklyn Historical Society Uncovering the Secrets of Brooklyn s 19th Century Past Creation to Consolidation SURVEYING AND PROCESSING MANUAL APRIL 2010 Acknowledgement Significant portions of this manual were adapted from the PACSCL CLIR Hidden Collections Project Minimal Processing Manual Contents Goals of the Project Technical Approach Survey Process Survey Categories and Ratings Guide to Minimal Archival Processing Processing Worksheets Definitions DOS Se Resources Goals of the Project 1 The primary goal of this project is to create MARC encoded bibliographic records for hidden archives manuscript and photographic collections at the Brooklyn Historical Society and make them accessible via the internet 2 The secondary goal is to assess the scope condition and level of physical and intellectual access currently available for these collections in order to set future priorities for arrangement description conservation digitization and other initiatives We define hidden collections as materials with missing inaccurate or incomplete descriptive records in either finding aid or MARC format Technical Approach Describing Archives A Content Standard DACS compliant collection level MARC records will be the end goal of the survey of archive manuscript and photographic collections For collections larger than four linear feet series level EAD finding aids will also be produced Physical survey
9. Interest Negligible l l Quality of Documentation Very Rich Quality of Documentation Quality of Documentation Quality of Documentation Quality of Documentation Slight Rich Moderately Rich Incidentally Valuable Intellectual Excellent access Good access Fair access Poor access No access Online EAD Finding Aid Offline finding aid The available The available finding Internal documentation such as Access available available finding aid is aid is substandard or is a donor control file or brief MARC record in an OPAC MARC record in an substandard or is unavailable accession record is the only available OPAC available unavailable No MARC record descriptive tool available Offline descriptive tool MARC record in an available or the available OPAC available collection is too large An offline and complex for it to descriptive tool provide sufficient access provides sufficient Offline descriptive tools access due to the provide insufficient small size of the access collection Completeness Unique accession assigned to Unique accession i Unique accession Collection may or may not The collection has no assigned collection assigned to collection assigned to collection have an assigned unique unique accession of Accession Deed of gift or bill of sale No deed of gift or Supporting accession An accession file may or may not present other documentation documentation is spotty No legal documentation exist Record Correspondence r
10. e with what you know of the collection from the existing descriptive documents and processing plan As you are looking through the material use your notes worksheet to record additional Topics Names and Places Genres Highlights in the collection This will help you write your scope and content note and add to the biographical and historical notes Step II Arrange the Collection NOTE Because of the time constraints inherent to this project and the volume of materials we have to deal with the time devoted to arrangement of collections will be as minimal as possible and the work should be done with extreme efficiency Don t get too caught up in arranging collections e Identify an Intellectual Arrangement o The first thing to look for is original order original order if it makes sense will always be used If there is no original order or the original order is not conducive to research you will need to rearrange the collection Original order at the intellectual stage is important because it indicates the way the creator thought kept and used their own records o Identify Series if applicable A series is nothing more than a group of similar records that are arranged according to a filing system and that are related as the result of being created received or used in the same activity SAA Glossary Often rearrangement is common sense if you have a hundred folders that contain correspondence it makes sense to c
11. esearch indicating ownership and provides little or no donor contact info If the file exists it only lists the materials or other supporting Some supporting provenance or supporting documentation donor s name and no accession documents present documentation present ownership info that clearly establishes date Basic bibliographic inventory Incomplete Incomplete provenance or ownership Legal or supporting info present bibliographic bibliographic Bibliogrpahic inventory documentation Separation of materials inventory information inventory information info either very poor or bibliographic inventory info etc documentation present if non existent are not available applicable Exhibition Items have great Materials have Materials have Materials have very little Materials have no visual aesthetic appeal above average average visual aesthetic appeal visual aesthetic appeal Value Materials in excellent physical visual aesthetic visual aesthetic Materials have very Subject matter of the materials condition appeal appeal limited audience appeal would be of no interest to a Subjects documented would Materials are in Materials are Materials show little wide audience have a wide audience appeal good physical moderately historical significance Materials are in very poor Materials are unique condition historically and are not unique physical condition historically significant and or Materials would significant and are Materials in
12. he term miscellaneous as a series title please write a description that includes at least a list of the types of materials included therein At least Miscellaneous Correspondence e Date fields DACS Compliant o Inclusive Dates Use this 1849 1851 no spaces around the dash NOT 1849 51 o If the collection continues to accrue place the most recent accrual in the date span 1965 2009 NOT 1965 OR 1965 Ongoing o Bulk Dates 1785 1960 bulk 1916 1958 o Significant Gap in Records 1827 1952 1978 o Estimated Date Ranges circa 1870 1879 o Single Dates 1975 OR 1975 March August OR 1906 March 17 o Estimated Single Dates circa August 1975 o No Dates If no specific dates or close approximate dates are easily discernible after examining the collection DO NOT label the collection n d A very wide circa date such as circa 1850 1900 is preferable to n d Notes Biography History Note Scope and Content Note and Abstract e This is the place for the collection s importance and uniqueness to really shine e This is another opportunity for a potential researcher to determine if the collection contains information that makes research worth their time and sometimes travel e Look again to your existing descriptive documents especially the survey notes which will provide you with an excellent starting point Sometimes very little revision or addition will be necessary e Ifyou use any other work t
13. heir time and sometimes travel e Pay attention to your wording and be as accurate as possible o Example title Meeting regarding Race Relations in Williamsburg 2001 Is this a meeting about race relations in Williamsburg or is it a meeting about race relations generally which was held in Williamsburg A researcher may be interested in only one of these and a title as unclear as this one may result in a researcher wasting his her time or missing information that is really useful Abbreviations Try very hard not to use abbreviations few are absolutely standardized and part of this project s purpose is to create finding aids for a centralized standardized EAD repository Acronyms Do not use acronyms without describing them fully the first time they are used Use acronyms sparingly with electronic finding aids researchers may jump to a portion of the finding aid without reading all notes If you have a series title that has an acronym make certain that you include the full name in the series title in addition to the acronym Example Congress of Racial Equality CORE Just because you are in the archival field and certain abbreviations and acronyms are part of your vocabulary does not mean that they are part of a researcher s vocabulary Remember that finding aids are designed to make collections accessible think about being the user of the collection and how you would want to search Miscellaneous Anytime you use t
14. if available Look for names topics and context within the material Dates of Collection Be aware of the date span that was originally stated Remember that this collection is surveyed but unprocessed the archivists accessioning the collection the surveyors and the person creating the processing plan only briefly looked at the collection and after processing new date spans may be necessary Notes to Processors which may indicate problems or issues to which you will need to pay attention Pay particular attention to the General Note and Conservation Note fields in the AT assessment module especially if you are processing a collection that you did not survey Subjects should very generally tell you what the collection is about Double check any existing subject headings to make sure they are compliant with LC or AAT headings and or DACS Also keep existing subject headings in mind because as you process you may find that certain headings are inappropriate and or that additional or different headings should be assigned to the collection Look for potential series for collections over 4 linear feet if an existing container list exists study it and look out for similar documents that could be grouped together into appropriate series e Examine the Collection O Look at the outside of the boxes for clues you may find information about accessions donors subjects and the quantity of materials donated Compare what you se
15. ing will be done in two groups of two by survey teams made up of the Project Archivist and the three Archive Survey Technicians Survey teams will physically examine the collections assess the descriptive tools and accessions paperwork available come to consensus about scale ratings for each category and make notes of supporting information on reaching these decisions Information gathered during the physical survey will be entered in to the AT In addition the survey team will compose or revise when available summary description and historical or biographical notes the equivalent of MARC 520 and 545 fields and assign Library of Congress subject and name headings From the information entered into AT collection level MARC records will be exported and transferred to the NYU Technical Services Department for inclusion in their BobCat OPAC In addition a collection level description will be added to the BHS website via our catablog for archive photograph and manuscript collections Survey Process Surveying involves the members of each team looking at a collection its access tools and relevant background research The survey process consists of three steps 1 Visual inspection 2 Intellectual evaluation 3 Assign survey ratings 4 Confirm findings with teammate The purpose of the visual inspection portion of the survey process is to determine the physical arrangement and condition of a collection This involves pulling down all boxe
16. mily names The primary function of name and subject headings is to serve as access points for users With this in mind they should be assigned to a collection with the perspective of the user in mind e What type s of user s would potentially want to use this collection e Why would a user be interested in this collection e What type s of information does this collection offer to users e What headings would make this collection accessible to the greatest number of users When brainstorming headings to assign to a collection consult any notes you took during your initial survey and pick out names and keywords that describe the major people places events and other topics covered in the collection generally those that are covered in 20 or more of the collection s materials Some things to keep in mind when devising name and subject headings e Collectively the name and subject terms assigned to a collection should offer a broad concise summary of what a collection is about e In terms of specificity the headings assigned to a collection should be as specific as the topics it covers e Atabare minimum each collection should be assigned at least one name heading for its creator one topical subject heading and one genre term if appropriate Otherwise there is no hard and fast rule regarding the number of subject and name headings that should be assigned to a collection just don t spend an inordinate amount of time
17. nd we do not have the time to do this well or thoughtfully Leave the material in the collection UNLESS Chela or Matthew give you an okay to throw it away If you have any questions or concerns about materials that you think should be disposed of feel free to consult either of us Step III Describe the Collection Create the Resource Record in AT MINIMAL PROCESSING REMINDER You will not be spending significant time the collection so it is important to pay close attention to any details that are quickly available or have been noted in the existing descriptive documents or on folders Using the Resources Module in the Archivists Toolkit create the collection level MARC record or series level finding aid using the Archivists Toolkit Guide provided in your manual Enter the title of the collection MARC 245 field and the name of its primary creator MARC 100 field for personal names 130 for corporate names into the appropriate fields in AT see AT manual for instructions Titling series for series level finding aids o Writing Good Titles When possible you will be transcribing from existing labels into the Archivists Toolkit Only worry about improving titles if they are not at all helpful to researchers or are inaccurate Writing good titles is extremely important even or especially when minimally processing e This is often where researchers will decide if a collection contains information that makes research worth t
18. o create the notes make certain that you cite the source using the Chicago Manual of Style e Frequently you will not be able to find all of the following types of information but the more you have the better Biography Historical Note e This note is about the subject of the collection USUALLY the creator who may be a person institution or business Sometimes the creator may be a collector and then the bio historical note will focus on that which the creator collected with some information about the creator e This note should cover the general scope of the person or business but it should focus on the aspect of the person institution or business that is reflected in the collection o In every biography and historical note the following should be included Name this may include titles married names aliases pseudonyms common or popular names and acronyms if an institution or business and changes of name Geographic Location s birthplace place of business etc Birth Death Dates as exact as possible OR Business Operation Dates e This is almost always different from the collection dates as the collection may document only a fraction of a person s life or a business s operation Education where was the person educated what degrees were earned the dates at an institution etc Type of business conducted by person institution or company What the person institution or company is known for or why the pe
19. reate a series called Correspondence It is not always this easy but use your best judgment and look for common genres and themes in the collection Possible Series Genres Types of Materials Topics Time Frames e Architectural Records Biographical Material Correspondence Ephemera Financial Records Government Records Images Legal Documents Organizational Records Press School Records etc e These are just a few Remember that one of the fundamental archival principles states that archival records are unique Every collection you deal with will have a unique set of series that may or may not include any typical types Once you have identified the series flag the start and end of the series Think about the Users Make sure your series really make sense in the context of the collection e Identify a Physical Arrangement o Again pay attention to original order If original order exists this makes your minimal processing even more efficient o Place the series in the box in a logical order alphabetical chronological etc o Minimal Processing Rules Do NOT organize material within folders Do NOT unfold papers within folders Do NOT remove papers clips or other metal fasteners unless absolutely necessary DO remove rubber bands DO use only pencil everything an archivist does should be reversible NEVER throw anything away without permission from staff Appraisal is possibly the most difficult task in processing a
20. rson institution or company is important Relationships parentage marriage business partners etc found in the collection Scope and Content Note e This note is about the contents of the collection e This is a place to discuss highlights obvious gaps in records or unique perspectives on the topic of the collection e In every scope note the following should be included o Types of materials found in the collection genres or documentary forms such as minutes diaries reports water colors documentaries etc Specifics can be added Example Included in the collection are diaries describing day to day activities as well as nationally important events such as the signing of the Constitution of the United States of America in 1787 and Philadelphia s Yellow Fever Epidemic in 1793 Main Subjects use your best judgment All Series Titles if applicable Areas of the collection which are particularly rich with information Dates Spans of the records dates of events or extremely important time frames within the creators life or business operations 1 Example If you are referring to Picasso s Blue Period note the dates 1900 1904 Formats 1 In narratives use normal date order such as July 22 2009 2 When describing a span do not use spaces around the hyphen 1945 1947 and do not abbreviate NOT 1945 47 However from 1800 to 1900 is preferred 3 Decades are written without an apostrophe 1920s
21. s orderly arrangement Series and files not arrangement subseries file Generally good fully established Non standard housing Completely inaccessible to Single volumes are orderly and order within files Significant work and or labeling researcher indexed Single volumes are required of Use discouraged except orderly researchers to locate with staff assistance certain document types All housing is acid free and in Some housing is Housed in non Housed in non archival Housed in non archival Quality of sa S ST good condition acid free and in archival containers containers and containers and enclosures Housing Containers and enclosures are good condition and enclosures in enclosures Some items might be loose on reasonable filled Most containers and good condition Housing is filled the shelf All containers and enclosures enclosures are Most containers and beyond reasonable Majority of materials not in are the correct size and type for reasonably filled enclosures are capacity proper housing or in the materials they house with materials reasonably filled Most of the housing is overstuffed under stuffed Most containers and Most containers and not appropriate for the housing enclosures are the enclosures are the type of materials correct size and type correct size and type contained inside for the materials they house Research Value Interest Very High l i Interest Higl l Intere Moderate Interest Slight l
22. s in which a collection is housed opening lids and inspecting the physical contents of the collection Team members should take note of the quality of the collection s housing materials including both boxes and folders the order or lack thereof in which the contents of the collection are arranged any visible preservation concerns such as mold acidification pest infestation folded documents etc the actual extent of the collection and the labeling of folders in the collection The purpose of the intellectual evaluation portion of the survey process is to assess the content of the collection provenance subject matter themes depth of coverage document genres etc and its intellectual access tools Team members should review all relevant access tools including accession records finding aids MARC catalog records collection inventories etc There will be great variation in the availability of each of these types of tools for each collection Also do not be surprised if different access tools for a single collection provide conflicting information or if the information contained in the access tools does not accurately reflect the true physical state of the collection primarily in terms of arrangement and extent Following the first two steps in the survey process team members will assign survey ratings to the collection using the survey instrument During the visual inspection and intellectual evaluation process team members may
23. wish to take notes on the collection s physical condition arrangement and subject matter as the information gathered during this portion of the survey will significantly inform the survey ratings applied to a collection and subsequently the processing of the collection see Step I of the Guide to Minimal Processing on pg 11 for tips on what sorts things to take note of for processing purposes If team members have trouble achieving consensus they should consult Matthew or Chela for assistance Also please inform Matthew and Chela if a surveyed box or collection requires any further review The following pages feature a one page quick reference guide to the numerical survey rating instrument as well as detailed explanations of each survey category and the criteria that applies to each survey rating Survey Ratings Categories Quick Reference 5 4 3 2 Physical Excellent Very good e Good Fair Poor Little damage Little damage e Expected Somewhat worse than Condition No expectation of further Some further deterioration expected Significant deterioration deterioration e Some further Some further damage deterioration possible deterioration deterioration possible Collection difficult to use possible Physical Access Full orderly arrangement to Partial somewhat Rough arrangement Partial superficial Totally unarranged appropriate level i e serie
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