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Introduction

In the past we have sometimes separated audiovisual material from manuscript collections for separate listing and description. Beginning in July 2013, there will be no dedicated audiovisual archivist. Processing all processing of audiovisual material will be done both by manuscript processors as part of the normal collection workflow, and also eventually by members of an audiovisual team. Processors should assess A/V material in their collection as part of their processing plan, and should consult with their team lead and /or Joanne when determining what to do with A/V materials.

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Within the finding aid each individual audiotape (or other media) receives a unique file unit number (e.g., T-249.1, T-249.2, etc.) Also, in most cases, all tapes in a collection will have the same "T-" or "CD-" number and then a separate reel number so that all tapes from the same collection can be shelved together. Instructions for how to list and tag A/V material in the finding aid are in the How to EAD (XMetal) section of this manual.

Appraisal and description

Appraisal of audiovisual material should take into account the high cost of preservation to make the media accessible for the future. Always ask yourself: Is this something worth adding to the collection and providing long-term access?

[NEED HELP FROM JOANNE FOR THIS PART]

***would like to have info on how to list, e.g. Title, date. Format. Time or something like that. Processors want to know how to say how long something is

Be sure to add following note to the Access Restrictions section of the finding aid: Appointment required for access to audiovisual material.

Finding aid examples

Lamaze International moving image collection http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch01437

June Jordan audiotapes http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch01211

Workflow

As part of beginning research on a collection, check to see if there is any A/V material.

Open AV-DCTracker.fp7 and search for the collection title - make sure you are in the "Collection View A/V" - and see what's listed. If locations are not listed for any materials, check in with Joanne.

Survey any A/V material along with your collection and discuss your appraisal with team lead and/or Joanne.

Discuss with your team lead and/or Joanne the various cataloging options. Perhaps there is already cataloging data in AV/DC tracker you can export to the finding aid. Joanne may prefer that you create your inventory and description in Excel, and then export it to the finding aid (and to AV/DC tracker). Some of these mechanics will depend on the number of material to be cataloged.

When finished with A/V description, see A/V end processing, below.

Creating bib records

When describing a/v material in bib records:

In the bib record, use form/genre headings (and others as appropriate) for:

655 b0 Audiotapes.

655 b7 Videotapes.$$2local

In the bib record, in the 300, in the first $a indicate linear ft.; in the second $a, in parentheses, indicate the full extent as described in the finding aid:

$a1.2 linear ft.$a(1 carton, ½ file box, 1 folio+ folder, 2 audiotapes)

In the holdings record, use separate 007s (it’s okay to encode only the first two characters) for audio and for video.

In the holdings record, always add a 506 governing audiovisual material:

506 $aAppointment required for access to audiovisual material.

On rare occasions, processors may need to create a bibliographic record for a single audiovisual item, or a collection comprised of only audiovisual materials. In this case, please consult the A/V Cataloging Manual for specific details. [Collection Services\Audiovisual\AV cataloging\Unpublished_AV_Cataloging_Manual.doc]

Types of description

Unpublished audiovisual material can be described in many ways and at different levels of access:

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You will find many examples in the catalog of when these guidelines were not followed, but I think in the interests of speed and clarity what we’ve laid out above is a reasonable approach. When in doubt, please discuss with Joanne whether or not A/V material should be separated. Going forward from July 2013 creation of separate A/V finding aids will happen less than int he past - most of the collections with larger and complex A/V components have been processed as part of the backlog.