Newly accessioned material to be shelved at Houghton or the Theatre Collection should be given to stacks staff to shelve; the notes below are offered for guidance in housing material and may change according to stacks requirements. The list of collection codes is helpful in considering sizes and formats of housing.
Material going to the Harvard Depository will need to be labeled and barcoded, and pick up must be arranged via the online HD form; as of this writing, the Accessioning Archivist handles these steps.
- Collections of one linear foot or more are generally housed in Paige boxes and sent to HD
- Small collections (between .04 and one linear foot) may be shelved in boxes at Houghton in the boxed accession sequence
- Collections of a small amount of paper may be housed in pamphlet binders and shelved in the regular or folio codex sequence, as dictated by height
- Oversize materials may be shelved horizontally in portfolio boxes in the portfolio accession sequence (sturdy metal-edged pf boxes may also be sent to HD)
- Oversize framed/glazed items are shelved vertically at the head of the portfolio accessions section
- Glass, such as framed and glazed items or objects, should not be sent to HD
- To avoid temperature fluctuation in transit, audiovisual materials should be kept on site if possible; consult with preservation staff for more detailed care planning.
HD Prep
- Create box labels (which take Avery "business cards" sheets, #5911) using the box label template; overwrite the existing data, taking care not to change the margins of the labels. Print these out using the bypass tray of your printer.
- Place one barcode and one repository sticker on each label, making sure the correct repository labels and barcodes are used (for HOU or THE).
- Create one item record for each box, scanning in the barcode.
- Place one label inside one label holder on the front of each box, being sure to cross out any existing writing on the box.
- Use the online HD form to arrange for pickup of the new boxes (or have someone who has access to the system do so).
- Place each Paige or Hollinger box inside one grey plastic bin; cover with a rain catcher (soft side up); close the bin and fasten with a plastic tie.
- Create a cover sheet with the following information: number of boxes for which code (HOU, THE); "for HD"; and date you notified HD of the need for pickup. Attach this sheet to the top of the stack of boxes piled in the mail room.