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The series called “Compositions” at Houghton has historically referred to the group of paper-format literary drafts and proofs that led up to the published work of an author, as well as unpublished literary drafts. A clean (not annotated), printed, final published work is not considered a manuscript, so would not normally be kept as part of the author’s papers, but if received with the papers, would be transferred to the Rare Book Department of Technical Services, and cataloged by them. However, printed items that are heavily annotated are considered manuscript material and would therefore belong in this series.
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Generally, the notes, reviews, ephemera, and other materials accumulated for the production of a work would not be filed in this series but could be if the cataloger chose to organize in this way.
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Compositions are divided into two
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different series :
1. Compositions of the main author Simple arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by title of the work regardless of format.
Complex arrangement: If a set of author’s papers is large, the series often is divided into sub- sub-series by title, and the sub- sub-series might contain all manner of formats for the process of development of the title, most often arranged chronologically: i.e., first draft, second draft, galley proof, printer’s layout, final page proof, printed copy with autograph manuscript annotations and revisions, manuscripts for second edition, etc.
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1. Weeding: Historically the cataloger does not destroy or transfer any materials within a collection without permission of the curator. These decisions are made on a case by case basis, considering the research and monetary value of the collection, as well as space needs at Houghton. a. When there are exact duplicate copies of materials (i.e., often there are multiple photocopies of the same text, multiple carbon copies of the same text, or multiple computer printouts of the same text, etc., we normally don’t save more than two copies. b. Any multiple copies with manuscript annotations are kept. c. Bulky covers of materials are normally not kept, but again if annotated, the cover becomes a manuscript. Sometimes we photocopy the cover because it is not worthwhile to keep the original. However, a bulky cover of a very famous person might be kept as historically significant. Again, decisions are made case by case. d. Those items identified for destruction should be shredded or put into the “confidential destruction” bin for removal by a contracted company for destruction.
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