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Historic Record Keeping Practices
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Beginning in July 1, 2006, the Manuscript Section has made accession records in MARC format for all curatorial departments. The previous database, HMA (Houghton Manuscript Accessions, an Access database created for the Manuscript Department ca. 1999 from the original MARC-based BibBase), was frozen at that time. (Bonnie Salt completed a project to create MARC records for all earlier materials appearing only in HMA.) Until approximately 2006, the Harvard Theatre Collection maintained separate accessioning practices and files. In recent years accessioning became a backlog-preventive measure. Since April 1, 2011, preliminary box lists for accessioned collections were posted to OASIS (pending curatorial review). Legacy box lists in Word and other formats were occasionally converted to EAD and uploaded into OASIS or ingested into ArchivesSpace. Until June 30, 2017 every item, collection, or collection accrual entering Houghton received a MARC accession record; collections of approximately two or more boxes may have received a box list in EAD. Both of these records were derivative of the rules for full, standards-compliant Houghton cataloging of single items and collections. |
Philosophy
In 2005, Mark Greene and Dennis
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Philosophy
Accessioning is a core archival function. It is the means by which a repository establishes legal and physical custody of archival material and, in many cases, begins to describe the material in a database or catalog in order to make it known to researchers. Good accessioning practices form the foundation for all further processes undertaken by a repository. It is of the utmost importance.
In 2005, Mark Greene and Dennis Meissner published their article "More Product, Less Process," which ", known as MPLP. They called on the archival profession to account for its enormous backlog of inaccessible material. The article stirred many to adopt a new paradigm that included backlog-reductive processing measures. However, in addition to the positive reception and subsequent change in values by the profession, the article has been grossly misinterpreted as implementation of a fixed set of rules or processes. In fact, it is a philosophy. A philosophy that champions access to all materials. Implementing MPLP does not mean adopting minimal processing practices but rather employing analysis and decision-making to programmatically determine how much to arrange, describe, and preserve all collections within any given repository. It takes what was once a one-size-fits-all approach to processing and inserts archival judgement, agility, and strategy. Building on MPLP, Christine Weideman coined the phrase "Accessioning as Processing." This method of accessioning has been adopted as one strategy for backlog reduction. The goal is to provide baseline level access to collections as they are accessioned. Accessioning archivists are in an advantageous position to capture important documentation information related to a collection's arrangement, condition, and content. While accessioning, and with a minimum of additional effort, a collection can receive collection level description, basic rehousing, and even some preliminary intellectual arrangement and description at the series or file level. In this way, collections never enter into a backlog or processing queue. Future user needs may then dictate whether more description is warranted.
The goal at Houghton Library since 2011 has been to provide access to all newly-accessioned material. At a minimum a collection received All collections and items receive a MARC record. Collections larger than 2 linear feet received , and most collections receive additional description in a finding aid. Collections were still designated as unprocessed. Beginning in July, 2017 all collections will receive collection level finding aids, MARC records, and if larger than 2 linear feet series or file level finding aids. Collections will be marked as minimally processed.The elements in these records are a subset of the rules for full, standards-compliant Houghton cataloging of single items and collections. Collections are designated as minimally processed but as often as possible are open for research.
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Providing What is "good enough" description provided at the point of accessioning is a matter of judgment and will vary depending on the size, scope, and complexity of the collection. Finding the "golden minimum" for accessioning as processing is performing the minimum amount of work necessary to make the collection usable. Collections that are well organized (intellectually and/or physically) into discernible series are good candidates for finding aids with series level description. Collection Collections that lack any discernible order should not be over-handled but rather described as holistically as possible, usually by describing the contents of a box as well as can be understood without much handling. Small collections or collections with less research value might may only need a collection level description. Donor lists and dealer inventories should almost always , if not overly labor-intensive to convert, may be used as a basis for description . |
Workflows
New Collection (Gift)
Material donated to Houghton for which we have no related gifts or purchases
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New Collection (Purchase)
Material purchased by Houghton for which we have no related gifts or purchases
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Accrual to a Processed Collection (Gift)
Material donated to Houghton for which we have a related collection that has been described in a finding aid
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Accrual to an Unprocessed Collection (Gift)
Material donated to Houghton for which we have related collection(s) that have not been described in a finding aid
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Accrual to a Processed Collection (Purchase)
Material purchased by Houghton for which we have a related collection that has been described in a finding aid
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Accrual to an Unprocessed Collection (Purchase)
Material purchased by Houghton for which we have related collection(s) that have not been described in a finding aid
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Single Item (Gift)
Single item donated to Houghton that will be individually cataloged in Aleph
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Single Item (Purchase)
Single item purchased by Houghton that will be individually cataloged in Aleph
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Catchall (Gift)
Single item donated to Houghton that will be incorporated into an existing catchall finding aid
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Catchall (Purchase)
Single item purchased by Houghton that will be incorporated into an existing catchall finding aid
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Use Cases and Examples
Description
Accession record
Creating an Accession record in ArchivesSpace
- Open ArchivesSpace
Go to https://arstaff.lib.harvard.edu - Log in with username and password
Username will likely be your last name followed by your first initial, such as smithj - Browse by Accession, sort list by identifier, new accession number will be next sequential number following the first record on list
- Go to “Create” in the upper left of your screen and select “Accession” from the dropdown menu
A Houghton accession record should contain the following fields:
- Title
- Identifier
- Accession number
- Accession Date
- Content Description
- Condition Description
- Disposition
- Provenance
- Acquisition Type
- Resource Type
- Restrictions Apply?
- Access Restrictions?
- Access Restrictions Note
- Use Restrictions?
- Use Restrictions Note
- Dates
- Label
- Expression
- Type
- Extents
- Portion
- Number
- Type
- Container Summary
- Physical Details
- Agents
- Role
- Agent links
Resource record
Bibliographic record
End-Processing and Locations
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.
Documents
Acquisitions Web Form (for editing)
Acquisitions Web Form (for curators to fill out)
and cited as such. |
Historic Record-Keeping Practices
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Beginning in July 1, 2006, the Manuscript Section made accession records in MARC format for all curatorial departments. The previous accessions database, HMA (Houghton Manuscript Accessions, an Access database created for the Manuscript Department circa 1999 from the original MARC-based product, BibBase), was frozen at that time. (Cataloger Bonnie Salt completed a project to create MARC records for all earlier materials appearing only in HMA.) Until approximately 2006, the Harvard Theatre Collection maintained separate accessioning practices and files. Accessioning then became a backlog-preventive measure. Beginning April 1, 2011, "preliminary box lists" for accessioned collections were posted to OASIS (pending curatorial review). Legacy box lists in Word and other formats were occasionally converted to EAD and uploaded into OASIS or, later, ingested into ArchivesSpace. Until June 30, 2017 every item, collection, or collection accrual entering Houghton received a MARC accession record; collections of approximately two or more boxes usually received a box list in EAD. Both of these records were derivative of the rules for full, standards-compliant Houghton cataloging of single items and collections. As of July 1, 2017, accessioning was tracked in ArchivesSpace by creating an accession record for all incoming material, whether a single item, collection, or accrual to a collection. All collections then received collection-level finding aids, MARC records, and, if larger than 2 linear feet, series- or file-level finding aids. Collections were described as minimally processed and were generally open to research. |