Processing addenda provides a number of challenges. This processing plan template for addenda includes prompts to consider at each necessary section.
Before beginning work on the processing plan, review the different models of processing addenda.
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Has material in an existing finding aid been digitized and are there many digital objects linked in the finding aid?
Collection Title: Papers or Records of… or Additional Papers or Additional Records
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List the size of the addenda to be processed in both linear feet (should be same as the "beginning size" LF number you enter in the processing spreadsheet) and pieces – 5 cartons, 2 half file boxes, 7 folio folders, etc.
Accession information:
What are the accession numbers?
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Are some accessions only A/V?
Provenance:
Who is the donor? Are there multiple donors? It's a good idea to add any other donor information you have learned from the correspondence file.
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Is there a signed deed of gift? Does the donor want material back?
Restrictions:
Are there restrictions from the deed of gift?
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Remember that you will need to document donor-imposed restrictions in the finding aid separately from any restrictions you might want to impose yourself. Restrictions not imposed by donors must be discussed with team leads and Kelcy and sometimes brought to the Access review Panel for discussion.
Biographical Sketch:
If the existing finding aid has a good one, just link to it. If you will need to update the bio note as part of your processing work (the donor has now died, etc.) please note that here.
Scope and content:
Create a basic list of what is in the collection. Include all non-paper formats. Think of this as being similar to the first several sentences you will write in your general scope note in the finding aid. You can (and should!) be more detailed about what kinds of material is in the collection when you are suggesting arrangement. You can describe formats but you should also provide a basic intellectual overview.
EXAMPLE: The papers of My Best Friend include travel diaries, family scrapbooks, personal and professional correspondence, photographs, 23 audiotapes and 45 disks.
With addenda, you should also discuss whether the material you will be working with is the same or different from that in the original collection. Is it the next 10 years of board binders? Is it A/V that was not donated before? Does it come from a different office of the organization or the attic of a board member?
When adding addenda, it is important to write a sentence or more in the top-level scope note articulating what you are doing and why. If you are doing a lot of renumbering, this can get kind of complicated. Writing this out in the processing plan can help clarify what the work is (you may want to complete the rest of the processing plan and then write this statement.)
EXAMPLE: From Additional records of the Women's National Farm and Garden Association:
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The collection was first arranged and processed with a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 1979. Material was arranged and folders were numbered sequentially (#1-383f+). Another group of material (accessions #80-M210, 81-M149, and 81-M201) was added to the collection in 1981, and was further sequentially numbered (#384-434). This addenda was described in the finding aid after the original material, as if in a separate series. In 2016, two later accessions (1999-M86 and 2000-M15) were added to the collection. Each of these groups of material is housed together. Also in 2016, the entire collection was reboxed and renumbered. The original group of papers is now numbered #1.1-26.7, the 1981 addenda is #27.1-29.19, the 1999 addenda is #30.1-32.5, and the 2000 addenda is #33.1-33.21. The three groups of addenda are now listed intellectually within the finding aid with the series in which they belong. A copy of the original inventory with original numbering is in the first box of the collection. Series VI, Photographs, was not renumbered, as some of those photographs had already been digitized.
At the time of original processing, parts of the collection were closed to research. In 2009, some restricted material was added back into the collection. Folders that contain this material are noted as such in the inventory.
Appraisal and research strengths:
Why do we have this material? What does it document? How does it fit with the Library's holdings? Which parts of the collection have the most interest for researchers? Are there materials we have received that have little or no research value? Are there other archival collections of material about this person elsewhere? Your answers to these questions should inform your approach to processing: if the collection (or parts of it) will get high use, more intensive description may be warranted.
Existing folders, description, order:
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Are there born-digital files? Please take a preliminary look at them (if possible) while surveying the collection. Describe any order, titles, etc. and your thoughts about potential ways to describe and/or provide access. How do the born-digital files relate to the paper files? How do you imagine describing the digital files in the finding aid?
METADATA CONSIDERATIONS
Unless you're creating a brand new finding aid, you will be working with an old finding aid. In the ArchiveSpace environment, there are some issues with updating existing finding aids that may affect your decision below. Finding aids with a lot of digital object links are more difficult to update. If you are going to work with an older finding aid, take a look and see if it has any existing links in it. If the finding aid has more than 10 digital objects linked to it, it may be harder to update. In this instance, one possible approach is to create an entire series (or more than one series) of addenda, which can be uploaded as a spreadsheet without having to delete and reattach digital objects to the rest of the finding aid. EXAMPLE? Discuss this option with your team lead and Kelcy and Johanna before beginning work.
Photographs from some older finding aids may have been digitized.Check HOLLIS to see if this is the case for the finding aid you are working on. If photos have been digitized, changing the call number and/or the folder numbers may affect these digitized photographs. Discuss options with your team lead and Kelcyand Joanne if necessary.
While you are working with an older finding aid, you should expect to move description that may have been added in a folder title to a scope note at the folder level, as is our current practice. While working with an older finding aid, doing this metadata upgrade helps the data be structured correctly for ArchivesSpace functionality. If you have questions about this practice or are unsure what to move where, discuss with your team leadKelcy, Johanna, or Paula.
MODEL OF PROCESSING WORK
Which of the different models of processing addenda will you use? Why? There may be multiple ways to approach the processing. You should think about why each way would or wouldn't work for you.
In past years, collections that were reprocessed or had addenda added to them may have been kept in the chronologically numbered folders (1-2300, not 1.1, 1.2). For many recently processed collections of addenda, Ellen has asked that archivists change the entire numbering schema to our current #1.1 way. Every collection is different and may have unique challenges. Recommend what you think is the best way forward and then discuss possibilities with your team lead and Kelcy and with Ellen if necessary.
ARRANGEMENT
Propose arrangement for the material you are working with. Depending on the model you are following, this may be more or less important. Sometimes you might add all or most addenda into a new series. Sometimes you migth might list folders intellectually where they belong and file at the end. See non-addenda processing plan for more on arrangement if you need more prompts of how to think about this section.
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EXAMPLE: Correspondence will be arranged chronologically.
*Please Note: If you feel you cannot provide the level of depth necessary for this section without moving or sorting material, discuss with your team leadKelcy. The processing plan can be an iterative process, but this requires communication.
PROCESSING LEVEL and other DESCRIPTION and MPLP issues
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Think about the kind of description you will create for the collection: if the collection contains multiple diaries and/or correspondence that you are planning to analyze and describe, you'll want to think about creating your detailed description of subject matter in a scope note added at the folder level in your XML document. If you have records of an organization that are better described in the aggregate, you don't need to do this. If you have a large collection, you can consider using different intensities of description for different series. Analyzing these issues/options before processing begins is important.
WORK SUMMARY
Create a work plan: what steps must be taken during processing, and in what order will you do them? Be specific, and especially make sure you think about all the various formats of material in the collection and other library staff you may need to discuss things with.
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*What tasks can I give to a student?
EXAMPLE
- Sort collection into series
- Separate printed material and have it searched in Hollis and OCLC by student
- Refolder and describe Correspondence series (which has most fragile material)
- Have student start photocopying fragile material while refoldering/describing other 3 series.
- Schedule meeting with Joanne and Diana about Photo series
- Post-meeting, complete photo foldering and description
- Complete description of the 20 audiotapes in AV/DC tracker; transform data into EAD and create series in finding aid
- Assess printed material – what will go directly to Summer, what needs a consult with Marylene, etc.
- Prepare finding aid
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DURATION
Estimate how much time the collection will take to process. An archivist doing high-level descriptive processing (which is usually happening at Schlesinger) must be able to refolder and describe 3 cartons of material a week during periods of active processing in order to reach 80 to 100 linear feet over the course of the year. However, you may feel the collection will take more or less time than this. Explain why in your processing plan. Also take into account any vacations or other activities (exhibits, etc.) you may have that may affect this.
Mainly this section is meant to give the processor and their team lead an Kelcy an idea of when the work may be complete, as well as help plan for any future meetings or check-ins. It is meant to be an estimate, but can also be a way to determine which parts of processing go more or less quickly for each archivist.
It can be a good idea to build timeframes into the above workplan to help you plan your time. For example "Refolder and describe Series I (4 days)." Plotting this out can help you plan your work, as well as assist you in noting what particular tasks take the longest in general for you, or for each specific collection. Being able to plan and then reassess and adjust work timetables is an important project management skill for archivists.
SUPPLIES
Do you need letter size boxes or folders? Acid-free paper for interleaving? Anything out of the ordinary should be noted. If the collection is large and you need a stamp, make sure to note that. If the original collection had a stamp, check the old stamp supplies to see if you can re-use it.
PRESERVATION
What kinds of things did you notice in your survey? Is there mold? Does anything need special housing? Are there flaking scrapbooks? Is there a lot of fragile material? Feel free to talk with Amanda Hegarty as part of the survey process if you're trying to assess what to do with material, or determine whether you need to preservation photocopy all the fragile paper, etc.
STORAGE
Anything out of the ordinary?
EXAMPLE: Ann Meredith Papers have a large number of crated framed photographs.
PRINTED MATERIAL
Is there any? Is any of it notable for any reason? Is any of it worth keeping and/or tracing ownership because of its importance as being part of the person's library? What kind of holdings does the Library already have of this person/organization? Are there related newsletters? If there is a lot, particularly of an ephemeral form like pamphlets, you could consider asking if it is worth keeping in the collection but cataloging separately (like pamphlets etc.). As of October 2017, we are not going to list books removed from archival collections in a separation form UNLESS there is a reason (outside of tracking each volume in its individual record) to create a list of them to keep with the collection. Is the creator a noted author or collector? IS there a possibility there will be significant research interest in the volumes owned by/sent with the creator? If so, record that here and discuss with your team leadKelcy.