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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

 

Quality processing does not require extensive arrangement, description, or preservation... Quality processing finds the most appropriate amount of work to perform to make a collection usable. High-quality processing may just as easily refer to a concise finding aid describing a collection that was skillfully arranged to the series level, as it might refer to a meticulously organized, extensively described collection. In other words, quality in archival processing is not measured by intensity or level of detail. Quality may be measured by how effectively a processed collection serves its user base and how wisely a processor spent a repository's resources to achieve this.

 

For those archival processors troubled by efficient processing techniques, remember that a processor's craft lies in analysis and decision-making. A skilled archival processor weighs many criteria to determine how much description, organization, or preservation is truly necessary. A skilled archival processor flexibly applies the most appropriate arrangement, description, or preservation technique from an arsenal of possibilities. A skilled archival processor asks "What are the costs?" and "What are the benefits?" for almost every processing action. A skilled archival processor finds the most efficient way to achieve sufficient intellectual mastery and adequate physical control over the materials. In some ways, streamlined processing is more difficult than traditional processing, because streamlined processing decisions require planning, flexibility, creative compromises, and innovative shortcuts to "get the most bang for the buck." In sum, the efficient processing techniques described in this manual do not devalue your work or your collections. They empower you to make complicated, informed choices about the work you perform so that you may surface more of your institution's important research material to its users. You may still take pride in all that you accomplish and all the researchers you serve when you use efficient processing techniques.

-- Guidelines for Efficient Archival Processing in the University of California Libraries

 

In 2005,  Mark Greene and Dennis Meissner published their article "More Product, Less Process," which 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 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 since 2011 has been to provide access to all newly accessioned material. At a minimum a collection received a MARC record. Collections larger than 2 linear feet received 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.

 

What is baseline level access?

Providing good enough description at 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 that lack any discernible order should not be over-handled but rather described as holistically as possible. Small collections or collections with less research value might only need a collection level description. Donor lists and dealer inventories should almost always 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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  • Collection materials comes to Houghton/HD via the collecting curator
  • Collecting curator fills out web form
  • Accessioning archivist creates accession record in ArchivesSpace
  • Accessioning archivist spawns accession record into resource record in ArchivesSpace
  • Accessioning archivist assigns call number
  • Accessioning archivist creates baseline level access to collection
  • Accessioning archivist creates event record in ArchivesSpace; marks collection as minimally processed
  • Accessioning archivist exports MARCxml and ingests into Aleph

 

New Collection (Purchase)

Material purchased by Houghton for which we have no related gifts or purchases

 

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  • Collection materials comes to Houghton/HD via the collecting curator
  • Collecting curator fills out web form
  • Acquisitions creates stub MARC record in Aleph

  • Accessioning archivist exports MARCxml from Aleph and imports into ArchivesSpace accession record

  • Accessioning archivist spawns accession record into resource record in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist assigns call number

  • Accessioning archivist creates baseline level access to collection

  • Accessioning archivist creates event record in ArchivesSpace; marks collection as minimally processed

  • Accessioning archivist updates Aleph record

 

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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  • Collection materials comes to Houghton/HD via the collecting curator
  • Collecting curator fills out web form
  • Accessioning archivist creates accession record in ArchivesSpace 
  • Accessioning archivist links accession record to related resource record in ArchivesSpace
  • Accessioning archivist adds accrual as series to related resource record
  • Accessioning archivist creates event record in ArchivesSpace; marks collection as minimally processed 
  • Accessioning archivist updates existing Aleph record

 

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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  • Collection materials come to Houghton/HD via the collecting curator
  • Collecting curator fills out web form
  • Accessioning archivist creates accession record in ArchivesSpace
  • Accessioning archivist spawns accession record into resource record
  • Accessioning archivist assigns call number
  • Accessioning archivist finds all related unprocessed accessions
  • Accessioning archivist exports MARCxml for all accession records in Aleph and imports them into accession records in ArchivesSpace
  • Accessioning archivist links all accession records to related resource record in ArchivesSpace
  • Accessioning archivist describes each accession as a series in resource record
  • Accessioning archivist, in conjunction with end processing, assigns new and consecutive box numbers to collection
  • Accessioning archivist creates event record in ArchivesSpace; marks collection as minimally processed
  • Accessioning archivist updates existing Aleph record
  • Accessioning archivist cleans old accession records in Aleph, transferring necessary information, alerting Associate Library for Technical Services about consolidation

 

 

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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  • Collection materials comes to Houghton/HD via the collecting curator

  • Collecting curator fills out web form

  • Acquisitions links invoice to appropriate Aleph record

  • Accessioning archivist creates accession record in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist links accession record to related resource record in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist adds accrual as series to related resource record

  • Accessioning archivist creates event record in ArchivesSpace; marks collection as minimally processed

  • Accessioning archivist updates existing Aleph record

 

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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  • Collection materials come to Houghton/HD via the collecting curator

  • Collecting curator fills out web form

  • Acquisitions links invoice to appropriate Aleph record

  • Accessioning archivist creates accession record in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist spawns accession record into resource record

  • Accessioning archivist assigns call number

  • Accessioning archivist finds all related unprocessed accessions

  • Accessioning archivist exports MARCxml for all accession records in Aleph and imports them into accession records in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist links all accession records to related resource record in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist describes each accession as a series in resource record

  • Accessioning archivist, in conjunction with end processing, assigns new and consecutive box numbers to collection

  • Accessioning archivist creates event record in ArchivesSpace; marks collection as minimally processed

  • Accessioning archivist updates existing Aleph record

  • Accessioning archivist cleans old accession records in Aleph, transferring necessary information, alerting Associate Library for Technical Services about consolidation and clean-up with invoices

 

Single Item (Gift)

Single item donated to Houghton that will be individually cataloged in Aleph 

 

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  • Item comes to Houghton via the collecting curator

  • Collecting curator fills out web form

  • Accessioning archivist creates accession record in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist assigns call number

  • Accessioning archivist routes item to manuscript cataloger


Single Item (Purchase)

Single item purchased by Houghton that will be individually cataloged in Aleph

 

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  • Item comes to Houghton via the collecting curator

  • Collecting curator fills out web form

  • Acquisitions creates stub MARC record in Aleph

  • Accessioning archivist exports MARCxml from Aleph and imports into ArchivesSpace accession record

  • Accessioning archivist assigns call number

  • Accessioning archivist routes item to manuscript cataloger

 

Catchall (Gift)

Single item donated to Houghton that will be incorporated into an existing catchall finding aid


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  • Item comes to Houghton via the collecting curator

  • Collecting curator fills out web form

  • Accessioning archivist creates accession record in ArchivesSpace

  • Accessioning archivist describes item in finding aid

  • Accessioning archivist creates event record in ArchivesSpace; marks item as processed

 

Catchall (Purchase)

Single item purchased by Houghton that will be incorporated into an existing catchall finding aid

 

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  • Item comes to Houghton via the collecting curator

  • Collecting curator fills out web form

  • Acquisitions links invoice to appropriate Aleph record

  • Accessioning archivist describes item in finding aid

 

 


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)


 

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