Box List Taskforce Report

Houghton Library
Technical Services
Manuscript Section
Michael Austin, Bonnie Salt, Melanie Wisner
Box List Taskforce
Report
5 August 2010

Preamble

Houghton Library acquires on average roughly 100-125 accessions per year, totaling anywhere from 100 to 200 linear feet. Historically, box lists and inventories have been kept in a variety of formats, with an even greater variety in the detail, or "granularity", of content description. In some cases a cursory overview of an accession was taken and the most basic summary given, while in others inventorying that approaches the level of full cataloging was performed. In no case do staff members involved in the accessioning process currently have adequate guidelines for the amount and kind of work they should do for any given accession.
These grey areas require clarification--and not only for accessioners. When encountering an inventory or other metadata relating to an accession, staff members serving the reading room need to be able to determine how to request what a reader needs and also to differentiate quickly between a box list and a fully cataloged finding aid, given the different policies that govern access and use. This is not always possible as the situation now stands.
Thus, due to the lack of standards that has bedeviled accession box lists at Houghton Library, this taskforce was created. We herewith submit our recommendations for dealing retrospectively with past accessions and going forward with future ones.

Existing box lists at Houghton and Harvard Theatre Collection

1. 1. Assumptions and facts
      1. Box lists currently exist on Houghton and HTC groups drives predominantly in two versions of Word and Excel formats, and, in fewer cases, XML, Access, and PDF formats. (Note: box lists formerly in WordPerfect format on the Houghton groups drive were converted to Word 97-2003 in June 2010 in view of the anticipated removal of WordPerfect from staff machines.)
      2. If the bib record may be seen, the box list may be seen (given that deposited collections usually receive a suppressed HOLLIS record, their box lists are not eligible for public display).
      3. The process of making these lists public can take at least two technical paths with different results; we have chosen the paths we see as best for all parties.
      4. Box lists for accessioned (minimally processed) collections should look different from finding aids for fully cataloged collections (primarily for HRR quick identification, as we acknowledge that it is difficult currently for HRR staff to handle the curatorial permission rule about all accessions, and this difference will aid the memory).
      5. Once a collection is cataloged, the electronic copies of all previous box lists should be deleted (paper may be kept if deemed valuable).
   2. Statistics and priorities
      1. Guidance will be needed from curatorial and technical services staff in locating, analyzing, and prioritizing work on existing box lists.
      2. The following table represents a crude tally of unanalyzed, potential box list or similar files found on the Houghton and Theatre groups drive:

1. 1. Technical choices for conversion
      1. EAD:
         1. inclusion of box list-finding aids in OASIS can be seen as a positive if one-stop collection shopping is desired
         2. added benefit of one-stop searching within HOLLIS
         3. changes, if necessary, are part of recognized workflow
      2. PDF (a PDF/A document can be deposited to the DRS and linked to the File Delivery System (FDS) from a 555 in a HOLLIS record)
         1. keyword searching is possible within a pdf
         2. HCL Imaging can create PDF/A files for deposit for us, free initially
         3. Changes to lists, if necessary, would need to be part of a new workflow
      3. Workflows and recommendations:
         1. We recommend a trial project to test chosen paths and results.
         2. Excel to EAD (advised)
            1. has a known workflow within oXygen
            2. finding aid can be posted to OASIS or made into a pdf (using OASIStest as an intermediate step)
            3. finding aid may contain errors of punctuation, spacing, and content depending on accuracy of original data input, size of collection, and time allotted to clean-up
            4. finding aid may or may not lead fluidly to a fully-cataloged finding aid, i.e. it may or may not save time/effort if full cataloging is undertaken
         3. Excel to PDF (not advised)
            1. with large spreadsheets with many columns, result is not readable in correct field order and therefore may require severe editing
         4. Word to EAD (not advised)
            1. could, with much clean-up, be converted to table and then to Excel for conversion to EAD
            2. could alternatively be freshly encoded (cut and pasted into an EAD template)
            3. product unpredictable if original is not well-ordered
         5. Word to PDF (advised)
            1. product is identical to original
2. Future box lists
   1. Assumptions and facts
      1. Accessioning (and creation of box lists) is now to be defined as the equivalent of minimal cataloging. The rationale is that accessioned collections, unless slated for full and immediate cataloging (e.g., Updike), may not be touched again for the foreseeable future.
      2. In alignment with our intention to bring to light hidden collections, box lists should be crafted for public access, for which reason we will offer a new box list template(s) and lay out certain basic requirements below.
      3. Given that collections come in infinitely various states of physical and intellectual order, a matrix of characteristics to be considered, in collaboration with other interested parties, would guide the accessioner in deciding how much time doing what kind of work each collection merits.
      4. Theatre Collection accessioning will (continue to) be brought into line with Houghton accessioning (i.e., spreadsheets and lists currently found on the Theatre groups drive are to be considered "frozen", to be converted and relocated as time and priorities allow)
   2. Recommendations
      1. Suggested matrix of characteristics of incoming collections (intake notes to be kept by accessioner in internal file):
         1. physical size
         2. messiness/orderliness at what levels
         3. relative intellectual/historical/financial importance (as described by curator and Tech Services Associate Librarian)
      2. Requirements for box lists
         1. Word and Excel are both acceptable as long as the new template is used (Excel is preferred)
         2. Use only DACS-permitted abbreviations
         3. Establish series
         4. List data in the same order as appears in final cataloging (i.e., name/title, then extent, etc.)
         5. Standardize wording where possible (e.g., "also with other papers")
         6. Use four-digit date format throughout
         7. Header should include HOLLIS system number
         8. Reuse processing folders, being sure to cross out ALL writing present
         9. Attempt to describe the contents of magnetic and electronic media present