IV. Housing and location

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 accessioner 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.