How to Interpret a Finding Aid 

 A finding aid is a discovery tool or document that describes the individual or organization that created the materials, the general size of the collection, if there are any restrictions on use or copying, copyright statements, arrangement or organization of the collection, and often a box- or folder-level list of the contents. The Society of American Archivists defines a finding aid as: “1. A tool that facilitates discovery of information within a collection of  records. –  2. A  description  of  records  that  gives  the  repository  physical  and intellectual control over the materials and that assists users to gain access to and understand the materials.”  (from SAA’s A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (2005): http://www2.archivists.org/glossary ) 

The sections of a finding aid typically include: Descriptive Summary; Processing Information; Acquisition Information; Access and Use Conditions; History/Biography; Scope and Content; Arrangement; and Inventory. The function of these sections may vary slightly depending on the type of creator (individual, family, business, organization, etc.), but generally the following holds true: 

Descriptive Summary: This section provides the call numbers, name of the holding institution/repository, name of the creator, title of the collection, quantity (or volume), location (on- or off-site), and sometimes additional descriptive information. 

Processing Information: Includes dates when the collection was processed, updated, and the names of the processing archivists. 

Acquisition Information: Includes the original accession numbers and basic information about how the Library obtained the collection (e.g., who donated or sold the collection to the Library). 

Access and Use Conditions: Notes about any restrictions and permission issues are included in the “Access” note. There may be agreements that were made with the donor that required written permission from the donor or a signed “condition of use form” before a researcher can use the collection. The “Use” note outlines any copying or copyright statements.  

History/Biography:  This section provides an overview of the creator, defining how, why, and by whom the materials were created/collected. 

Arrangement: Defines how the materials are organized within the collection, including sections into which the materials have been separated. These sections are called series and sub-series.  

Scope and Content: For each series and sub-series, this section provides a general sense of the type of materials contained within. Those details can include date ranges, a list of the type of items (diaries, scrapbooks, letters, postcards, memorabilia, meeting minutes, draft writings, etc.), and may highlight items within those materials that could be of particular interest to researchers.   

Inventory:  A listing of the materials in the collection. This is sometimes done as a box list (includes a general title for the box and which series it includes) or a folder list (more detailed listing that identified folders within each container and includes the folder titles). It is rare to find an item-level inventory for a collection.