Addenda to existing collections

Many accessions are additional material (sometimes small, sometimes substantial) to existing collections. These may present any number of issues, and decisions about how to handle each different accession is dependent both on what is in the new donation AS WELL AS what the situation is with the existing material.

Again, with accessioning addenda, our goal is to make collections discoverable and usable. Don't hide things! Many of our collections have addenda that is essentially hidden - not described in a MARC record or finding aid. Accessioning work should strive to describe everything, even if you have to describe previously accessioned materials for the first time as part of your work with the current accession.

NOTE: When working with addenda, the same basic record keeping and reboxing guidelines apply as with new collections.

When working with addenda, begin by doing some research and assessment into the existing collection. Questions to ask include:

• Is it closed until processed? If so, you can also close the new addition and send it to HD. (However, do your best to make a folder or container list to assist future processors. This is especially helpful if there are titled folders and with collections that are already or you know will be very large. If we know what's in the cartons at HD, we can call them back in easier chunks when processing.)
  
  
• Is it processed with a finding aid and this is the first additional donation?
  
  
  • Is it a collection that a current archivist has processed or is preparing to process? If so, you may be able to give the addenda directly to that archivist. Discuss with that archivist the feasibility of adding addenda directly into the existing finding aid. This is an ideal way to handle addenda, but may not always be possible due to the amount of material in the addenda, the time constraints of archivist, etc. If the original archivist can not do this work for whatever reason, you could either do it yourself, or move on to a different way of handling it below.
    
    
  • If the original archivist is no longer on staff, you could add the material to the finding aid yourself. Again, this choice depends on the amount of material, the ease with which you might add it to the finding aid, and any number of other issues.
  • Summer/Fall 2020 update: the above is a good model to keep using when the new addenda is very small. If significant, it will be hard to do the work during this time period. One additional thing to consider in this situation is if the original collection is stored on site. If not, could this material be added easily to a new box, or with minimal recall of boxes from HD? If yes, go ahead and add the material, or ask another archivist to do so.

• Is it processed with a finding aid and already has other (unprocessed, undescribed) additional donations?
  
  
  • Ideally, you would assemble the other addenda and then make an appraisal determination from there. If this is possible, do it, and then decide how to proceed:
    
    
    • Add all addenda into existing finding aid OR
    • Describe all addenda in a new MARC record e.g. "Additional papers of"  - doing this alerts researchers and staff to the fact that there is unlisted material, and to its size. EVEN IF THE ADDENDA HAS TO BE CLOSED due to size or condition this may be the best path forward. OR
    • In some cases, you may choose to create a whole new finding aid or inventory for addenda. This will also need a new MARC. This might be a way forward if the existing finding aid is long, complex, unwieldy, OR if the material does not neatly slide into an existing series structure. It is always possible to add a series for addenda to an existing finding aid as well. Discuss options with accessioning team members.
    • Summer/Fall 2020 update: at this time, we won't try to do this work, you can just accession and file it without description BUT you'll still need to determine if it could be open to research or not.

• Is it an unprocessed collection, represented only by a MARC record, that is open to research?
  
  
  • Is this the first additional donation? Can it be easily open to research? Combine this with the existing material into an online container list or finding aid. If you can't, then add the extent of this new material into the existing MARC record, as well as any extra description and the accession number.
  • Is there already addenda that is open to research but not described in the MARC records? Combine all material and make an online container list or finding aid. If you can't, then add the extent of this new material into the existing MARC record, as well as any extra description and the accession number. (All MARC records should have accurate extents, even including addenda, after 2019 department project)
  • Is this new material too messy or big (or something) to be able to open to research? This particular situation is a real annoyance. You could do a number of things:
    • Make a new MARC record "additional papers," describe what you have and close it
    • Use the 506 field to alert researchers to the presence of closed accessions. There are a number of examples of this, but it doesn't seem like a really good practice. On the other hand, there may be situations where writing a new MARC record for a closed addenda seems dumb, and in those cases this is an option. Discuss with accessioning team.
  • Summer/Fall 2020 update: work on this kind of a collection will really depend on its size and the content of the new accession. In most cases, we will accession it and not try to improve description while doing so

This is a good moment to do some assessment of the existing collection. Even if the nature of the work you undertake doesn't include working with the existing collection, collecting information about what work might need to be done with it will be helpful for future collection management considerations. Does the existing finding aid need additional description? Is the material housed properly or could it use rehousing by a student? We often don't have good data about existing collections, so an archivist eye to what else an existing collection might need (regardless of issues with addenda) can be quite helpful. Discuss with other members of the accessioning team and work with Jenny to document what you find.

OTHER ISSUES to consider:

Donor age. If you know a donor is quite elderly, it may be better to wait for processing until they die (I know, how morbid), as we may then receive more material and it could be easier to work with it all at once.

Format of material. Paper material (even better, that in folders) is always easier to accession quickly than anything multiformat. As usual, imagine how it could be served in the reading room, and what the processing work might entail.

Umbrella accession numbers. Some MARC records for collections with multiple accession numbers have an accession number range as their call #. In some cases, these ranges just describe the accessions, and each box is marked with its accession # and it's won box number. In other instances, Anne renumbered boxes in 2017-2018 so that umbrella accession numbers would have sequential box numbers. Figure out what you are dealing with before you start labeling any boxes.