How to Survey an Archival Collection
- Betts Coup
The goal of a survey is to understand the existing intellectual arrangement of the materials and to assess the physical state of the materials. At the end of the survey you should be able to create a processing plan for the collection outlining a proposed intellectual arrangement and a level of processing. You should also be able to identify particular preservation needs, possible restrictions, and any audiovisual or born-digital formats within the collection.
In regards to born-digital materials, please fill out the Manuscript Accession Tracking form. Then bring the materials to the digital archivist.
A good rule of thumb is to spend about 5-10 minutes per box.
Note the following per box in your record keeping format of choice (e.g. notebook, Excel):
- Box number (you may assign temporary box numbers and labels if this is useful)
- Physical housing
- Intellectual scope and content
- Intellectual and/or physical order
- Preservation concerns such as mold, pests, or fragility
- Types of formats
Example of a partial survey
Box 1
Material in well labeled folders, good box
Subject files?
No apparent order
No preservation concerns
Some photographs
Box 2
Material is loose, box needs to be replaced
Is real mix of printed ephemera, correspondence, and other
No order
No preservation concerns
Some photographs
Box 3
Material in well labeled folders, plastic tub needs to be replaced
Manuscripts related to film projects? See boxes 5, 7, and 10 for similar
Alphabetical order, C-F
No preservation concerns