1. Archives 101 Randi Beem, Instruction Archivist
Katie Howell, University Archivist
J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte

2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE INTRODUCTIONS APPRAISAL ACTIVITY
OVERVIEW OF BASIC ARCHIVAL PROCESSES
Arrangement & Description
Preservation
Growth
RESOURCES
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION

3. 1. INTRODUCTIONS

4. HELLO! Randi Beem, Instruction Archivist +
Katie Howell, University Archivist
J. Murrey Atkins Library, UNC Charlotte

5. 2. ACTIVITY

6. COLLECTION SURVEY
Imagine you are starting your first day as an archivist at your institution. During your first morning, you are approached by the retiring Dean of Students Professor James Farnsworth, who would like to give his departmental papers to the archives. He has been at the college since the 1960’s and has seen the changes in the student body as well as the changing of faculty. Your first task as College Archivist is to process this collections that is over 45 cubic feet.
You only have 30 cubic feet open in your shop so you will need to make some decisions about what to keep. During this process you will want to come up with any possible series and subseries for this collection.

7. THINGS TO CONSIDER Privacy
What privacy concerns might these records have? Do they contain PII? Do they cover controversial topics? Are there legal issues to consider?
Value
What value do these record have for the institution? Consider historical value, research potential, and the cost to maintain and preserve these records.
Space
Remember: you only have limited space available, so some decisions will have to be made about what to keep and what to toss.

8. LET’S
DISCUSS
What problems did you find? What decisions did you make? What possible arrangement decisions did you make?

9. 3. ARRANGEMENT & DESCRIPTION

10. ARCHIVAL PROCESSING UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE IDENTIFY THE PARTS
What do you have in your collections?
What existing order is present?
IDENTIFY THE PARTS
How do the parts (series, sub-series) relate to the whole?
How can you present these relationships through arrangement and description?
“If a user is given an understanding of the whole and the structure and identity of its meaningful parts, then the vagaries that occur within a folder will not prove daunting, and probably not even confusing”

11. MORE PRODUCT, LESS PROCESS
Gets collection materials to users faster
Materials are arranged adequately for users’ needs
Takes the minimal steps necessary to ensure physical preservation
Describes material well enough to promote use
“Golden minimum”
Source: Greene, Mark A., and Dennis Meissner. “More Product, Less Process: Revamping Traditional Archival Processing.” The American Archivist, vol. 68, no. 2, 2005, pp. 208–263.

12. PHYSICAL VS. INTELLECTUAL
Don’t obsess over physical rearrangement when an intellectual rearrangement can accomplish the same goal.

13. The principle reason for archival description is to enable and to ease access by users.
-- Mark A. Greene & Dennis Meissner
Greene and Meissner, “More Product, Less Process,”

14. Depend on various factors. Size of Collection Notoriety of Donor
LEVEL OF DESCRIPTION
Depend on various factors.
Size of Collection
Notoriety of Donor
User Needs
Possible anniversaries or important events surrounding collection

15. Description should be top-down
FINDING AIDS
Description should be top-down
Record only what’s necessary at each level and don’t repeat
Describe to the same level as the arrangement
Include notes about context, scope and content

16. 4. PRESERVATION
Moreover, of the repositories that usually or always remove metal fasteners from twentieth-century collections, 33 report having 100% of their stack areas properly controlled for temperature and humidity. With good climate control, metal fasteners should not rust; why such determination to remove them? Similarly, of the repositories that usually or always refolder twentieth-century collections into "archival" buffered folders, 37 have completely climate-controlled stacks. It may startle some archivists to learn that no studies have been done on the effect that standard manila folders have on collection material when stored in proper environmental conditions. In fact, no studies exist on the effect of buffered folders on collection material stored in proper conditions.72 We are spending lots of time and money in the hope that buffered folders can make a significant difference

17. First:
Do No Harm

18. PRESERVATION Building Stacks Collections
Roof, windows, plumbing, insulation, risk for natural disasters, pest control, fire protection
Stacks
Security, temperature and humidity, light, location within building (attic or basement?), housekeeping, shelving
Collections
Acid-free, fully supported, labels, enclosures, collections policies for use and reproductions

19. PRIORITIZING PRESERVATION
Prioritize your preservation actions
Most significant impact
Most feasible
Most important
Consider use, value, condition, storage
Prioritization grid - Pamela Darling, modified by Sherelyn Ogden - CC BY-NC-ND

20. PRESERVATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs are a great asset to your collections but can be a preservation issue. However, there are multiple ways to combat these problems.
Photographs may need seperate storage boxes
Photographs do need some kind of protective separate storage
Examples: polyethylene sleeves or photograph envelopes

21. PRESERVATION OF MOVING IMAGES
Moving Images can contain a multitude of various formats including VHS, 16 mm film, and Beta.
Moving Images are great records of historical note but can pose storage and preservation issues.
Storage Solutions:
Separate and describe the materials based on format
Specialized storage solutions including Betamax Boxes and VHS Boxes
Can also just leave in an archival box together

22. DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PLAN
Disaster Preparedness Plan is a way to guide care of collections when an emergency or problem arises.
Disaster Preparedness Plan does not need to be multistep or complicated but should exist and may include an idea of where to store collections until an emergency is over and how to store materials.
Examples may include:
Ad hoc off-site storage
Plastic Bins to keep collections free from water or other harmful elements
System in place of how to move the materials
Disaster preparedness Plan resources can be found through the North Carolina Archives website. Nothing overly complicated just need a plan in place of where to store things or move them so this may include plastic bins, where to clean documents, or where to place documents if there is an emergency.

23. 5. GROWTH

24. GROWING YOUR COLLECTIONS
Look to the retention schedule
Find allies on campus
Outreach
Alumni Associations
Neighboring Institutions

25. 6. RESOURCES

26. Preservation 101, Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC)
RESOURCES
Preservation 101, Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC)
Online textbook or course offered
NEDCC Preservation leaflets
State Archives of NC
Traveling Archivist Program
Records management training
Digitization, NC Digital Heritage Center

27. Demystifying Born Digital, OCLC Society of American Archivists
RESOURCES
Demystifying Born Digital, OCLC
Society of American Archivists
Arrangement & Description Certificate Program
Listservs, publications, toolkits, courses
Sections, especially Lone Arrangers
Regional organizations (SNCA, SCAA, SGA, etc.)

28. Efficient Processing Guidelines, University of California Libraries
RESOURCES
Wisconsin Historical Society-Free Webinars regarding audience, collections, and preservation
Connecting to Collections Care-Free Webinars focused on preservation of materials
Efficient Processing Guidelines, University of California Libraries

29. Scanning on demand, guide by OCLC
RESOURCES
Digitization tips
Library of Congress
Scanning on demand, guide by OCLC

30. 7. Q&A

31. THANKS! Any questions? You can find us at: rbeem@uncc.edu

32. CREDITS
Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources for free:
Presentation template by SlidesCarnival
Photographs by Unsplash