Archival Arrangement, Description & Access Digital Library of the Caribbean Partner Visit to University of Miami, July 2013

1. Archival Arrangement, Description & Access
DLOC - Training Session
Summer 2013
By Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan
University of Miami Otto G. Richter Library

2. Definition
“Archives are the
noncurrent records of an
organization or an
individual preserved
because of their
enduring value”
Source: Developing & Maintaining
Practical Archives: A How-To-Do-
It Manual by Gregory Hunter
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

3. Examples of Archival Material
 Letters (handwritten, typed &
email)
 Photographs
 Minutes/Reports
 Diaries
 Business records
 Speeches/Lectures
 Brochures/Flyers/Posters
 Film/Video/Audio tapes
Photograph of Juan Trippe and Charles Lindberg
Pan American World Airways Records, Inc. , UM
Special Collection.
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

4. Preservation Basics
 Climate control
 Lower than 70° degrees Fahrenheit
 45% Relative Humidity (low 30% &
high 50%)
 FLUCTUATIONS in Temperature &
Relative Humidity are especially
harmful by causing materials to expand
& contract repeatedly.
 Light is damaging to rare materials
 Eliminate UV light & sunlight
 Use lighting as needed
 Acid free containers
 Advanced preservation issues are referred to
professional conservators.
Source:Northeast Document Conservation Center @
http://www.nedcc.org/home.php Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

5. Steps for Archival Processing
Arrangement
Description
Publication of the “Finding Aid”
Natalie Baur & Béatrice
Skokan, 7/17/2013

6. Archival Description Standard - DACS
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

7. DACS Collection Level Description Fields
 Collection no.
 Repository
 Collection Title
 Collection Dates
 Extent (in linear or cubic ft.)
 Creator(s)
 Scope & Content Note
 Access Restrictions
 Language of Materials
 Location (Not required by DACS but used to manage collections)
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

8. Published Finding Aid Example
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

9. What is “More Product Less Process
(MPLP)?”
 An archival method of arranging & describing
archival collection in the least amount of time in
order to provide quicker access to researchers.
 Source : Mark Green and Dennis Meisner, “More Product, Less
Process: Revamping Traditional Archival Processing,”
American Archivist 68:2 (2005)
Natalie Baur & Béatrice
Skokan, 7/17/2013

10. Why Adopt the MPLP Methodology?
“Processing backlogs continue
to be a problem for
archivists, and yet the
problem is exacerbated by
many of the traditional
approaches to processing
collections that archivists
continue to practice.”
Mark Green and Dennis Meisner, “More
Product, Less Process: Revamping
Traditional Archival Processing,”
AmericanArchivist68:2(2005), 208-64.
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

11. Green & Meisner Survey Results
 Researchers accept minimal
processing of archival
collections.
 Researchers want basic
descriptions of archival
collections regardless of level of
processing.
 Most researchers want online
descriptions of archival
collections.
African Slave Trade. Hand-written Portledge Bill
of Brigantine "Reynard", Peter Dordin (slave
captain) Master from Africa.
Caribbean Documents Collection, UM Special
Collections.
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

12. MPLP Principles for Change
“The Golden Minimum”
Accept Original
Order & Focus
on Intellectual
Arrangement
Rely on
Environmental
Controls for
Preservation of
Materials
Unprocessed
Collections
are Open to
Researchers
Maximize
Access to
Collections
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

13. MPLP Method - First Steps
1. Inventory your collections
(for intellectual control of
your holdings).
2. For each collection in the
inventory include the basic
DACS fields : Collection
no, Title, Dates etc.. (See slide
7)
3. Give a physical location
such as room and shelf no. to
each collection (for physical
control of your holdings
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
7/17/2013

14. Archival Management Systems
Natalie Baur & Beatrice Skokan,
5/23/2012
• Archon
• University of Miami archival management system
• Creation of finding aids
• EAD/XML output
• Accession records
• Easy creation/updating of records
• Will move to ArchivesSpace in Fall 2013
• http://www.archon.org
• http://www.archivesspace.org

15. Digitization and Archival Context
and Description
• Digitization as process
• Role of archival context and description
• Provenance
• Creators
• Intellectual and physical arrangement

16. Provenance
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
5/23/2012
Definition: Origin/source of material.
• Information regarding the origins, custody, and
ownership of an item or collection. (A Glossary of
Archival & Records Terminology, 2005)
Provenance is the fundamental principal of archives.
• Respect des fonds: Records of different origins are
kept separately
Digital collections must also respect provenance

17. Creators
Natalie Baur & Beatrice Skokan,
5/23/2012
Definition: individual, group or organization that is
responsible for something’s production, accumulation or
formation. (A Glossary of Archival & Records Terminology, 2005)

18. Intellectual and Physical
Arrangement
Natalie Baur & Béatrice
Skokan, 5/23/2012
Finding Aid
• Provides information on intellectual arrangement of
collection
• Series, Subseries
• Provides physical access to intellectual arrangement found in
the finding aid
• Box, folder, item
Digital collections must also respect physical and intellectual
arrangement

19. Intellectual and Physical
Arrangement
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
5/23/2012

20. Archival Context in Digital
Collections
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
5/23/2012

21. Archival Context in Digital
Collections
Natalie Baur & Béatrice Skokan,
5/23/2012

22. Archival Context in Digital
Collections
Natalie Baur & Béatrice
Skokan, 5/23/2012

23. Thank You
Archives Arrangement, Description & Access
Natalie Baur (Archivist) & Béatrice Skokan (Manuscripts Librarian)
July 17, 2013
View this presentation on Slide Share:
http://www.slideshare.net/lindyhopper38/archival-arrangement-description-
access-dloc-training-summer-2013-24514480
International Council on Archives Standards for Archival Description:
http://www.ica.org/10207/standards/isadg-general-international-standard-
archival-description-second-edition.html
DACS available via free PDF download from Society of American Archivists:
http://files.archivists.org/pubs/DACS2E-2013.pdf