The document discusses the processes of arranging and describing archives, including establishing different levels of arrangement from fonds to pieces and the importance of contextualizing archives through administrative history. It also covers creating finding aids and descriptive tools to provide access to archive contents and structures for researchers. The goal of arrangement and description is to organize archives for preservation while making them accessible through explanation and organization.

1. Arranging and
Describing
ArchivesPresenter:
Tansiongco, Kevin Conrad T.
Professor:
Dr. Juan C. Buenrostro, Jr.

2. ‘Watch out for the fellow who
talks about putting things in
order! Putting things in order
always means getting other
people under your control.’
-Denis Diderot-
1796

4. Objectives
• To givean overview in arranging and
describing archives.
• To givesomeguidelines in
arranging and describing archives.

5. Introduction
Arrangement supportsthegoal of
preservation by achieving physical and
intellectual control of archives, while
arrangement and description support thetask
of making archivesavailableby organizing,
identifying and explaining thecontent, context
and structureof archives.

6. Topic to bediscussed:
Archival levelsof arrangement
Thepracticalitiesof arrangement
Describing archives
Presenting content
Providing accessto descriptiveinformation
Putting thedescription together
Establishing priorities

7. Archival levelsof arrangement
 Thefondsor group
 Consistsof thewholeof abody of
documents, regardlessof form or medium,
created or accumulated by aparticular
individual, family, corporatebody or other
agency aspart of lifeand work and
retained because thosematerialshave
ongoing archival valueasevidenceof
thosefunctionsand activities.

8. Archival levelsof arrangement
Theseriesand sub-series
Isthelevel of arrangement that responsesthose
aggregationsof filesor other recordswithin the
larger group that relateto thesameprocessor
that areevidenceof a common form, purpose
or use.
A body of documentswithin aseriesthat can
bereadily distinguished from thelarger series
by filing arrangement, type, form or content.

9. Archival levelsof arrangement
Thefile
Organized assembly of documentswithin aseries,
brought together according to aparticular topic,
activity or event in oneseveral folders.
Physical entity : oneor morecardboard or paper
foldersor bindersholding anumber of individual
documents.

10. Archival levelsof arrangement
Theitem
Basic physical unit within afile.
A six-pageletter from theAnnandalecompany to a
client may beoneitem, and a20-pagemarketing
plan for AnnandaleEnterprisesfor 1977 would be
another item.

11. Archival levelsof arrangement
Thepiece
Singleindivisibleunit within theitem
Each pageof a20-pagemarketing plan
could becounted asapiece, with atotal of
20 piecesmaking up an item.

12. Archival levelsof arrangement
Arranging corporateor organizational
archives
Thesmaller and moreself-contained the
creating agency, theeasier it isto structure
thearchivesproduced by that agency.

13. Archival levelsof arrangement
Gapsin arrangement
Any level of arrangement may beabsent
from agiven hierarchy, depending on the
natureof thearchivesand thecircumstances
in which they werecreated and used.

14. Archival levelsof arrangement
Arranging corporateor organizational
archives
Thesmaller and moreself-contained the
creating agency, theeasier it isto structure
thearchivesproduced by that agency.

15. Archival levelsof arrangement
Arranging personal papers
Theapproach to arrangement issimilar
when considering thepersonal archivesof
an individual or family.

16. Archival levelsof arrangement
Arrangement and organizational change
Arranging archivescan also berelatively
straightforward if thearchivistsisworking
with archival documentscreated by a
businessor government that hasestablished
effectiverecordsmanagement systems.

17. Thepracticalitiesof arrangement
Arrangement isan intellectual and physical
task.
Thearchivist needsto think through and
devisealogical order and then sheneedsto
imposethat order on theactual materials,
whether they arephysical piecesof paper or
digital bitsof information in acomputer file.

18. Thepracticalitiesof arrangement
Thearchivist may chooseonly to createan
intellectual order, mapping that structureto the
materialsbut not physically rearranging files
or items, or shemay takeapart boxesand
foldersand reorganizematerialsto reflect the
chosen arrangement.

19. Describing Archives
Thepurposeof description isto create
representation of thearchives- an explanation
of thecontent, structureand context of the
fo nds or group- so that thematerialscan be
located and used by anyone, for any purpose,
whilestill remaining authentic evidenceof the
work and lifeof thecreator.

20. Describing Archives
Theprocessof archival description
involvesthreesteps:
First step isto research and writean account
of thenatureand scopeof thearchivesand
thelifeand work of theperson, family,
organization or business responsiblefor
their creation.

21. Describing Archives
Second step – isto present that information
in variousdescriptivetools- finding aids-
that allow usersto understand thecontent
and natureof thearchives.
Third step – isto createaccesspointsor
intellectual pointsof entry into thearchives,
such asnames, subjects, datesor events, to
help researchersdeterminewhich archives
arerelevant to their research.

22. Describing content, structureand context
Thesearethequestionsto beanswer:
Who created therecords?
When and Why?
How and when did thearchivescometo the
archival institution?
What happened to therecordsbeforeand
after they cameinto archival custody?

23. Datacontent standards
It helpsarchivist createconsistent
archival descriptivetools, so that usersdo
not haveto adjust to different descriptive
systemsevery timethey accessanew
repository.
Thestandardsalso foster homogeneity
and support information sharing across
archival institutions.

24. Theprocessof capturing content
Archivist should capturecoreinformation
about thearchival materialsthey are
describing, such asatitlefor thearchives,
theinclusivedatesof materialstheir
physical extent and medium, whether any
further accrualsareexpected, whether
thereareany restrictionson reproduction
or access, and what languagethe
materialsarein.

25. Repository identification
Information about therepository housing
thearchivesincludesthenameof the
repository and, if possible, arepository
codeidentifying thespecific repository.
Thereferencecodeor identification
number for thespecific archival fondsor
group should also beincluded.

26. Titleof thearchives
Thetitleismost often found within the
archivesthemselves, based on
provenance.

27. Datesof thearchives
Thedateelement identifiestheinclusive
datesof thearchives, from theoldest or
earliest to themost recent item.
Descriptivestandardsrecommend
standardizing how datesarepresented:
1994-1996, for instance, instead of 1994-
96 or 1994-6.

28. Extent and physical description of
thearchives
Theextent of thematerialsbeing
described includesthephysical or logical
units(100cubic feet, 16 containers, 6
linear meters) and themedium of the
materials(textual records, graphic
material, photographs, audio cassettes.).

29. Administrativehistory of
biography
Themain purposeisto contextualizethe
archivesin hand, allowing theresearcher
to connect thearchiveswith thefunctions
and activitiesthat led to their creation and
use.
Identifiesand explainsthelifeand work
of thecreator or creatorsof thearchives
being described.

30. Scopeand content of thearchives
Thiselement providesasummary of the
archivesthemselves: scoperefersto
general information about functions
performed by thecreator of thearchives,
and thedocumentary formsfound within
thematerials.

31. Archival or custodial history
Explainshow archivesweremanaged
from thetimethey werecreated to the
timethey cameinto archival custody.
It allowsthearchivist to explain what is
not in thearchives, particularly if the
surviving materialsreflect only asmall
portion of thelifeand work of thecreator.

32. Presenting content
Genresof finding aid
Descriptiveinventories
Repository guides
Thematic guides
Calendars
Accession registers
Location lists
Indexes

33. Archivesdatabasesand networks
Archives Canada:
www.archivescanada.ca
Archives Hub:
www.archiveshub.ac.uk
England A2A- Access to Archives :
www.a2a.org.uk
Guide to Australian Literary
Manuscripts :
http://findaid.library.uwa.edu.au

34. Archivesdatabasesand networks
National Register of Archives and
Manuscripts or Te Rarangi Puranga,
Tuhinga Ake o te Motu:
www.nram.org.nz
National Union Catalog of Manuscript
collections (NUCMC):
www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc
Scottish Archive Network:
www.scan.org.uk

35. Establishing priorities
Accessioning
Develop astandardized approach to
creating accesspoints
Monitor

36. Oncearchiveshavebeen arranged
and descriptivetoolshavebeen
prepared, thearchivist’snext
responsibility isto help thepublic
usetheresourcesin her institution.

37. Work Cited:
Millar, L. A. (2010). Archives: principles and
practices. London: Facet Publishing.