introduction to archival principles and standard practices salvacion m. arlante
TRANSCRIPT
How Do You Start
Administering archives involves 5 broad areas: Yourself The information to manage People Financial matters Facilities, equipment and storage
administrative storage/repository reference/outreach conservation
Nature and Components Of An Archival Policy
Authority of the Archives Policy Document
Authority of the Archives
Purpose of the Archives
Definitions
ARCHIVES
What do they keep?
Records which are no longer required for current use but have been selected for permanent preservation because of their evidential or informational value.
General Conditions for ARCHIVES
Priorities: Provide a Suitable and Stable
Environment Make it Secure and Safe Ensure that there is Adequate Space Arrange or allocate the space so that
it enhances the work flow
General Conditions For Archives
Arrange or allocate the space so that it enhances the work flow Storage area ---- 60-70% of total facility Processing area ---- 15-22% Administrative area ---- 3.3 sq. m. of floor
space per member Public area Reading Room – 7-10%
Exhibits Seminar/Training
Nature of the Archives Programme
Components Acquisition and Collection Appraisal and Disposal Arrangement and Description Preservation and Storage Reference and Access Outreach Activities
Scope and Nature of ARCHIVAL REQUIREMENTS
Acquisition Arrangement and Description Preservation Access to Archives Community Education Management and Administration
ACQUISITION POLICY
The acquisition policy needs to clarify the archives responsible for:
materials created or used directly in the work of the parent body
active and semi-current, as well as inactive and archival records
records, which, over the life of the organization, may have been lost or removed from official custody
records of preceding bodies or closely affiliated organizations
Personal papers of individuals closely connected with the work of the parent body
Various forms of recorded information, for example, will the archives acquire only paper or film based records; will it also accept objects and memorabilia?
RESOURCES
How available is the material proposed for collection?
Do other institutions or organizations already collect this or similar materials?
What are the estimated costs of acquiring the collection?
What related resources (i.e. library materials) already exist, or are easily obtainable, to support the proposed collection?
PHYSICAL FORMATS
Unpublished manuscripts and records Printed and published material Maps, plans and architectural drawings Pictorial materials, including photographs Audio-visual materials such as cassettes,
reel to reel tapes, video tapes Computer-generated material including
computer tapes and printouts Artefacts and memorabilia, such as coins,
costumes, stamps, etc.
Resources (Institution) Basic University Records Directives (Memoranda/Administrative Orders) University Publications Messages Theses and Dissertations Faculty Papers Conference Proceedings Informal Campus Records Vertical Files Non-Print Files/Audio-Visual Materials Posters/Photographs Oral History Memorabilia (plaques, trophies, pins, etc.) Ephemera Personal Papers
Personal Papers
Biographical Features Correspondence Financial Records Legal Documents Speeches and writings Lecture notes Clippings Photographs Memorabilia Other records pertaining to professional, social
and civic organizational affiliations
Services
Reference Service Relationship with Faculty Course offerings Extension or Outreach Programs Application of New Information
Technology
Appraisal
Evaluation of the mass of source material and the selection of that portion that will be kept.
APPRAISAL
Process of determining which records are to be retained as archives and which will be destroyed. Records have two basic characteristics which determine whether or not they are archives. These are often referred to as PRIMARY EVIDENTIAL or DOCUMENTARY VALUE and the SECONDARY.
Appraisal
Is the process of evaluating records to determine their value and ultimate disposition based upon their current administrative, legal, and fiscal use; their evidential and informational content; their arrangement and condition; their intrinsic value; and their relationship to other records. This process will aid you in determining the ultimate disposition of your records which may include placement in an archives, retention for a specified period of time, or immediate destruction.
Appraisal Considerations
Physical volume Frequency of use Administrative and operational need served by
the record Legal and fiscal regulations governing
retention Historical significance Economic advantage of moving the records
from high cost office storage to low cost records storage space or direct disposal
Whether this is the record copy or a duplicate
APPRAISAL
Record Values Primary Value
Administrative Value Fiscal Value Legal Value Historical Value
Secondary Value Evidential Value Informational Value
Other Values Research Value Intrinsic Value
Records have two basic characteristics which determine whether or not they are
archives: Primary, evidential or documentary value
-- based upon the function the records had for the office or person which created and used them. Our interest as archivist lies in their value as evidence of how that office or individual conducted their business.
The three major categories of records having evidential value are those that:
have continuing administrative, legal or financial use for the body or individual which created them, or for any subsequent bodies
record details which may serve to protect the civic, legal, property or other rights of individuals or community at large
reflect the historical development of the creating body, its structures, functions, policies, decisions, and significant operations; or which reflect the evolution of the individual’s career, interest or activities
PRIMARY VALUES
Administrative Value Examples: Agency histories, annual and biennial reports,
budget and planning records, circulars, correspondence of high-level officials, directives, executive orders, hearing transcripts, interpretations, opinions, or memoranda of law, mandates, minutes and agendas of meetings and conferences, organizational and functional charts, policy and procedural manuals, political and public relations materials, regulations, special reports, staff studies, statutes, strategic planning documents, and vital operating records.
Primary Values (cont’d)
Fiscal Value Examples: accounting records, audit reports,
budgets, financial journals, reports and statements, grant agreements, ledgers, payroll records, and vouchers
Primary Values (cont’d)
Legal ValueExamples:agreements, articles of association, by-laws, civil and criminal case records, claim papers, contracts, executive orders, leases, legal dockets, licenses, ordinances, personnel records, property records, records which support judicial opinions and interpretations, rules, statutes, titles, veterans service and benefit records, and vital statistics
Primary Values (cont’d)
Historical ValueExamples:annual reports, correspondence and administrative files, hearing transcripts, meeting minutes of boards, commissions and councils, photographs, records of births, deaths, and marriages, and certain records of defunct agencies
Secondary Values
-- defined as those records which contain information which is of interest not only to the creating person or organization but also to researchers from a variety of fields of knowledge. Often such records contain information gathered originally for a purpose quite different from the uses to which the later researcher will put the records. Examples of records with informational value distinct from their role include property insurance maps and records used subsequently by persons seeking to restore old buildings to their original appearances; census data which is used for family history; or property cards and rate books, originally used to study changes in economic status or ethnicity in various neighborhoods.
SECONDARY VALUES
Evidential valueExamples:annual reports, a census schedule as an example of how a census was taken and what information was collected, organizational charts, organization charters, policy and program documentation
SECONDARY VALUES (cont’d)
Informational ValueExamples:case files, census schedule for the information provided within, land-entry papers, military service record, pension files and passenger list
Other Values
Research Value Records of research value are use in scholarly
studies and investigations Intrinsic Value
Records of intrinsic value are considered to have inherent value due to some unique factor such as age, content, usage or circumstances surrounding its creation, signature or attached seals that requires the permanent retention of the document in each original physical form
Characteristics of Records
Age Volume Form Functional Characteristics Evidential Characteristics Informational Characteristics
FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES OF RECORDSGROUPED BY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE
Usually Valuable
Academic record cards Manuals, policyActs, legislative Manuals, procedureAddresses MemoirsAlbums MemorialsAutobiographies Messages, officialBriefs Militia listsBroadsides MinutesBrochures Muster rollsBudgets News lettersBulletins OrdersBy-laws Organizational charts Cadasters PlatformsCalendars Poll listsCatalogs ProceedingsCensus rolls ProclamationsConstitutions RecollectionsCredences Regulations Diaries Reports, annualDigests Reports, auditDirections Reports, researchDirectives ResolutionsDirectories RollsDockets RostersElections, certificates, Rulesand returns SpeechesGuides StatutesHandbooks StudiesHistories SummariesIndexes SurveysInterviews SynopsesJournals, research Tax returnsLaws TestimonialsLegal opinions WillsLogs
FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES OF RECORDSGROUPED BY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE
Often Valuable
Abstracts Letters, personal Agendas Lists Agreements Maps Announcements Memorands Awards Monographs Books Motion picture films Cables Music Certificates Negatives, photograph Charts Order books Circulars Papers, personal Collections Pardons Contracts Payroll summary cards Correspondence Petitions Course outlines Photographs Despatches Plans Diagrams Poems Disk recordings Posters Documents Publications Drawings Recommendations Field notes Registers Files Reports, progress Files, personnel Schedules Files, research Scrapbooks Film strips Specifications, buildings Financial statements Subject files Issuances Tape recordings Journals Tariffs Kinescopes TelegramsLedgers VideotapesLetterbooks
FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES OF RECORDSGROUPED BY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE
Often Without Value Account books Payroll deductions, Accounting statements authorizations Addresses, manuscript and notices version of published Property inventories Applications Purchase ordersAppointments Reading filesAuthorizations of Receipts actions posted to Releases permanent records RequestsBallots RequisitionsBank statements Sales literatureBills, financial SlipsBudget work papers Shorthand notesCash books Speeches, manuscriptChecks, cancelled version of publishedClaims TicketsClassbooks Tickler filesDay books Time books andInvoices recordsLeases Trial balancesLicenses VouchersManuscripts WarrantsMortgages Work ordersNotes, lecture Work papersNotes, research Work sheetsOrders, financialOutlines
FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES OF RECORDSGROUPED BY RELATIVE IMPORTANCE
Occasionally Valuable Usually Without Value
Assessment records Oaths Duplicate copies Bonds Payrolls Stencils Cards Press releases SuppliesCase files Program documentationCatalogs ADPClippings Property control listingsCommittee files RecommendationsCourse materials Reprints or separatesExamination questions Returns Folders SchedulesInstructions Scrapbooks Inventories SketchesJackets StatementsLectures Statistical tablesLists TabulationsMaterials Tapes, transcribedNominations TranscriptsNotebooksNotices
Before Arrangement and Description
Accessioning – process of formally accepting and recording the receipt of records into archival custody
Accessioning
records information about origins, creator, contents, format and extent in such a way that documents cannot become intermingled with other material held by the archives
provides the basic level of physical and intellectual control over incoming material
must be done as soon as possible after the receipt of new records.
FINDING AIDS
- signposts which lead the archivist and researcher to the information they are seeking.
Finding Aids Prepared by Creating Institution or Person
Essential:- Registers- Indexes- Filing System descriptions- Thesauri
Finding Aids Prepared by ArchivistEssential:
- Accession Registers- Descriptive Inventories- Bridging Aids
Desirable:- Guides to Holding- Reports of Holding- Indexes to Descriptive Inventories
If Resources Permit:- Content Indexes
Compiled SourcesIf Resources Permit:
- Special lists- Subject Files- Sources Analyses- Reference Guides and Media Guides
WEEDING
Weeding is the process of examining records to remove file units lacking continuing value, a form of piece-by-piece selection also known as purging, screening, and stripping. Normally, the processor cannot justify taking the time required for weeding in a correspondence file, but this does not prevent a decision to cull certain types of materials. With appropriate qualifications, archivists and records managers have identified non record material that may be destroyed without further authorization.
Examples are:
1. Routine acknowledgement , circulars, notifications, request, and transmittals.
2. Duplicates or extra copies of letters maintained for temporary convenience or reference. Where duplicate copies of letters are found, the original or the sharpest carbon should be preserved.
3. Preliminary drafts of letters, memoranda, and reports; work papers; informal notes and routing slips.
4. Machine-readable records where the informational content has been recorded in textual form.
5. Shorthand notes, dictation machine tapes, and records that have been transcribed.
6. Stencils, hectograph masters, and offset plates.7. Extra copies or stocks of publications, forms, and supplies.8. Library and museum material acquired or retained solely for
reference or exhibition purposes; catalogs and junk mail.
DISPOSAL SCHEDULES
- are an important tool for identifying potential archives during their active administrative life.
- systematic listing of records created by an organization which plans the life of these records from the time of their creation to their disposal.
- lists: records series created by the agency; retention period for each series; disposal sentence for each series, specifying whether
records are to be retained as archives or destroyed; the custody arrangements for each series, specifying
when the records are to be transferred to intermediate storage and/or to archives
VITAL RECORDS
FINANCIAL RECORDSEMPLOYEE RECORDS
MANUFACTURING RECORDSNEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS
INSURANCE POLICY INFORMATIONOWNERSHIP RECORDS
MAJOR CONTRACTS and AGREEMENTS with AMENDMENTS
Methods of Storage
On–site and Vaulting Off–site and Vaulting Periodic Method
One Period Rotation or Two Period Maximum – Minimum
RESPONSBILITIES OF THE CONSERVATOR
1. Technical advice2. Conservation workshop3. Restoration4. Awareness training
SETTING UP A CONSERVATION PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT SUPPORT / STRUCTUREDirectiveConservation committeeConservation PolicyOrganizational structureBudget
CONSERVATION FACILITIES CONSERVATION STAFF
DETERMINING the SCOPE and FOCUS of a CONSERVATION PROGRAM
1) Type and size of holdings2) Type of institution3) Type of use4) Geographical location5) Cooperation and outside
assistance
WORKSHOP Major functions/Objectives of Archives Include Authority of the Archives Resources (Acquisition Policies) Physical Formats Collection Institutional Records Personal Papers Special Collections Services Offered in the Archives Restrictions User Education Services Finding Aids (Research Guides/Indexes) Storage/Preservation (Weeding and Disposition)