Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.
-
Upload
shreya-collie -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
2
Transcript of Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.
![Page 1: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Creating Finding Aids
Sara CasperGovernment Records Archivist
South Dakota State Archives
![Page 2: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
In this presentation…
What is an archival finding aid? Why should I create finding aids? Identifying record series Important finding aid sections/elements Tips for writing and using finding aids Other resources
![Page 3: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
What is a finding aid?
“A tool that facilitates discovery of information within a collection of records.”
“A description of records that gives the repository physical and intellectual control over the materials and that assists users to gain access to and understand the materials.”
![Page 4: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Why create finding aids?
Makes materials inside a collection more accessible to researchers and staff
Provides context for collection Accountability
– Keeps track of provenance, changes to the collection during processing, etc.
Versatile– Works for any size or type of collection– Can be published online, made available in research room,
kept on desk or in file drawer, e-mailed
![Page 5: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Arrangement
Description follows physical arrangement, or processing, of the collection
![Page 6: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Arrangement – Step One
What is in the collection? Look through the records and take detailed notes– Preservation concerns– Types of materials– Subjects/items of interest– Arrangement
![Page 7: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Arrangement – Step Two
Identify Record Series– Natural Groupings– Original Filing System
Do not attempt to write a finding aid without understanding the collection hierarchy
![Page 8: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
Un-arranged Collection
Newspaper Clippings, 1940-1942
Correspondence, Jan-Mar 1935 Diary 1933 Newspaper Clippings, 1938-
1939 Diary 1934 Financial Ledger, Vol. C Correspondence, Oct-Dec 1935 Correspondence, Jan-Mar 1936 7 Photographs, May Day, 1939
Diary 1932 Newspaper Clippings, 1943-
1946 Financial Ledger, Vol. B Correspondence, Oct-Dec 1934 Correspondence, Jul-Sept 1935 Financial Ledger, Vol. A Correspondence, Apr-Jun 1935 10 Photographs, Company
Picnic, 1946
![Page 9: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Collection Hierarchy
Series I: Correspondence, Oct. 1934-Mar 1936 (arranged chronologically)
Series II: Diaries, 1932-1934 (arranged chronologically)
Series III: Financial Ledgers (arranged alphabetically by volume)
Series IV: Newspaper Clippings, 1938-1946 (arranged chronologically)
Series V: Photographs, 1939-1946– Sub-series/File 1: May Day, 1939– Sub-series/File 2: Company Picnic, 1946
![Page 10: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Arrangement – Step Three
Box and folder records– Acid-free archival enclosures– Label in pencil– Deal with preservation concerns, keep track of
activities
![Page 11: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Archival Principles
Provenance and Original Order “The records created, assembled, accumulated,
and/or maintained and used by an organization or individual must be kept together in their original order, if such order exists or has been maintained…[and] ought not be mixed or combined with the records of another individual or corporate body.”
![Page 12: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Description – Finding Aid Elements
Every collection is different - not all elements will be used for every collection
Tailor description to suit the size, importance, and complexity of each collection
![Page 13: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Archival Description = Nesting Dolls
CollectionSub-series
Sub-sub-series
FileItem
Series
![Page 14: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
Title Page
Name of Collection Accession/Catalog/
Collection Numbers Dates Name/Location of
Repository Name of Finding Aid
Author Date of Creation
![Page 15: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Copyright Notice
Standard Notice Places responsibility for
determining copyright restrictions on the researcher
![Page 16: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Privacy/Restriction Notes
Are there any access or use restrictions for the collection?
![Page 17: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Administrative History/Biographical Note
Give a brief history of the individual or organization that created the collection
Who is the individual? How do they fit in with
larger historical themes or events?
Provide context for collection
![Page 18: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Scope and Content
What does the collection contain?
Collection-level Extent Dates Material & Document
Types Arrangement - series
![Page 19: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Provenance
Where did the collection come from? How did it get to the archives? Curatorial history
![Page 20: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Processing Notes
Document all processing activities, when they happened, and why.
Conservation treatments?
Materials removed? Re-housing? Organizational scheme
imposed?
![Page 21: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Series Descriptions
Content description for each series and sub-series
Restrictions Arrangement
![Page 22: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Container List
Box/Folder list Include dates as much
as possible
![Page 23: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Other Elements
Preferred Citation for Materials Languages Related Collections/Materials Library of Congress Subject Headings
![Page 24: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Rules of Thumb
Do not describe to the item-level unless you can count the items on your hands
Always document any processing or preservation actions
Be as brief as you can – a 1,000 page finding aid is worthless
Provide access to the finding aids
![Page 25: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
Using finding aids
What information are you looking for? Who would have kept that information? In
what formats? Translate inquiry into record series
![Page 26: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Using finding aids
Word documents– Keyword searches possible within finding aid
(Ctrl F) and between finding aids (right click folder, search)
![Page 27: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Additional Resources
Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DAACS) (Society of American Archivists, 2007)
Kathleen D. Roe, Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts (Society of American Archivists, 2005)
![Page 28: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
Additional Resources
David W. Carmicheal, Organizing Archival Records: A Practical Method of Arrangement and Description for Small Archives (Altmira Press, 2003)
Make friends with an archivist
![Page 29: Creating Finding Aids Sara Casper Government Records Archivist South Dakota State Archives.](https://reader038.fdocuments.net/reader038/viewer/2022110320/56649ca55503460f949661aa/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Examples
Example I Example II Example III