Processing Decisions for Manuscripts & Archives, SPEC Kit 314 (November 2009)

Hackbart-Dean, Pam; Slomba, Elizabeth

98 · Survey Results: Survey Questions And Responses
Monthly production log semi-annual report for digitization projects annual report for all manuscript processing.
Monthly within the unit.
Monthly, quarterly, and annual reports indicate number and size of collections accessioned and processed as well as
preservation supplies used.
Most statistics are compiled for inclusion in our annual reports to the University Librarian. With the adoption of the
Archivist Toolkit, we will compile and produce more statistical reports that will help guide our processing priorities.
Number of accessions and size are reported monthly to the Dean, finding aids encoded, records created, number of
accessions and size, number of collections processed, number of items digitized and size of significant collections
processed are in the annual report to the Dean.
Numerical counts collected for internal purposes and ARL reporting.
Online database. No formal reports are generated at this time.
Our in-house FileMaker Pro database is capable of generating numerous reports, among them those listed above. We
also have an Image Database that tracks items digitized for patrons however, it does not track outsourced or internal
mass digitization projects.
Our statistics are reported in our departmental and library annual reports and in ARL statistics.
Plan on implementing additional statistics once AT is fully implemented.
Processing statistics are used in the annual evaluation of the Special Collections Assistant for Processing and Technical
Services. Other statistics are gathered for annual reports, including ARL.
Processing statistics recorded on an annual basis.
Quarterly and annual statistics.
Quarterly to the Associate Dean of Special Collections and Digital Programs and then submitted to the Dean of Libraries.
Recorded in an Excel spreadsheet.
Reported annually as part of ARL statistics.
Reported monthly as part of libraries’ ongoing data collection activities.
Reported to ARL. Reported in the department’s annual report. Will use the Archivist’s Toolkit to collect and report
statistics, but we have not developed that capability yet.
Reported to central Cataloging Department, which in turn compiles institutional statistics for ARL.
Reports are made to ARL and other entities to whom we report statistical information. Some information is reported
only in librarians’ annual appraisal and development documents.
Some are reported to ARL, some are more used for internal reporting, tracking progress and benchmarking.
Statistics are gathered once a year and report to our Library’s assessment officer. The statistics are also given to the
department chair.
Statistics are kept largely informally (monthly for reference activity and yearly for accessions) and are assembled and
reconciled at the end of the fiscal year when annual reports are submitted to library administration.
Statistics are presented annually and compared against both past accomplishments and agreed-upon production goals.

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SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts & Archives (November 2009) resources

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98 · Survey Results: Survey Questions And Responses
Monthly production log semi-annual report for digitization projects annual report for all manuscript processing.
Monthly within the unit.
Monthly, quarterly, and annual reports indicate number and size of collections accessioned and processed as well as
preservation supplies used.
Most statistics are compiled for inclusion in our annual reports to the University Librarian. With the adoption of the
Archivist Toolkit, we will compile and produce more statistical reports that will help guide our processing priorities.
Number of accessions and size are reported monthly to the Dean, finding aids encoded, records created, number of
accessions and size, number of collections processed, number of items digitized and size of significant collections
processed are in the annual report to the Dean.
Numerical counts collected for internal purposes and ARL reporting.
Online database. No formal reports are generated at this time.
Our in-house FileMaker Pro database is capable of generating numerous reports, among them those listed above. We
also have an Image Database that tracks items digitized for patrons however, it does not track outsourced or internal
mass digitization projects.
Our statistics are reported in our departmental and library annual reports and in ARL statistics.
Plan on implementing additional statistics once AT is fully implemented.
Processing statistics are used in the annual evaluation of the Special Collections Assistant for Processing and Technical
Services. Other statistics are gathered for annual reports, including ARL.
Processing statistics recorded on an annual basis.
Quarterly and annual statistics.
Quarterly to the Associate Dean of Special Collections and Digital Programs and then submitted to the Dean of Libraries.
Recorded in an Excel spreadsheet.
Reported annually as part of ARL statistics.
Reported monthly as part of libraries’ ongoing data collection activities.
Reported to ARL. Reported in the department’s annual report. Will use the Archivist’s Toolkit to collect and report
statistics, but we have not developed that capability yet.
Reported to central Cataloging Department, which in turn compiles institutional statistics for ARL.
Reports are made to ARL and other entities to whom we report statistical information. Some information is reported
only in librarians’ annual appraisal and development documents.
Some are reported to ARL, some are more used for internal reporting, tracking progress and benchmarking.
Statistics are gathered once a year and report to our Library’s assessment officer. The statistics are also given to the
department chair.
Statistics are kept largely informally (monthly for reference activity and yearly for accessions) and are assembled and
reconciled at the end of the fiscal year when annual reports are submitted to library administration.
Statistics are presented annually and compared against both past accomplishments and agreed-upon production goals.

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SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts &Archives · 97
ARL annual report.
ARL annually requests a figure for total linear footage of manuscript and archival collections, which we provide. In
addition, there are quarterly MIS statistics which require the linear footage added to manuscript and archival collections.
By inclusion in the annual report of the department head to the Librarian.
Catalogers send me statistics of records. Archivist provides information on accessions with physical size. Three years
ago we did a full inventory of the collection to prepare for a move to a new building — these statistics have been
very helpful when deciding on processing and grant applications. We also have a workflow spreadsheet for digitizing
collections.
Collected by archivist and curator and reported to library admin annually.
Collected in-house for Departmental annual report.
Data informally maintained. Some data is reported to Assessment Librarian. (Archives).
Departmental annual report, ARL Stats.
For each fiscal year, the number of collections received, the total linear feet of growth, and the valuation of this annual
growth.
Form is submitted to supervisor (students to Library Assistant, graduate assistants to Manuscripts Processing Archivist,
LA’s and MSP Archivist to curator of manuscripts) and compiled for personnel evaluations and departmental annual
reports also entered into our accession and processing tracking database (Access) and periodically reviewed by Curator
of MS throughout the year qualitatively, all finding aids are reviewed by the Curator of MS before being published
catalog records are created by manuscripts processing staff and reviewed by the Special Collections Cataloger, who in
turn does all of the cataloging of university records.
Gathered monthly and reported quarterly to management.
Generally in the department annual report, as well as UC and ARL surveys.
In annual report or to lib admin. As requested.
In monthly reports by collection, annual report for department.
In the annual report, through publicity press releases and in listserves.
In the past we kept much more detailed individual and department statistics. Feeling that the work of maintaining
statistics was overtaking the work itself, we have since reduced our statistics to keeping only those we need for ARL
reporting.
Internal annual reports reported to Northwest Digital Archives (our regional consortial database of encoded finding
aids).
Internally to the statistics collector.
Linear feet processed and collection level MARC records are reported to the library administration each year.
Management uses are made of statistics. Accession records are included in various reports. A new “tracking”
spreadsheet will generate reports on size of records processed and number of descriptions (EAD and MARC) completed.
Annual performance evaluations include processing statistics.
Monthly and annually, in excel spreadsheets.

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SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts & Archives (November 2009) resources

SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts &Archives · 99
Statistics are reported in annual reports, ARL reports, and in-house assessment.
Statistics are reported monthly by staff there is also a Departmental monthly report.
Statistics reported in annual reports.
Summarized in annual report.
The Processing Coordinator generates/collects it. They are reported regularly to the Department Head and the
department’s unit heads.
These statistics may be provided through a unit annual report or through statistical reports to ARL.
Through the Archives annual report.
To Library Administration and if requested state and national surveys.
We do record certain key information in pastperfect (which controls collection location information) — e.g., Collection-
level record? Processing Level? — and we can create reports from this database that pull information from other fields
and allow us to identify, for example, all minimally processed collections. A bit klutzy.
We normally incorporate these into an annual report for our unit.
Workload statistics are reported monthly by processing staff numbers for collections processed are submitted at the
conclusion of each project key indicators of items acquired, processed, and added to the division’s holdings are reported
quarterly and annually, as well the number of finding aids created and digitized and the number of catalog records
created and revised and authorities established.
Estimating Processing Work and Processing Metrics
As reviewers for national grant applications for processing manuscript and archival collections, we became aware that
it is necessary for the applicant to estimate how long it will take to complete the project. We want to learn how your
institution determines the time it takes to process a collection.
17. Please briefly describe how your unit/department/library calculates the amount of time it takes to
process a manuscript or archival collection. N=69
1 hour per cubic box.
40 hours per linear foot – item level 30 hours per linear foot — mixed formats, little or not arrangement 20 hours per
linear foot — average problems, papers have some order 10 hours per linear foot — no organizational problems.
After preliminary review of a collection and decisions on processing levels, past experience is used to estimate
processing time. If we were applying for a grant we might do some pilot project processing for firmer numbers. We are
generally just interested in a rough estimate for internal purposes, and that information is for planning purposes.
An initial assessment of size and type of material, collection review and series establishment, item vs. Folder level, and
extent of conservation activities.
Approximate times are based on the following variables: staff assigned (professional/student), size of collection, level
of disorganization or complexity of collection. For example, it takes an experienced student processor about 20–30
hours to fully process 1 cubic foot of materials (beginning to end). It would take less if only an inventory and rehousing

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Page 7Survey Results click to expand contents

Page 123Representative Documents click to expand contents

Page 125Job Description of Processing Decision Maker click to expand contents

Page 129Job Descriptions of Processing Staff click to expand contents

Page 133Processing Policy click to expand contents

Page 137Processing Procedures Manuals click to expand contents

Page 143Processing Worksheets click to expand contents

Page 151Procedures for Prioritizing Processing click to expand contents

Page 155Collecting Processing Statistics click to expand contents

Page 159Sample Statistics Reports click to expand contents

Page 163Selected Resources click to expand contents

SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts & Archives (November 2009) resources

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SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts & Archives (November 2009) resources

SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts & Archives (November 2009) resources