SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts &Archives · 111
Challenge 1: Challenge 2: Challenge 3:
Building and acquiring staff and
technical support for publishing
accession records on the Web.
Balancing processing staffing and
resources across seven archival
repositories, five of which have backlogs.
Retaining sufficient curatorial staffing
while the larger organization conducts
furloughs and reductions in force, or
transitions existing staff lines to digital
library development. Curators are
needed to provide descriptive metadata
for the content.
Challenge of scarce resources and doing
more with less.
Running out of space to store
collections.
Challenge of digital preservation.
Challenging the way it’s always been
done. The operation I took over was
mired in 40+ years of no change. Layers
and layers and layers of “sameness”
infected the entire unit. So MPLP not
only spurred questions, but outright
hostility. “Patrons won’t like it.” “This
is the way we’ve always done it.” “This
is absolutely impossible!” With an 8
mile backlog staring me in the face I
had little choice but to rip off the band
aid and make it happen. Bottom line:
Patrons love it. THIS is the way you do
things now. 1/2 miles processed in one
fiscal year. You just can’t rationally argue
with success like this.
The speed and quality of processing
spiked so dramatically, that those
overseeing finances in administration
wanted to know why all of a sudden we
need an order of 50,000 folders why
we ordered 1,000 boxes multiple times
each year. This spike in productivity
impacted every other unit in the library:
grants, binding, digital—their work
was increasingly exponentially because
we were suddenly on the move. We
were no longer the dead books and
manuscripts department processing 9
feet a month—we were a productive
and vital unit that was open for business
and ready to make a mark on the world.
Space. Manhattan. Until I worked in
Manhattan I couldn’t appreciate the
scores of space jokes I had heard over
the years. Butler library was built in
1932 with stacks that hold up the
building that were made for books,
not archives. 2/3 of our collections live
offsite. Accessions come in, have to
be surveyed, and sent offsite. Whole
collections are processed and the
archivists never seen them in their
entirety. It’s a 3-D chess game. Also staff
space is limited so we’ve had to be
creative, offices are shared, and even a
section of the stacks was emptied and is
now devoted to processing space.
Choosing which collections to digitize,
should it be based on patron demand,
or on the need to preserve at-risk
collections?
Currently, my biggest challenge is
having the curator of manuscripts be
a part of the acquisition process from
as close to the first step as possible.
Colleagues/bibliographers are foolish
simply to “dump” manuscripts on
manuscripts staff without first getting
their evaluation of the material and
getting them invested and thinking
about processing strategies from the
get-go.
Too little staff and staff space for the
5,000+ linear feet of backlog and 100+
linear feet of growth per year.
Processing grants are getting harder
and harder to receive as agencies such
as the NEH look for model projects and/
or digital projects and/or collaborative
projects.
Challenge 1: Challenge 2: Challenge 3:
Building and acquiring staff and
technical support for publishing
accession records on the Web.
Balancing processing staffing and
resources across seven archival
repositories, five of which have backlogs.
Retaining sufficient curatorial staffing
while the larger organization conducts
furloughs and reductions in force, or
transitions existing staff lines to digital
library development. Curators are
needed to provide descriptive metadata
for the content.
Challenge of scarce resources and doing
more with less.
Running out of space to store
collections.
Challenge of digital preservation.
Challenging the way it’s always been
done. The operation I took over was
mired in 40+ years of no change. Layers
and layers and layers of “sameness”
infected the entire unit. So MPLP not
only spurred questions, but outright
hostility. “Patrons won’t like it.” “This
is the way we’ve always done it.” “This
is absolutely impossible!” With an 8
mile backlog staring me in the face I
had little choice but to rip off the band
aid and make it happen. Bottom line:
Patrons love it. THIS is the way you do
things now. 1/2 miles processed in one
fiscal year. You just can’t rationally argue
with success like this.
The speed and quality of processing
spiked so dramatically, that those
overseeing finances in administration
wanted to know why all of a sudden we
need an order of 50,000 folders why
we ordered 1,000 boxes multiple times
each year. This spike in productivity
impacted every other unit in the library:
grants, binding, digital—their work
was increasingly exponentially because
we were suddenly on the move. We
were no longer the dead books and
manuscripts department processing 9
feet a month—we were a productive
and vital unit that was open for business
and ready to make a mark on the world.
Space. Manhattan. Until I worked in
Manhattan I couldn’t appreciate the
scores of space jokes I had heard over
the years. Butler library was built in
1932 with stacks that hold up the
building that were made for books,
not archives. 2/3 of our collections live
offsite. Accessions come in, have to
be surveyed, and sent offsite. Whole
collections are processed and the
archivists never seen them in their
entirety. It’s a 3-D chess game. Also staff
space is limited so we’ve had to be
creative, offices are shared, and even a
section of the stacks was emptied and is
now devoted to processing space.
Choosing which collections to digitize,
should it be based on patron demand,
or on the need to preserve at-risk
collections?
Currently, my biggest challenge is
having the curator of manuscripts be
a part of the acquisition process from
as close to the first step as possible.
Colleagues/bibliographers are foolish
simply to “dump” manuscripts on
manuscripts staff without first getting
their evaluation of the material and
getting them invested and thinking
about processing strategies from the
get-go.
Too little staff and staff space for the
5,000+ linear feet of backlog and 100+
linear feet of growth per year.
Processing grants are getting harder
and harder to receive as agencies such
as the NEH look for model projects and/
or digital projects and/or collaborative
projects.
