112 · Survey Results: Survey Questions And Responses
Challenge 1: Challenge 2: Challenge 3:
Dealing with subject curators who refuse
to look at the big picture and insist on
using traditional methods to arrange
and describe collections and who revise
finding aids more for style than content.
Finding all the disparate pieces of
collections that have been shelved in
different locations by size and format.
Lack of staff experience in processing
collections.
Delivery of the EAD and extension of the
workflow from initial processor to final
output of the descriptive work.
The challenge of using non-professional
staff for the bulk of processing and the
consequential need to be available for
regular intervention throughout the
decision-making steps of processing.
Planning complex collection
management for physical storage of
collections in tandem with supervising
daily processing and pushing EAD
output.
Demand from our public for more and
better access to our collections.
Technological challenges and
opportunities will affect our decision-
making regarding collection processing.
Resource allocation will determine levels
of future processing. We also need to
adopt the “More Product, Less Product”
approach to our activities.
Due to lack of human resources,
collections are prioritized for processing
based on institutional priorities, research
value, etc. but ultimately we process
what we can with available staffing.
For processing electronic manuscript
materials, we currently do not have
the resources to deal well with this.
Processing electronic materials is
important so they do not get destroyed.
Inappropriately involved donors
sometimes feel their materials should be
described at the item level or indexed
when their papers do not really warrant
it, they also do not provide financial
support for the staff to carry out such a
project.
Electronic records for institutional
archives.
Staff shortages due to budget shortfalls
of last 4–5 years. As a federal institution
we cannot obtain external funding to
hire staff or otherwise outsource, so
we rely on appropriated funds for all
activities.
Added pressure to digitize or participate
in other activities takes away from core
processing operations. Perhaps we try to
accomplish too much.
Establishing processing priorities when
the number of high priority collections
far exceeds the amount of available staff
time.
Being prepared to support the
increased access which can result
from the availability on the Web of
detailed finding aids for fully processed
collections.
Making the most appropriate processing
decision for a collection, which includes
the recognition that access may never
be enhanced for a collection which has
been given minimal processing and
that any level of processing becomes
doubtful if a collection remains in the
backlog for more than five years.
Finding staff able to look beyond detail
and understand the big picture of a
series.
Staff who are unwilling to let go of
textbook answers on physical condition
of materials. If Don Rumsfeld were
an archival administrator he would
probably say, “Stuff does not last
forever.”
Funding for processing staff, supplies,
and storage of collections.
Balance of size/level of acquisition and
capacity to process (other demands on
staff time).
Space.