SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts &Archives · 65
Staff time and patron access needs.
Staffing level very labor intensive done for small—less than 10 items—literary manuscript collections collections of
ephemera correspondence of significant pre-1860 historical figures.
The nature of the materials determine whether it is appropriate to describe things at the item-level. Generally item-level
processing is only done for photograph collections. Item-level processing must be approved by the Board of Curators.
This would have to be a very rare or important item.
Uniqueness (or value) of items and the need or high demand for item-level access. (2 reponses)
Unless it’s George Washington’s signature on the invoice of an axe-maker it’s folder level.
Used for literary manuscripts or highly sensitive materials.
Used primarily for small collections.
User access needs.
Usually reserved for media, but even then we often describe in some grouping small purchased collections small
collections with particularly high anticipated use.
Value of item for research (unique and/or important items) items not easily grouped into series.
Value of the individual item for research use.
We do not process anything at the item level.
We need to go item level with most everything in our collection because that is the only way to provide.
Will staff and users wish to repeatedly retrieve the object at the item level? Does the item require item-level preservation
treatment?
Would almost never do unless had special funding.
Folder-level N=65
Access and privacy legislation tax receipt.
Access for patrons and staff reference.
Access, size, and homogeneity.
Adequate to describe and for a researcher to find needed information.
Anticipated high use and patron needs would be important for this level of description. (3 responses)
Anticipated use is the important factor. The higher the anticipated use, the more thorough the description.
Archives: staff availability.
As noted above, processing policy determines that we describe collections of diverse material above a certain size to the
folder level.
Collections of one format (e.g., All letters) might be processed at folder level only.
Depends on what the materials need, but we usually try to process to the file level.
Staff time and patron access needs.
Staffing level very labor intensive done for small—less than 10 items—literary manuscript collections collections of
ephemera correspondence of significant pre-1860 historical figures.
The nature of the materials determine whether it is appropriate to describe things at the item-level. Generally item-level
processing is only done for photograph collections. Item-level processing must be approved by the Board of Curators.
This would have to be a very rare or important item.
Uniqueness (or value) of items and the need or high demand for item-level access. (2 reponses)
Unless it’s George Washington’s signature on the invoice of an axe-maker it’s folder level.
Used for literary manuscripts or highly sensitive materials.
Used primarily for small collections.
User access needs.
Usually reserved for media, but even then we often describe in some grouping small purchased collections small
collections with particularly high anticipated use.
Value of item for research (unique and/or important items) items not easily grouped into series.
Value of the individual item for research use.
We do not process anything at the item level.
We need to go item level with most everything in our collection because that is the only way to provide.
Will staff and users wish to repeatedly retrieve the object at the item level? Does the item require item-level preservation
treatment?
Would almost never do unless had special funding.
Folder-level N=65
Access and privacy legislation tax receipt.
Access for patrons and staff reference.
Access, size, and homogeneity.
Adequate to describe and for a researcher to find needed information.
Anticipated high use and patron needs would be important for this level of description. (3 responses)
Anticipated use is the important factor. The higher the anticipated use, the more thorough the description.
Archives: staff availability.
As noted above, processing policy determines that we describe collections of diverse material above a certain size to the
folder level.
Collections of one format (e.g., All letters) might be processed at folder level only.
Depends on what the materials need, but we usually try to process to the file level.
