SPEC Kit 314: Processing Decisions for Manuscripts &Archives · 95
Processing projects are reviewed by University Archivist.
Processing worksheets weekly, monthly and final reviews.
Processors’ work on materials is monitored to conform to general productivity expectations based on previously
established production rates.
Regular meeting and reports on progress.
Review of all finding aids by department head review of all EAD and MARC records by metadata archivist statistical
summaries of processing activities.
Statistics of volume processed during a year.
Students fill out a paper form as they process. This information is then entered into a MS Access database.
Supervising archivists have this responsibility. They review all or most work that’s done.
Supervision by the Manuscripts Librarian, University Archivist, and Accessioning and Processing Archivist.
Supervisors monitor and evaluate on a project-by-project basis.
The Head of Archival Processing and Cataloging conducts weekly, or as needed, meetings with processing staff and
students.
Use of Archivist’s Toolkit for monitoring activities. Supervisor evaluation of processor’s activities.
We don’t have formal tools, but we are constantly monitoring and evaluating processing activities. This happens within
the Technical Services Department (especially as we continue to standardize processes across the Department) and with
colleagues outside the Department, particularly curatorial and public services staff members.
We have a tool to check/evaluate our EAD finding aids against a set of required criteria. We also evaluate performance
against annual goals for both individuals and the department. Other than that, we have no formal tools.
We have updates at staff meetings, and I ask for statistical information from catalogers and archivist. We also keep
track of our digital transfers and file creation.
16. Does your unit/department/library collect statistics about processing manuscript and archives
collections? N=72
Yes 68 94%
No 4 6%
If yes, which categories of statistics are gathered? Check all that apply. N=69
Number of accessions including physical size 63 91%
Physical size of collections processed 62 90%
Number of finding aids digitized/encoded 58 84%
Processing projects are reviewed by University Archivist.
Processing worksheets weekly, monthly and final reviews.
Processors’ work on materials is monitored to conform to general productivity expectations based on previously
established production rates.
Regular meeting and reports on progress.
Review of all finding aids by department head review of all EAD and MARC records by metadata archivist statistical
summaries of processing activities.
Statistics of volume processed during a year.
Students fill out a paper form as they process. This information is then entered into a MS Access database.
Supervising archivists have this responsibility. They review all or most work that’s done.
Supervision by the Manuscripts Librarian, University Archivist, and Accessioning and Processing Archivist.
Supervisors monitor and evaluate on a project-by-project basis.
The Head of Archival Processing and Cataloging conducts weekly, or as needed, meetings with processing staff and
students.
Use of Archivist’s Toolkit for monitoring activities. Supervisor evaluation of processor’s activities.
We don’t have formal tools, but we are constantly monitoring and evaluating processing activities. This happens within
the Technical Services Department (especially as we continue to standardize processes across the Department) and with
colleagues outside the Department, particularly curatorial and public services staff members.
We have a tool to check/evaluate our EAD finding aids against a set of required criteria. We also evaluate performance
against annual goals for both individuals and the department. Other than that, we have no formal tools.
We have updates at staff meetings, and I ask for statistical information from catalogers and archivist. We also keep
track of our digital transfers and file creation.
16. Does your unit/department/library collect statistics about processing manuscript and archives
collections? N=72
Yes 68 94%
No 4 6%
If yes, which categories of statistics are gathered? Check all that apply. N=69
Number of accessions including physical size 63 91%
Physical size of collections processed 62 90%
Number of finding aids digitized/encoded 58 84%
