Reading Response Two: How Goes It With Appraisal?

In his fall 1993 article, "How Goes it with Appraisal," Terry Eastwood evaluates the historical background, methodologies, patterns, and inherent complications involved in the archival appraisal process. Eastwood approaches appraisal from the point of view of one consumed with the manner in which archives are perceived by the population at large; he believes archives are seen as sources of information but not proprietors of historical evidence. "Archives," Eastwood states, "are a means of memory, not memory itself, because there is no communal memory without someone acting upon archives as public dialogue."

Appraisal is everywhere, not just in the archival profession. The act of appraising documents determines what memories are left intact. Over time, the interpretation of the memory, and of the appraisal itself, may change. Documents are assessed, or appraised, from the moment of their creation; the archivist or records manager determines the continuation or refutation of a document life cycle. What is the true value of a document? Is it in its uniqueness? Person(s) or place(s) of origination? Or is in the value to future researchers? Nearly everyone would agree decisions are made based on multiple facets, not any one factor. Though appraising a document is not often the end-all-be-all in determining the historical record, the very possibility it may be is a perplexing realization. As Eastwood comments, appraisal is both narrow contextually as well as broad in view. Appraisal is never meant to advance any idea, philosophy, or agenda. To do so would violate the ideals of freedom of information and preservation of the historical record. Furthermore, archivists should never be guilty of haphazardly documenting world memory. From the largest of historical events to the smallest of transactions, appraisal best practices should hold true.

Eastwood, Terry. “How Goes It with Appraisal?”Archivaria , No. 36, Autumn 1993, pp. 111-121.

Rallying Cry of Simplicity

I neglected to mention in my last blog that my processing plan was given the go-ahead with some alterations. I created a seventh series for journals and writing logs. Organizationally this makes sense to me, as those don't necessarily fit into correspondence. This change brought the total number of series in the collection to seven, with each possessing at minimum two sub-series each. At times, materials simply cannot be grouped under an established record group. Simplicity does not mean forcing a small number of series into existence; simplicity means the formulation of the best method for arrangement and use. Ideally researchers will visit this collection time and again, and my task remains to aid those future researchers by doing good work today.

While the series are now set, essentially in stone, I have chosen to tune up my sub-series as I move through the folders once more. The best example of a change is a sub-series of book and article reviews written by Professor Nugent. I chose to slot these under the series 'Other Work and Projects', as I felt it proper to definitively distinguish original published works researched and written from reviews written. Two sub-series exist within the 'Publications' series--monographs and articles and essays. Yet as I began in earnest to think about the the book and article reviews, I could not deny the facts at hand: 1. each is an original work by the creator of this collection, 2. each review is a published work. Therefore, I have chosen to move the sub-series 'Reviews' into the 'Publications' series. I have debated whether to split the book reviews from article reviews to create sub-groups within the sub-series. However, I believe that would be unnecessary. I want to create a functional and accessible system without making it convoluted. Simplicity, after all, is a decent rallying cry. I dare to believe I can accomplish that goal as I continue processing.

Being One With Frustration

One of the more frustrating aspects of processing this collection has been my own doing. I have previously mentioned the importance of keeping clear, full notes, so that during processing there is less confusion and back-tracking to be completed. Though I did make that adjustment mid-way through my survey of the accessions, I have once again found during processing that my notes just aren’t quite what one would hope. I know the exactness I expect is often difficult to attain; some folders leave only contextual clues, a hidden scrap of a note, or nothing to determine their contents. I don’t find this surprising, yet each time I come across the word “unknown series” in my notes, I grow slightly unsure why my past self chose to leave the decision-making to present self. The more full the entry, the more complete the title, name, and folder description, the more efficient processing later. This is obvious but accurate and a lesson not to forget when mired in Box 45 of your collection.

Sometimes appearances can be quite deceiving. Early, during my initial survey of the accessions, I came across a few names and associated them with a monograph written by Walter Nugent. The folder name and contents seemed to clearly discuss the main themes and topics in the book; yet, later on, I came across more correspondence between Nugent and these individuals, in regards to a much earlier article on the same general topic! Upon review, it became clear that my early assignment of those first folders was incorrect. Indeed, even the best of notes and best of intentions can still lead to a mistake. I am happy I was able to correct my mistake, though I remain weary that other mistakes may lurk in other areas.

Finally, I also find my ability to recognize relationships in folders and record groups has improved dramatically. Familiarization with the overall collection certainly is the primary reason. Secondarily, I believe I have continued to develop my sense of the structure of archival processing. When working with personal papers, such as I am with my collection, inferences became nearly second nature after a time. I am not certain a small collection could have taught me some of those skills this quickly. I certainly continue to learn much.

Reference

This week I took some time away from work on my collection to answer a reference question.  The question was actually composed of ten questions: each a query of some sort in regards to a former faculty member at the University.  The information required ranged from a single item, such as date of birth, to full biographical information.  While this may seem a daunting task, the Archives has developed a wonderful faculty catalog for just such reference information.  Faculty members each have a curriculum vitae listing basic background information and any important information relevant to their work at IU.  In some cases a second file exists which includes newspaper clippings or other some newsworthy publications.

Therefore, to properly answer the reference query, I went through the emailed list of names and found the appropriate CV, and if available, file folder of other information.  The faculty files included all the information requested and then some!  The Archives have a wealth of resources available in order to aid researchers of all kinds.  Preparation allows for reference work to be interesting and fulfilling rather than stressful.  In this case I was able to answer the question and correspond with the researcher, all within a matter of hours.  The handful of reference questions I have answered thus far have been enjoyable, and I like aiding in disseminating information.

Where Art Thou, Efficiency?

I began to put my processing plan into action last week. After surveying the collection, I believe the entirety of the materials can be arranged into six series, with assorted sub-series throughout. Since a great deal of audio-visual material is embedded among research notes and publications, I considered creating a seventh series solely for audio-visual; however, I ultimately chose to leave the materials listed with associated research. The six series are very broad as to encompass as much material as possible: academic life, publications, professional organizations, other works and projects, general correspondence, and finally, personal life. Of course the names of those series are subject to change. In any case, I chose to take my container lists and began slotting folders into proper series and sub-series. I did find a few instances where I either needed to completely change, add, or subtract a sub-series. I was pleased to find most of materials easily fit into my arrangement scheme.

Comparing my notes from my first day to today was an eye-opening experience. My notes at the beginning are vaguer; in fact, a few are completely unhelpful in retrospect. I find this a bit frustrating, as I pride myself on my detail-oriented nature, but I can understand the reasons behind it. As I began my internship, I did not have the knowledge of what specific details were most helpful. Secondly, I did not know the scope and content of the collection as a whole; consequently, I did not note potential series or sub-series as readily early on. In the future I believe I should take more care to note possible series, even if I scrap them later. The more detail, the better. Conversely, my notes from last week are precise, with folders arranged in my notes as I listed them. My ability to recognize folder relationships streamlined the arrangement process, at least on paper! I believe the next go-round with a collection will be much less stressful and certainly more efficient.

Accessions

This week I had the opportunity to learn about the accession process.   Several boxes of materials from a former IU faculty member came in over the weekend; about half contained loose papers in old beaten-up boxes and the remainder was found in old letter boxes.  I should mention an accession material in the custody of the archive but not yet processed with a complete finding aid made available to the public.  My job was to ascertain the contents of the new accession, note the various folders (where present), form some kind of organization, and re-box the papers into our standard archival boxes.  Few things are more horrific than a pile of papers lying haphazardly in a dusty box, yet little-by-little I was able to find a system, and thankfully some jumbled notes in the piles of papers.  However, before I could re-box, I first had to learn how to build a box.   This was initially harder than it looked.  Yet after being told not once, but twice, how to construct an archival box, I discovered I had a knack for box-building.  I labeled each box with its number in the sequence.  Sixteen boxes later, I completed my organization scheme and made extensive notes on the papers within each box.

Following re-boxing, I learned the procedure for assigning accession numbers to newly-arrived records.  Each new accession is assigned a number based on the current year as well as the current number of accessions in that year.  This was the 89^th new accession of the year 2010; hence, the accession number for this group is 2010/089.  This number is critical for tracking unprocessed records.  The date, accession number, creator, number of containers (in this case boxes), and initials of the processor are recorded for reference.  The next step was to enter the data collected during my initial survey of the records.  The Indiana University Archives utilized an internal database to track accessions.  The database is not made available to the public.  The Archives accession database system is a program named askSam, which allows for basic information entry in regards to accession number, creator, date ranges, and department of origin.  After this vital information, the next critical step is to enter the list of materials within each box.   Entering this information allows the Archives to have an electronic record available to quickly search if necessary in case a relevant research question comes in prior to actual processing.

The final step is the preparation of the boxes for long-term storage.  Due to the vast number of materials in the archive, new accessions are sent to the ALF for storage until the determination is made to process.  In order to facilitate quick and easy retrieval of these accessions, each box is assigned labels.  The accession number is written on each box and a barcode is attached.  These barcodes are entered into a database with the accession number and box number.  Finally, each box is secured with a plastic band.  At last the accession is complete and ready to be stored for processing at a later date.

So I helped accession a new group of records.  I always enjoy learning new things, so this was a fun process.  I learned some skills I will use for a long time and explored another aspect of the Indiana University Archives.  Finally, a quick tip for all future archival subjects:  when you donate your materials, please organize it neatly; it makes everything better!

Creating A Plan

I continued to survey the Nugent collection this week, progressing more quickly through the remaining accessions.  I believe I have ascertained the series and associated sub-series spanning the entirety of the collection.  The larger challenge lies in creating a comprehensive, or as comprehensive as possible, processing and management plan for the collection.  There are multiple considerations, including:  managing various time restrictions within and across series, removing files made by a secondary creator to another collection, and determining which materials are not long-term preservation material.  One issue concerns vast amounts of financial information (bills, receipts, etc.) is intermixed with correspondence; should the time be taken to go through each folder item-by-item to remove these documents or should the collection stay as-is?  These considerations are not uncommon and I will meet them again time and time again throughout my future career. However, this is my first go-round.  I look forward to completing my first proposed plan in the next week and submit it for review.  I'm certain I will have overlooked something or made a rookie mistake but it's part of the learning process.