nothing like a library
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Nothing Like a Library. Understanding An Archival Organization System. Instructions:. Think of this less as a Power Point and more of a “Power Book”. It’s more than a visual aid, but less than a stand-alone book. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Nothing Like a Library
Understanding An Archival
Organization System
Instructions: Think of this less as a Power Point and more of a
“Power Book”. It’s more than a visual aid, but less than a stand-alone book.
If a word or phrase is a different color (usually green) than the rest of the sentence, it is hyperlinked. Click on it and it will take you to the referenced webpage.
Once you are finished, don’t forget to review your worksheet, do the quiz at the end, spend some time on the board, and post to your journal.
A little archival vocabulary: Group: n. ~ A collection of
materials that share the same provenance.
Series: n. ~ 1. A group of similar records that are arranged according to a filing system and that are related as the result of being created, received, or used in the same activity; a file group; a record series.
Item: n. ~ A thing that can be distinguished from a group and that is complete in itself.
Types of Repositories Archives are repositories. Government repositories are
where government agencies send their historic or “permanent” records when they no longer need them.
Libraries and museums may collect (among other things) Books Manuscripts Objects Maps Journals Newspapers Photographs Moving Images Artwork Electronic materials Special collections
Local and State Repositories A state, county or local government facility often house:
Birth certificatesState and local census recordsRecords of the local courtsMarriage certificatesLocal land recordsSchool recordsState and local program records
Nearly unlimited possibilities for state and local agencies and department records. Just a note that the city-sponsored museums/library/archives may or may not contain city
documents. I couldn’t get a straight answer, but they are provided as examples.
Federal Government
Federal archives are home to: Military recordsRecords of the federal courtsFederal immigration recordsFederal land recordsAmerican Indian records (recorded by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs)Federal program records (CCC, WPA, Highways, Dams, rationing, and thousands more)Federal census records
NARA organizes by Record Group first
Each federal agency is assigned a record group number. (e.g. Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685 – 2004). They are divided into three groups: Congressional Records, Federal Court Records and Executive Agency Records. Different branches of an agency may be assigned different group numbers.
They are not organized by topic, but NARA does have a page to help people figure out what record groups to search for.
Understanding Record Groups You will likely have to
search more than one Record Group to find your topic.
Not every branch has material for every record group. Anchorage has about 57 record groups. Some have hundreds of cubic feet of records, others have only a folder.
Finding aids are designed to help researchers move from the record group to the series.
Series Descriptions In the museum world, items are cataloged individually
—usually because there’s only one of the item. In the archives world, the series level is rapidly becoming the norm. Remember the crayon example?
We don’t need all 64 crayons described to find the red one. We just need to know that it’s going to be in the red-orange series. Then an index or box and folder list will lead us to the correct box.
Finding Aid Example University of Alaska Anchorage
Donated Materials Group
Extent: .05 cf Inclusive dates: 1917 – 1951 Count: 1 Location: 21/02/10 (6) Media Type: Textual
Access Restrictions: Partly Use Restrictions: Partly Copy Status: Research
Holdings Measurement Type: LGA-S
Holdings Measurement Count: 1
Series Title: University of Alaska Anchorage 1954- 2012, Miscellaneous Health Information 1917 – 1951
General Notes: Administrative History: This collection was donated by the University of Alaska at Anchorage in 1996. It seems that it was culled from one of their donated collections as alienated federal records, but the archivist at the University would not confirm the donor, citing privacy. While they appear to be BIA Health Services records, they were processed as a Donated Materials Group, as there is no provenance to tie them to the BIA. Series Description: This series consists of census, health, disease, birth, marriage, and death records. Many seem to have been removed from a book that traveled with health professionals, as there are several locations throughout the Aleutians represented. The Killisnoo file has medical and census information mixed together, though it is not always complete. Several villages have anonymous tuberculosis information for the late 1940s to mid 1950s. Files collected appear to have been working files, documenting incidents of venereal disease and tuberculosis.
Box and folder list:
Vital Statistics and Miscellaneous Record for Atka, AK, 1917 – 1948
Record of Treatment and Examinations, 1924 – 1941
Household Records, Report of Examination, Killisnoo, 1944 – 1946
Tubercular Village Data, 1948 – 1950
Finding Aid Notes Just a note that this is not the whole finding aid.
It’s an example to show you the relationship between the series descriptions and the box and folder list.
There is no standard finding aid. Every facility, even within an agency, is different.
The finding aid will tell you if this is a series you want to pursue, or move on. It may be as complete as an item list, or as bare as a generic series description. But wait, how are you supposed to find anything with just that?
Ask the Archivist
Susan Karren, Archives Director,
The National Archives at Seattle
We were cleaning the back room today, so this is a prettier picture. But you’ve all seen my picture on the board, and I promise you’ll get a nice professional one later in the course. --Robyn
The Archivist
Archivists are trained to help you locate the different Federal agencies that were involved with your topic, at the right place, during the right period of time.The National Archives at Anchorage654 West Third AvenueAnchorage, AK [email protected] Holding original records from Alaska
The National Archives at Seattle6125 Sand Point Way, NESeattle, WA 98115-7999
206-336-5115 [email protected]
Holding original records from Washington, Oregon and Idaho