Archival Processing Course

Lesson 1 • What Archives Are and Do

Defines archives, archival records, and their distinction from libraries and museums. Grounds all subsequent processing decisions in institutional purpose.

Lesson 2 • Core Archival Principles

Introduces provenance, original order, and respect des fonds as foundational rules. These principles govern every arrangement and description decision in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • Professional Ethics and Standards

Covers ethical obligations around access, privacy, and stewardship. Establishes the professional framework within which processing decisions are made.

Lesson 1 • Processing Planning and Prioritization

Guides creation of a processing plan that balances resources, access needs, and collection significance. Establishes the roadmap used throughout all processing stages.

Lesson 2 • Assessing Physical Condition

Covers evaluation of damage, fragility, and preservation risks before processing. Condition assessment shapes handling protocols and conservation referrals.

Lesson 3 • Conducting a Preliminary Survey

Teaches systematic physical and intellectual survey of unprocessed materials. Survey findings directly inform arrangement plans and resource estimates.

Lesson 1 • Environmental and Storage Considerations

Introduces temperature, humidity, and light standards for archival storage environments. Environmental awareness informs housing choices and storage location decisions.

Lesson 2 • Removing Harmful Materials

Addresses removal of rubber bands, metal fasteners, adhesive tape, and other damaging materials. Removal decisions balance preservation benefit against risk of further damage.

Lesson 3 • Safe Handling Principles

Covers fundamental techniques for handling paper, photographs, and fragile items without causing damage. Safe handling is the baseline skill for all physical processing work.

Lesson 4 • Archival Housing and Enclosures

Teaches selection and use of acid-free folders, boxes, and enclosures appropriate to each format. Proper housing is the primary preservation intervention during processing.

Lesson 1 • Arrangement for Mixed-Format Collections

Handles collections containing paper, photographs, audiovisual, and digital materials together. Teaches format-sensitive arrangement that maintains intellectual coherence.

Lesson 2 • Archival Hierarchy and Structure

Introduces the collection, series, subseries, folder, and item levels of arrangement. Understanding hierarchy is prerequisite to all arrangement and description work.

Lesson 3 • Identifying and Defining Series

Teaches how to recognise natural groupings of records based on function, form, or subject. Correct series identification is the central intellectual task of arrangement.

Lesson 4 • Folder and Item-Level Arrangement

Addresses physical organisation within folders and decisions about item-level control. Connects folder-level work to efficient description and retrieval.

Lesson 1 • Writing Scope and Content Notes

Teaches construction of accurate, informative scope and content notes at collection and series levels. Scope notes are the primary narrative tool for communicating collection content.

Lesson 2 • Access Points and Controlled Vocabulary

Addresses subject headings, name headings, and genre terms as discovery access points. Correct access points connect finding aids to broader discovery systems.

Lesson 3 • Administrative and Biographical Notes

Covers writing administrative histories for organisations and biographical notes for individuals. Contextual notes situate records within the creator's activities and functions.

Lesson 4 • Descriptive Standards Overview

Surveys major content standards and data structure standards used in archival description. Provides the normative framework applied in all subsequent description exercises.

Lesson 1 • Quality Control and Review

Establishes review procedures for accuracy, consistency, and standards compliance in finding aids. Quality control ensures reliable, trustworthy access tools for researchers.

Lesson 2 • Archival Management Systems

Covers use of collection management software for creating and publishing finding aids. Practical system skills connect description work to institutional workflows.

Lesson 3 • Maintaining and Updating Finding Aids

Addresses revision workflows when collections are accreted, reprocessed, or restricted. Ongoing maintenance keeps finding aids accurate as collections evolve.

Lesson 4 • Encoding Finding Aids

Introduces markup languages and schemas used to encode finding aids for digital delivery. Encoding skills enable online publication and interoperability with discovery systems.

Lesson 1 • Access and Delivery for Digital Records

Addresses methods for providing researcher access to digital archival materials securely and sustainably. Access decisions must balance openness with privacy and rights obligations.

Lesson 2 • Arrangement of Digital Collections

Applies archival arrangement principles to directory structures and file-level organisation. Digital arrangement must balance original order with navigability and access.

Lesson 3 • Digital Ingest and Stabilisation

Covers transfer of digital materials from donor media to repository storage with integrity verification. Ingest is the first and most critical step in digital processing.

Lesson 4 • Describing Digital Collections

Adapts finding aid description to capture digital-specific elements such as file formats and technical metadata. Accurate digital description enables long-term discovery and management.

Lesson 1 • Processing Documentation and Reporting

Establishes standards for processing notes, decision logs, and completion reports. Documentation creates institutional memory and supports future reprocessing or audits.

Lesson 2 • Project Planning and Team Coordination

Teaches project management tools and communication practices for multi-archivist processing teams. Effective coordination ensures consistent quality and on-schedule delivery.

Lesson 3 • Evaluating Processing Quality and Outcomes

Introduces metrics and review methods for assessing the quality and impact of completed processing. Evaluation informs continuous improvement of processing workflows.

Lesson 4 • Managing Large and Complex Collections

Covers strategies for collections with multiple formats, large volumes, or complex provenance. Complex collections require adaptive planning and iterative decision-making.