Accessioning workflow for student workers - smith-special-collections/sc-documentation GitHub Wiki

Check the Airtable Accessioning queue, specifically the Accessions (SSC/CA) tab. [You can create your own personal view for the Airtable base or you can use the collaborative view, but do not change the filter or sort settings. You can change these in your own personal view. Follow the how-to instructions in the Help section.]
- Check the Status column for items labeled “up next in the queue” - any of those are set for students to accession.
- Switch the status to “in progress with student”.
- The AS Accession Record field will link you to the stub accession record created by the Accessioning Archivist.
The Accessioning Archivist will provide you with any pertinent information regarding the material that has not been provided in the Airtable record or the accession record. This includes whether a new resource record will be created from the accession record or if the accession will be added into an existing resource record.
Review the material with an eye to the following, but do not rearrange materials! In rehousing the materials, there will naturally be some change in the arrangement - oversize materials, audiovisual materials, etc. will be moved to appropriate housing. We do not want to impose any physical arrangement on the materials in accessioning; retaining material in the order in which it arrived is appropriate.
- Physical work
  - If your accession contains photographs or metal objects, wear nitrile gloves while handling the materials. This is not necessary if you come across a single photograph.
  - Check the materials for mold, pests, broken glass or similar things that could endanger existing collection materials (and staff!) if they were housed together. If you find any of these, alert the Accessioning Archivist.
  - For materials in non-archival boxes, rehouse in archival boxes. For material in record cartons, if it is too heavy for you to lift easily, rehouse in smaller document boxes.
  - Material should fit completely inside a folder. We have lots of different sized folders and boxes - rehouse as appropriate.
    - Put unfoldered materials in folders.
    - Refolder when the current folders physically endanger the materials. This can include hanging folders (aka Pendaflex), torn or acidic folders, or overstuffed folders.
    - House oversize materials in appropriate folders and boxes.
  - Condense boxes when appropriate or add spacers to partially-filled boxes.
  - Identify materials with specific preservation or conservation needs. This includes materials affected by mold or pests, but also materials in frames or housed in binders. Check with the Accessioning Archivist when you encounter these sorts of materials. It is sometimes appropriate to keep materials, such as scrapbooks, as bound items.
  - Label boxes with sticky notes with the collection name, collection number, and box numbers. Email the Accessioning Archivist with the same information you put on the sticky notes, along with the type of labels needed if you have flat or half sized boxes.
  - Barcode the boxes. The barcodes should go on the bottom left-hand corner of the boxes. For card boxes, do not barcode until you have labeled the boxes as there is not enough room for both.
- Intellectual work
  - While reviewing materials, take note of the types of materials you’re seeing (correspondence, drafts and published articles, photographs, audiovisual material, etc.), the content or subject matter, and the dates. All of this information will go into your descriptive notes.
  - Think about how the collection is arranged intellectually. Are there obvious groupings of material? How would you list these items in the resource record? If the accession is going into an existing collection, think about existing series or arrangements where this material could be included. If the accession is for a new collection, talk to the Accessioning Archivist about groupings you’re seeing and how these could be used to create series.
Add the accessioned material to the relevant resource record.
- Discuss with the Accessioning Archivist whether the material will be integrated into the existing arrangement or added as a standalone series/file in an existing resource record or if a new resource record will be created.
- Create container instances as appropriate and be sure that they are:
  - Linked at the appropriate level of the resource record.
  - Have container profiles added. You can enter container profiles in ASpace in a few different ways.
    - From the Manage Top Containers screen click the gear icon in the top right hand corner of the screen and select Manage Top Containers.
    - Enter the name or collection number of the resource record you’re entering barcodes for in the Resource field.
    - From here you edit individual containers or bulk update multiple containers with the same container profile. To edit individual containers, click the edit button on the far right of the screen. In the Container Profile field you can browse containers or type ahead for a particular container.
    - To bulk update multiple containers, select the containers you want to update in the Manage Top Containers screen and then click Update Container Profiles in the Bulk Operations dropdown menu. From here you can browse top container profiles or type ahead in the Container Profile field.
- Physically barcoded and barcodes have been added to ASpace using Rapid Barcode Entry.
  - Click the gear icon in the top right hand corner of the screen and select Manage Top Containers.
  - Enter the name of the resource record you’re entering barcodes for in the Resource field.
  - Select the containers you want to add barcodes for and select Rapid Barcode Entry from the Bulk Operations drop-down menu in the top right hand corner of the screen (also at the bottom right hand corner).
  - From here you can scan the barcodes. Make sure you enter them in the correct spot because ASpace ranks the boxes in the order in which they were selected.
- Locations added in ArchivesSpace. If you are waiting on labels, shelve boxes in the Accessioning/Processing swing space in 1 cube (rows 109-110 and 160-161) and add location records in ASpace.
  - To add locations to your new containers, go to the Manage Top Containers screen, search for your resource record, and select the top containers to which you need to add locations. You can bulk update for single and multiple locations. For single locations, select Update Locations: Single Location from the drop-down menu.
  - You can browse locations or type ahead to find the correct location.
  - Update Locations: Multiple Locations works similarly, but you have to enter each location for each container.
- Review the existing collection and series level description to see if description of the new material needs to be added. If the collection to which you’re adding an accession has been processed and there is not a Scope and Contents note for the series to which you’re adding material, notify the Accessioning Archivist and she will notify the Collections Archivist. If the collection has not been processed, notify the Accessioning Archivist and discuss how to proceed.
  - At the collection level:
    - Scope and Contents note
      - In particular, check to be sure any dates in the Scope note are correct and up-to-date. If your accession includes a large amount of a format or topic, make sure that is reflected in the note as well.
    - Biographical/Historical note
      - Check to be sure that the activities documented in the accession are reflected in the bio/hist note.
    - Dates and Extents sub-records
      - Use the Calculate Dates and Calculate Extents tools in the More menu in the top right hand corner of the resource record in ASpace. The Calculate Dates tool can be used to create a new Dates sub-record but the Calculate Extents tool cannot be used to create a new Extents sub-record. Make a note of the linear footage (or gigabytes for born-digital material) and the number of containers and add that information to the existing Extents sub-record.
      - If you are adding material to a shared box, follow the guidance on the wiki for extents of less than one box.
    - Immediate Source of Acquisition
      - Follow guidance on the wiki. Be sure to add the year the material was donated, not the year the accession was completed (if different).
    - Processing Information note
      - Add a sentence about the accessioning work done that includes your name, the date the accession was created, and the accession number. Record the physical and intellectual work you performed on the accession. This will generally include information on rehousing and how the materials are listed in the finding aid.
        
        Example: In 2024, Megan O’Shea added accession 2024-S-0013. Materials were rehoused in archival folders and boxes and intellectually integrated into the existing arrangement.
  - At the series level:
    - Scope and Contents note
    - Dates and Extents sub-records
Complete the following fields in the accession record:
- Content description
  - Follow the guidance for creating scope and content notes on the wiki.
- Disposition
  - Add where in the collection the accession was added and the box numbers associated with the material. For new collections, the Accessioning Archivist will add that a new collection was created.
    
    Example: Added to the Carole De Saram papers (SSC-MS-00794) under NOW New York Chapter board minutes and newsletters, 1973-1980 and NOW New York Chapter: newsletters, membership lists, political campaign materials, and chapter information, 1970-2004, in boxes SSC Shared 15 and SSC Shared 21.
- Languages
  - Click Add Language and the sub-record will auto-populate with English as the language and Latin as the script. If your accession includes other languages, be sure to record them here and the script, if a non-Latin script. Use the Language Note to record relevant information about the languages in the collection.
- Dates
  - Follow the guidance on the wiki.
- Extents
  - For accession records, use [Yale’s linear footage calculator] (For accession records, use Yale’s linear footage calculator to determine linear footage and add the number of containers in the container summary field.) to determine linear footage and add the number of containers in the container summary field.
  - If you are adding material to a shared box, follow the guidance on the wiki for extents of less than one box.
Once all of the above has been completed:
- Add an Accession Event to the accession record. Follow the guidance on the wiki to create the Event. Change the status in Airtable to “complete”.

Accessioning checklist

Materials rehoused as necessary
Boxes have been:
- Labeled
- Barcoded and entered into ASpace
- Container profiles updated in ASpace
- Location entered in ASpace
Resource record has been reviewed and the following fields have been updated as necessary
- Collection level
  - Scope and contents note
  - Biographical/historical note
  - Immediate Source of Acquisition
  - Processing Information note
  - Languages sub-record
  - Dates sub-record
  - Extents sub-record
- Series level
  - Scope and contents note
  - Dates sub-record
  - Extents sub-record
Accession record has the following fields filled in
- Content description
- Disposition
- Languages sub-record
- Dates sub-record
- Extents sub-record
An Event has been created once the accession is complete