Finding Aid Review Workflow - smith-special-collections/sc-documentation GitHub Wiki

The finding aid review process serves a number of purposes:

Special Collections staff in all areas will benefit from increased familiarity with new and recently-processed collections.
Public Services staff will be able to identify issues that may impact use and access as soon as a collection is available to researchers.
Archivists, and particularly student workers, will continue to develop their writing and archival description skills by reading the work of others and from receiving constructive feedback.
Increased DACS compliance will lead to cleaner metadata, which has an impact on outcomes such as easier navigation for users and ease in repurposing descriptive content for digitization.
Cleanup occurs early, while the original processor/writer is still available, decreasing the burden of cleanup on staff in the future who may be less familiar with the material.
Clear, well-structured metadata may eliminate the need for iterative processing, or can allow for easier identification of resources (or series therein) which would benefit from more detailed description.
Finding aids will be more consistent and more accurate, which also improves ease of use.

Completed draft finding aids will be published and available via the ASpace PUI at the initial point of initial completion and concurrent with the review process in order to limit delays in the availability of new resources.

Finding aids under review should be titled “Draft finding aid to the ... papers” (or records, or collection)

When a new finding aid is ready for review:

TS supervising archivist completes the first pass of work done by student worker(s) under their supervision. TS archivists are responsible for a thorough review of their own work before circulating.
- Corrections/edits suggested by supervising archivist are made (or discussed with supervising archivist) as necessary. This is an opportunity for supervising archivists to discuss any recurring issues, to strengthen student writing, and to make sure all expected notes, description, etc. are in place.
Revised draft is sent to Kit.
After issues identified during the review with Kit are resolved, the revised draft distributed to TS staff and PS staff.
- Send to: Dan, Michelle, Megan, Leslie, Miriam, Kate, Bena, and all TS student/post-bacc workers.
- Create a Google Document for comments in Special Collections\Technical Services for Special Collections\Collection Management\Comments on Draft Finding Aids for Review.
- Reading Room/Public Services staff will be reviewing with an eye toward issues that impact user experience, e.g. missing information, hierarchy, confusing or unclear description. TS staff will be reviewing for compliance with DACS and local standards, clear and cohesive writing, and inclusive/reparative description. There will be overlap in these areas and all readers are encouraged to weigh in with any concerns. All comments should be made on the Google Document in order to prevent redundant suggestions, and because the commentary may be helpful to others.
- Feedback must be provided to the supervising archivist within 1 week.
Issues identified during the TS/PS review are addressed.
Final draft is sent to Kit and the appropriate Steward for final notes and feedback. Kit will provide the final approval. Remove “Draft of…” from the finding aid title once approval has been granted. Google Documents may be deleted from the shared drive after final approval.
- Feedback must be provided to the supervising archivist within 1 week.
Finalized resources are announced at the SCSC staff meeting.

Currently, new accessions to existing resources will be addressed by TS staff on a case-by-case basis. For example, some may require a significant overhaul of scope or bioghist notes, and a specific review of the revised notes may be necessary, but a review of the expanded container list by the supervising archivist may be sufficient in most cases. Please consult with your supervisor or Head of TS SC for further guidance.