Archival Collections

Provides guidelines for metadata specific to archival collections described in the Metadata Management System (MMS)

Table of contents

  1. Guidelines
    1. Record Structure
    2. Title
    3. Identifier
    4. Type of Resource
    5. Genre
    6. Language
    7. Physical Description
      1. Form
    8. Subject
    9. Note
  2. See Also

Guidelines

Record Structure

View MSU Documentation for Record Types →

  • Record structure for archival collections should mirror the hierarchy established by the finding aid
    • Importing EAD-encoded finding aids will replicate the structure of the finding aid within MMS
      • Convert items at the lowest level of the hierarchy in the finding aid that have imported as items into containers as needed
    • Importing finding aids that are only available as a PDF will create an item record
      • In cases where the full finding aid structure is not imported as it is not EAD-encoded, create containers and items within the collection as appropriate to replicate the structure outlined in the PDF
      • In cases where the finding aid represents a fully digitized single-item collection (e.g., the Augustus Porter daybook 🔒), the record should remain a standalone item
    • See Importing Finding Aids for additional guidelines and steps

Title

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • Do not modify titles imported or replicated from the finding aid unless requested by the division

Identifier

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • For all collection records:
  • For all records that correspond to an EAD-encoded finding aid:
    • For collection records that correspond to an EAD-encoded finding aid:
    • For container and item records that correspond to an EAD-encoded finding aid:
      • Ensure the presence of an Archives EAD ID, either:
        • Assigned to the appropriate container record and set to to be Inheritable so that it appears on all child records
        • Assigned to the appropriate item record

Type of Resource

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • For collection records:
    • Add any appropriate Type of Resource
    • Check primary for the predominant Type of Resource of the collection

Genre

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • For container records that have a genre term as a Title (e.g. Correspondence or Manuscripts):

Language

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • For collection records:
    • Add every Language represented in the collection based on the Language field of the finding aid
    • Check primary for the predominant Language of the collection
    • If the entire collection is a single language, set the Language to be Inheritable

Physical Description

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • If no Physical Description element was imported, review Note elements to determine if any should be relocated to a Physical Description element
  • Review imported Physical Description elements to determine if any should be relocated to another element such as a Note

Form

View MSU Documentation for Subelement →

  • A Form element is required for analog sources that are reproductions of the original such as microform
    • If an entire archival collection is the same form, add a Form element to the collection record and set it to be Inheritable

Subject

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • For collection records:
    • If a subject is appropriate for the entire collection, set the Subject to be Inheritable
    • Review complex subject headings that have been imported to ensure the correct Subject subelement is in use for each component
      • E.g. when importing a finding aid with the complex subject heading United States -- History -- Spanish-American War, 1898, each component is imported into a subelement based on the type of the first component, in this case Geographic
      • In this example, History and Spanish-American War, 1898 are imported as Geographic subelements and should be manually re-added as Topic subelements

Note

View MSU Documentation for Element →

  • Review imported Note elements to determine if any should be relocated to another element, e.g.:
    • A note containing 31 boxes should be relocated to the Extent subelement of the Physical Description element
    • A summary of the series or component content should be relocated to the Abstract element
  • For container records:
    • Set any admin note containing box and folder information to be Inheritable

See Also

  • Importing Finding Aids for the workflow of creating records in MMS by importing metadata from finding aids found in the Archives Portal