Conducting Additional Background Research

Before you begin work on your processing proposal, you should spend some time conducting general background research on the collection’s creators and contributors, as well as the events, locations, institutions, time periods, and organizations that the collection documents. This background information will allow you to better contextualize the collection within the library’s larger holdings, and to gain an understanding of the rationale for the acquisition. During this research you should consider your own background, biases, and positionality, and how they may impact the way in which you arrange and describe the collection. It is important to recognize the limits of your own knowledge, and to never attempt to be the expert or authority on another person’s experience.1

Since we process collections from a variety of research divisions, the archivists in the Archival Processing unit often acquire specialized knowledge through this work, and encounter resources that may be useful to others. We have created a resource document to collect recommendations for conducting background research and verifying facts. This is a collaborative document that can be updated and edited by all staff in creating archival description. Compiling these research resources in a central place will prevent us from repeating the work that our colleagues have already done in locating reliable and accurate sources.

  1. Jessica Tai suggests that archivists should “normalize not knowing” and “accept the limitations in serving as the authoritative voice on another’s experience.” Jessica Tai, “Cultural Humility as a Framework for Anti-Oppressive Archival Description,” Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies 3 (October 1, 2020): 3, 6, https://journals.litwinbooks.com/index.php/jclis/article/view/120. ↩