Inclusive Description and Style Guidelines

As we also address in the section of this manual about Inclusive Cataloging, language is constantly evolving. The ways in which individuals and their communities wish to be described should never be considered uniform or permanent, so we must continually review and critique our own descriptive practices. The Archival Processing unit always strives to write description that is respectful, inclusive, and which uses the language and terms that collection creators and contributors would use to describe themselves.1 The guidelines in this section should be considered when processing each new collection, as well as when you are editing legacy description in collections processed by another archivist. We recommend consulting  Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia: Anti-Racist Description Resources, The Diversity Style Guide, and our Archival Reading List, which contains a continually expanding list of resources regarding conscious and reparative description practices. This section also addresses local conventions for titles, dates, punctuation, abbreviations, format, and language. We follow many of the style and formatting guidelines recommended in The Chicago Manual of Style and DACS.

Table of Contents

Using Common Language

In addition to using conscious language when writing a description, it is also important to consider the ease of which the description can be read. Omit writing that uses archival jargon or complicated phrases that may be difficult for users to decipher, and instead use common language whenever possible. For example, instead of writing about “the document’s inscription on the verso”, write “the document’s inscription on the backside.”

While it is assumed and expected that most researchers will not read your finding aid as a narrative document from beginning to end, you should still make sure your description is clear, well-written, and uses language that is not repetitive or convoluted. The archivists in the Archival Processing unit have created a Narrative Description Finding Aid Thesaurus to assist you in choosing words to improve the clarity of your description. This document can be updated and edited by all archivists in the Archival Processing unit.

Avoiding Passive Voice

Be cognizant in avoiding the passive voice in your archival description. A verb is in the passive voice when the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb. For example, a passive voice sentence reads, “The mouse was caught by the cat.” In this example, the verb (or action) and the object is emphasized, rather than the subject. To turn this sentence into an active voice, the subject acts upon the verb and the object: “The cat caught the mouse.” The National Archives has a comprehensive guide to writing in plain language which includes a section on how to avoid using passive voice.

Folder Titles

The folder title is the primary description linking the content of a container to the finding aid. It is important that folder titles are accurate, consistent, and succinct. A properly labeled folder will include the title of the materials held in the folder, a date or date range, and the box and folder number. It is not necessary to write series or subseries information on folders. 

Transcribing Original Folder Titles and Dates

Before discarding or replacing an original folder, transcribe its title and the date range onto the new folder. 

Using Original Folders

If the folder is not severely damaged, it can be placed inside the new folder. For materials that are unlabeled or that have inaccurate titles, create new titles that concisely describe the folder content. 

Retain Original Language and Diacritics

Take care to maintain the original language and/or script for all file titles including any accent marks and/or diacritics for names or non-English words. Omitting diacritics will completely alter the meaning of a word.2 When copying and pasting diacritics into ASpace from another source such as Word, make sure to select paste without formatting. This assures that any additional information embedded in the data will not be inadvertently included in the collection’s EAD record. 

Harmful Folder Titles

In the case of folders with offensive or racist titles, you need to consider the harm this language may cause to a user, but also take care not to conceal or erase context. When maintaining these terms, use quotation marks to distinguish the creator’s terms, while also supplying sufficient folder-level scope and content description to provide context.3 Before making a decision, consult existing collection documentation and discuss with your supervisor  to see if curatorial staff can provide further insight and suggestions.

Numbering Folders

Folders are numbered consecutively per box, not consecutively throughout the entire collection. 

Capitalization of Folder Titles

Use title case for folder titles. Capitalize all words in a title except articles (a, an, the), prepositions under five letters (in, of, to), and coordinating conjunctions (and, but). 

Titles of Published Works Underline the titles of published works on the physical folder, and italicize in ASpace using <title> tags. For works, such as papers, essays, or journal article titles, surround the title in quotation marks: “Title Name Here.”

Punctuation and Folder Titles

Do not place periods at the end of folder titles on the physical folder or in ASpace.

Square Brackets

According to DACS 2.3.3, square brackets are typically not used in archival description. However, these can be a useful tool for disambiguation and/or clarity, and should be utilized when deemed necessary. Square brackets are also useful to indicate uncertainty in spelling when the original item is difficult to decipher. Place brackets around the portion of the word that is unclear.

Series and Subseries Formating

When writing out series names, use Roman numerals, followed by a colon.

Series Formatting

When writing out subseries names, use the series roman numeral, followed by a period, subseries letter, and another period.

Subseries Formatting

Write the word subseries as a single word, not hyphenated, as may sometimes be common in legacy description.

Semicolons

Semicolons can be used when listing out the names of series, subseries, or topical headings in narrative description. This is helpful to make a distinction between headings, especially when an individual heading contains a comma. 

Example:  “Series I consists of audio and video recordings that commence with Reed’s 1960s acoustic home recordings, and trace the trajectory of his career through Demos and Rehearsal recordings; Studio recordings; Live recordings; Television and Film appearances; Radio programs; Recorded Conversations and Interviews; and recordings of Other Artists.”

Dates

Each component in a container list must have a date expression, instead of undated use an estimate, such as: 1980s; approximately 1980-1985; circa 1982. If you cannot estimate the date, then leave the date field blank. While DACS does allow for the term undated, NYPL local rules prescribe that we should not use this term. See DACS 2.4.12 for more guidance on estimated date ranges and DACS 2.4.15 for more information on estimated single dates.

A year is often sufficient, but months may be included to signify a break in the material between folders. If months are included they should be written in the following format as recommended in DACS 2.4.15:

1970 February-June  1970 July-December 1971 February

Inclusive Dates

DACS 2.4.7 - 2.4.9 lays out guidelines for inclusive dates. Always write out the entire date, separated by a dash, like this: 1945-1989. There should be no spaces before or after the dash. Be sure not to omit the century when writing a date range, such as “1945-89.” 

Never leave the date with an open dash, such as “1920 - “, even when accruals are expected. DACS 2.4.8 recommends including the end date of the most current accrual, and updating this date when new materials are received. In narrative description, it is acceptable to express this as “1920 to present.” 

Bulk Dates

There is a field for bulk dates in ASpace. The EAD output will correctly format collection, series, and subseries level date expressions with the inclusive dates, followed by the bulk dates like this: 1952-2019 [bulk 1982-2012]. If you choose to refer to the bulk dates in your narrative description in the scope and content note, DACS 2.4.10 states that bulk dates must always be preceded by the inclusive dates. You should never state the bulk dates without first indicating the inclusive dates. 

Significant Break in the Records

1933, 1999-2017

Estimated Date Ranges

Approximately 1970-1995Circa 1970-1995[1970-1995]

Single Dates

19871987 September1987 September 12

Estimated Single Dates

circa 19871980s

Dates in Narrative Description

The only exception to dates formatting rules is in narrative description, in which the month may precede the date and year, expressed like October 31, 1994 or October 31st. This is most common in an administrative/biographical history note when stating a collection creator’s date of birth or death.

Abbreviations

Since few abbreviations are standardized, and because both DACS and RDA discourage them, abbreviations should be avoided.

Some common abbreviations that should always be written out include:

  • Memo: Use the full word memorandum, or the plural memoranda.
  • Info: Use Information
  • & : The ampersand should not replace the word “and” unless it is part of a company or organization’s formal name or composition title (e.g., Ben & Jerry’s, Dolce & Gabbana, A&W).
  • # or No.: Use Number
  • Etc.: Use et cetera, however it is best to avoid this term unless it is part of a title. Always attempt to describe content as fully as possible.
  • Misc: Use Miscellaneous (if you use this term in a series or folder title, write a description that includes at least a list of the types of materials included, for example: Miscellaneous Financial Materials). In general it is best to avoid this term in your description
  • Place Names’ Always write out the full name of cities, states, countries, cities, and provinces.

Exceptions to Abbreviations

Use St., Jr., and Ft. and similar in city and person names (St. Louis, Martin Luther King Jr.).

D.C. (Washington, D.C.) (note the use of periods in these).

Acronyms

Do not use acronyms for an organization or company without fully describing them the first time they appear in a text. For example, when writing about The New York Public Library (NYPL) for the first time in a scope and content note, write out its full name with its acronym following it in parentheses. Then in subsequent paragraphs, you may use NYPL to refer to the organization.

If using an acronym and pluralizing it, make it a small “s” and do not use an apostrophe. Some examples include: PACs, EISs, EAs.

Apostrophes

Plural

Although ’70s is grammatically correct, it is not DACS compliant. Instead use 1970s (not 1970’s or ‘70’s).

Possessive

  • Singular nouns (including those that end in s) get an apostrophe. Do not add an extra “s” after the apostrophe for words that end in s.

    • Examples:

      • The boss’ office is on the third floor.

      • Jess’ bicycle is locked up outside.

  • Plural nouns

    • Plural nouns that do not end in “s” get an apostrophe:

      • The children’s school day begins at 9AM.

    • Plural nouns that end in s get only an apostrophe added after the word:

      • The archivists’ offices are located on the second floor.

Hyphens

To simplify data entry, use double hyphens (–) to indicate hierarchies in folder titles, much like Library of Congress Subject and Authority Headings:

  • Smith, John–Correspondence, 1925

The single hyphen is used for dates or in the case of hyphenated words.

  • 1965-1979
  • Bi-weekly

Numbers

As recommended in the Chicago Manual of style, the numbers zero through one hundred should be written out. Starting at number 101, it is acceptable to use numbers in lieu of spelling out the word.

Spaces

Use a single space after periods, commas, and colons. There is no instance where an additional space will ever be needed in description or in ArchivesSpace.

  1. Caswell and Cifor remind us that “In making descriptive choices, the archivist should ask, what language would the creator use to describe the records.” Michelle Caswell and Marika Cifor, “From Human Rights to Feminist Ethics: Radical Empathy in the Archives,” Archivaria, no. 81 (May 6, 2016): 38, https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13557. ↩

  2. Elvia Arroyo-Ramírez reminds us that “keeping the linguistic integrity of these file and folder names shouldn’t be a ‘compromise on an ideal’ — it is the very practical responsibility of processing archivists and other digital curation laborers to preserve as much of the original content and context of the collections we’ve been entrusted to preserve and provide access to. Diacritic glyphs are an inherent part of the content that distinguishes certain words from others; ridding the file and folder names of them will misrepresent the collections they are meant to describe and misinform the users who are researching them. Elvia Arroyo-Ramírez, “Invisible Defaults and Perceived Limitations: Processing the Juan Gelman Files,” On Archivy, October 31, 2016, https://medium.com/on-archivy/invisible-defaults-and-perceived-limitations-processing-the-juan-gelman-files-4187fdd36759. ↩

  3. “Handling Racist Folder Titles and Creator-Sourced Description”, Alexis A. Antracoli et al., “Archives for Black Lives in Philadelphia: Anti-Racist Description Resources,” October 2019, 8, https://archivesforblacklives.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/ardr_final.pdf. ↩