Preliminary Level

This preliminary level of description is for internal use only. The Preservation and Collections Processing Division does not utilize an accessioning as processing model,1 so information on new acquisitions are recorded in SPEC, which includes minimal container-level description for all received content. The curator records the format types, collection extent, and descriptive information provided by the creator, donor, and/or seller into the collection’s SPEC acquisition record, and the Collection Manager refines and updates this information during accessioning.

Arrangement Tasks: The new acquisition is kept in received order, and rehoused when containers are not archival, are damaged, or will not fit on shelves. Electronic records are physically separated from the collection, inventoried in SPEC, and transferred to Digital Archives for imaging. Donor/seller/creator numbering systems are retained when present. All rehousing and any intervention made by the Collection Manager is noted in SPEC. 

Description Tasks: A container-level inventory is created in the SPEC acquisition record by the Collection Manager, and linked to a collection record by Archival Processing unit management. The SPEC record also includes shelf locations, a content summary, and the collection’s extent. A basic inventory of audio and moving image materials and electronic records is also conducted at this time, which includes a unique identifer number, barcode, and format. Preservation issues are noted, and remediation may occur when necessary. Archival Processing unit management also creates a minimal record in ArchivesSpace that includes the collection title and unique identifier.

Final Product: Container-level inventory, basic audio and moving image inventory, electronic records inventory, and format summary in SPEC; and a simple ArchivesSpace resource record.

  1. Christine Weideman, “Accessioning as Processing,” The American Archivist 69, no. 2 (September 1, 2006): 274–83, doi:10.17723/aarc.69.2.g270566u745j3815. ↩