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INTRODUCTION

Every day archivists must make decisions about how much physical and intellectual control collections need on a case by case (or collection by collection) basis. The following levels detail the physical and intellectual control that an archivist can assign to accessions and collections of both tangible and digital materials. This section of the processing manual explains in detail the amount of physical and intellectual control expected at each level.

IASC strives to make collections accessible to all researchers as quickly as possible. Employing More Product Less Process (MPLP) means that all collections have a basic level of access. To do this, archivists must make decisions about the appraisal and arrangement of collections before processing. The processing levels on this page provide on overview set of tasks and criteria for each processing level. Each collection requires advanced decision making skills on the part of archivists to determine its immediate appraisal, arrangement, and description needs. It is up to the archivist to determine the level of processing a collection warrants either upon accessioning, or at a later date, and then to create a plan of action for that set of materials. 

There are a number of factors to take into consideration when determining the processing level. Researcher interest, related collections, the size and formats of the collection, the amount of free space we have on site, special funding, donor expectations, staff availability, and MIT and federal restrictions, are all important factors to keep in mind when determining the processing level for a collection.

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Level 1 - Minimum

When to use Level 1:

  • If collection is a very low processing priority. Many of these steps are done pre-processing, but are vital to understanding the processing needs of a collection and as such should be the bare minimum done for each collection.

  • Collection will be used only by the creating office

  • Restricted for 50-75 years

  • Regular accruals

Material TypePhysical ControlIntellectual Control
Analog + DigitalTransfer materials

Create accession record

Create or update resource record description at Collection level

Create container list at series or box level only if high level information is provided by the donor/creater

Update resource record with instances at Collection level

Analog

Rehouse boxes as necessary

Weed only very obvious duplicate materials

Add labels and barcodes to boxes

Transfer boxes to HD or ASC storage

 
Digital (physical media + born digital)Document digital media and where it exists within the collection in accession record

Run virus scan

Package content and generate checksums

Record technical metadata

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Level 2 - Baseline

When to use Level 2:

This is the baseline level of processing for most collections.

Material TypePhysical ControlIntellectual Control
Analog + Digital

Transfer materials

Survey accession

Create accession record

May create processing proposal or work plan

Add/update container list and collection level description

Add instances in container list

Analog

Rehouse boxes as necessary

Folder loose material, refolder Pendeflex, refolder for preservation (moldy, water damage)

Weed only very obvious duplicate, non-archival, or transactional material

Screen at series, box, or folder level

Add labels and barcodes to boxes

Transfer boxes to HD or ASC storage

Label and date all folders

Basic physical arrangement may be done

Intellectual arrangement may be done

Describe at series, box, or folder level in ASpace

Digital (physical media + born digital)

Document digital media and where it exists within the collection

May migrate materials off of physical media depending on volume, staff resources, and format

Run virus scan

Package content and generate checksums

Record technical metadata

Scan for PII within the files (if born digital)

Delete/deaccession files with PII where appropriate

Identify file formats

Record software or tools for viewing or use

Create series in the finding aid for digital material

 

 

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Level 3 - Moderate

Use this level for accessions / collections with determined extra importance - taking into consideration historical value, researcher interest, extra levels of funds or support.

Material TypePhysical ControlIntellectual Control
Analog + Digital

Transfer materials

Survey accession

Create accession record

Create work plan

Add/update container list and collection level description

Add instances in container list

Analog

Rehouse boxes as necessary

Folder loose material, refolder Pendeflex, refolder for preservation (moldy, water damage)

Weed duplicate, transactional, and non-archival material

Screen at folder level

Add labels and barcodes to boxes

Transfer boxes to HD or ASC storage

Label and date all folders

Physical arrangement may be done

Intellectual arrangement may be done

Describe at series and folder level in ASpace

Digital

Document digital media and where it exists within the collection

May migrate materials off of physical media depending on volume, staff resources, and format

Photograph physical media

House media in format-specific containers

Run virus scan

Package content and generate checksums

Record technical metadata

Scan for PII within the files (if born digital)

Delete/deaccession files with PII where appropriate

Identify file formats

Record software or tools for viewing or use

Create series and container list in the finding aid for digital material

File format normalization/migration with ready pathways/services in Archivematica Create series in the finding aid based on intellectual content

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Level 4 - Extreme

This level is reserved for grant funded or special projects.

Material TypePhysical ControlIntellectual Control
Analog + Digital

Transfer materials

Survey accession

Screen at item level

Create accession record

Create work plan

Add/update container list and collection level description

Add instances in container list

Intellectually arrange series so physical and digital are together

Possible item level description

High level of research undertaken resulting in detailed notes at all levels (collection to item)

Analog

Rehouse boxes as necessary

Folder loose material, refolder Pendeflex, refolder for preservation (moldy, water damage)

Weed duplicate, transactional, and non-archival material

Add labels and barcodes to boxes

Transfer boxes to HD or ASC storage

Label and date all folders

Physical and intellectual arrangement match

Describe at series, folder and/or item level in ASpace

Digital

Document digital media and where it exists within the collection

May migrate materials off of physical media depending on volume, staff resources, and format

Photograph physical media

House media in format-specific containers

Run virus scan

Package content and generate checksums

Record technical metadata

Scan for PII within the files (if born digital)

Delete/deaccession files with PII where appropriate

Identify file formats

Record software or tools for viewing or use

Create series and container list in the finding aid for digital material

File format normalization/migration with ready pathways/services in Archivematica Create series in the finding aid based on intellectual content

Redact files with PII File format normalization/migration for material outside of Archivematica or proprietary formats

Create Dissemination Information Packadge (DIP) - mostly create DIP at access request by researcher


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