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As archival material is “unpublished,” most collections lack formal titles and therefore archives staff will usually supply the title. Main source of information: materials themselves, accession, and donor records.

Most resource records for MIT are at a “collection” level with any description applying to an aggregate of materials. However, since archivists describe at all levels, a resource record occasionally could theoretically represent a single item. Titles also need to be transcribed or supplied at other levels (for series, file, and item components) in a container list.

Collection Level Titles

Series Titles

The title of a series may (but does not have to) consist of two parts, a descriptive word and a term describing the form of materials (correspondence, diaries). Use parallel construction when creating series titles — if Series 1 ends with a format type then continue to use formats in the titles for other series in the collection. At the series level avoid using the more general terms “papers,” “records,” or “miscellaneous.” Capitalize all words in the title of a series with the exception of articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.

Examples

Series 1. Personal Correspondence
Series 2. Scrapbooks
Series 3. Research and Writings

File Level Titles

Use the folder title given by the creator of the collection. For analog folders: if there is no folder title, supply one that is brief and concise.

Capitalization

Capitalize only the first word of the folder heading unless it is the official name of a body or entity, or the title of a book, movie, or journal article.

If it is the name of a body or entity, or a book or journal title: capitalize the first letter of all words (except a, an, the, and prepositions) but capitalize the first letter of the title and subtitle no matter what the word. If original folder title supplied by the donor/creator is capitalized and is not the name of a body or entity, or a book or journal title, ignore their formatting.

Examples:

• Office of the President correspondence
• A Peril and a Hope: The Scientists’ Movement in America 1945-47 by Alice Kimball Smith
• Meeting minutes and agendas

Name Order

Names should be listed in titles in natural order - first name and then last name. This guideline should be followed even if this does not match the creators title.

Dates in Title

This is usually the case when the title is an event such as a conference or meeting. Include the date as part of the title when the title date does not match the dates of the materials.

Numbers in Title

Spell out numbers that begin folder title if from one to nine (except for course numbers). For all other numbers not at beginning of title, use digits.

Colons

Avoid using colons in titles, unless used by the creator or part of a proper title. Colons should not be used to indicate categories — this is a change from legacy policies and examples may be found in older processing work. Categorization may be done by nesting file level records.

See: Style Guidelines and Format & Materials for further guidance.