All collections will need to be described at the collection level.
Assigning collection number
Creating the Collection Title
Title is required for resource records at the collection level. At the collection level, the title is usually a concatenation of the creator name and a term describing the form of materials, whether general (personal archives, records) or specific (correspondence, diaries). In general, use "personal archives" for manuscript (MC) collections and "records" for MIT administrative material (AC collections).
Capitalize official name of a body or entity, or person, but not the document type. Separate elements with a comma and use a comma after first part of corporate body, but not between the last word in the office and the word "records."
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the Provost records
Alice K. Hartley personal archives [creator plus type of material]
Oral history interview with Tim the Beaver [no single "creator" so use type of material plus topic]
Oral history collection on Francis Otto Schmitt [collection of oral histories about one person]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of Minority Education records
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oral History Program, oral history interviews on ocean engineering
If there is a set of administrative records created by a person who has a distinct responsibility in a large office, include their name following the office title and before the word "records."
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the Provost, Assistant Provost Walter Rosenblith records
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the President, Paul E. Gray records
If the collection consists of specific forms of material use the more specific form name in the title such as: correspondence or diaries
Theodore Grover collection of autographs, signatures, and images of Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty members, administrators, and alumni
Holliday C. Heine student notes
John Smith diaries
Use the word “collection” to denote an assembled set of materials. If Distinctive Collections is the collector or assembler of the collection, use MIT Libraries as the creator.
Albert G. Ingalls pseudoscience collection
Frank J. Lepreau collection on Klaus Liepmann
MIT Libraries collection on student life
MIT Libraries collection of websites of student life
If a collection consists solely of an item with a defined title, retain the existing title.
The Log of the Dorian
Collection level titles also appear in other sections of the resource record — the preferred citation note and finding aid title — the title of the collection should remain consistent across these fields.