Basic Information Section

Title (required; DACS 2.3, CAAIS 1.4)

• Other than “MIT,” acronyms and initialisms should be spelled out, e.g. Association of MIT Alumnae oral history, not AMITA oral history 
• Titles should be in natural order, e.g. Shirley Ann Jackson personal archives, not Jackson, Shirley Ann personal archives (DACS 2.3.5)

• For the initial accession of a new collection:

  • If the accession consists of one or two specific forms or items, list them individually, e.g. MIT Community Players scrapbooks (DACS 2.3.20)

  • If more than two forms or items are present, use “personal archives” for papers of faculty and other individuals; “records” for organizational records, including the records of specific administrators; or “collection” for assembled collections, usually from multiple sources.

  • Examples:
    

    • Paul L. Penfield, Jr. personal archives

    • MIT Chemical Society records

    • MIT Office of the Dean for Student Affairs records

    • Collection on Ellen Swallow Richards

• For additions to existing collections:
  • If the accession consists of one or two specific forms or items, list them individually, e.g. Radar Training School class of 1942 photograph and notebook (DACS 2.3.20) 
  • If more than two forms or items are present, the title should identify the new accession as a transfer (for AC collections) or as an accrual (for MC collections) with the year and month of the donation included.
    • Examples:
      • Center for Environmental Health Sciences 2018 October transfer
      • MIT Collection on Student Life 2017 April accrual
• For digital material transferred from physical media in existing collections:
  • The title should identify it as a digital media transfer with the year and month that you started the work
  • Example: Lisa Redfield Peattie papers 2019 September digital media transfer
    

Identifier (required; CAAIS 1.2) 

• Identifiers are the accession numbers. The first text field contains the four digit fiscal year and the second text field contains the next three digit sequential number with leading zeros as needed, e.g. 2019-004

Accession Date (required)

• The date when the accession arrived at DDC. If the arrival date is unknown, use the date when the accession record was created (the accession record creation date is the default for this field and should be updated if you know the arrival date).

Content Description (required; DACS 3.1, CAAIS 3.3)

• A succinct description of the topics documented and types of materials in the accession. This should just be one chunk of text; avoid line breaks.

Condition Description (DACS 4.2.5, CAAIS 4.3.2)

•  A description of preservation concerns regarding the accession. Use sparingly only to describe major preservation issues such as mold, e.g. Moldy materials in flagged folder in Box 2

Disposition Note (required; DACS 5.3.4 & 7.1.8, CAAIS 4.4.2)

• A description of where materials from the accession were placed, including specific box numbers when applicable. If materials from the accession end up in more than one collection/location, this should be made clear in the description. This field should also be used to note any separated materials that were returned to the donor, transferred to another institution, or destroyed/recycled during the accessioning process. (Use the Deaccessions Section (fix link) to note any separations made after the materials went through the accessioning process and were made available to researchers.)
• Examples:
  • Created new collection (MC-0123)
  • Added to AC-0123 as Boxes 5-6; approximately 1 cubic foot of publications determined out of scope and returned to donor
  • Added to Box 10 of MC-0456; duplicate material consisting of reprints and unmarked articles by others weeded and recycled
  • Created new series (Series 4: Alumni Association of New England); deleted 11 emails containing SSNs or credit card numbers

Provenance (required; DACS 5.2, CAAIS 2.1)

• The source from which DDC acquired the materials and the method of acquisition, including specific software used to acquire digital content. There should be an Agent Record for any individuals named here as donors or facilitators of records transfers (“sources”) in the Agent Links (fix link) section. When the provenance is unknown, state “There is no documentation concerning the provenance of these materials.”
• Examples:
  • Shipped to DDC by Jane Doe, Jr., daughter of Jane Doe, Sr.
  • Annual transfer of boxes sent to DDC by office manager Pam Beesly
  • Email ingested through ePADD and then transferred to DDC submission storage
  • Paper records packed and picked up by Kari Smith on November 1; digital files on external USB drive received from donor on November 7
  • Transferred using the Archives Transfer Tool

Inventory

• Use to note the existence of a donor-provided inventory if applicable. Do not use this field to create preliminary inventories.
• Examples
  • Excel folder list created by the donor is located in the digital control file and linked as an external document
  • Box inventory provided by the donor in paper form is in the physical control file

General Note

• A catch-all note to be used sparingly for information that doesn’t fit in any other field

Acquisition Type (required; CAAIS 1.6)

• Choose the appropriate option from the drop down menu
  • Deposit: Manuscript collections received without guarantee of a deed of gift in the near future
  • Gift: Most manuscript accessions received from individuals (including MIT faculty and alumni) or organizations that are not directly part of MIT’s administrative structure
  • Purchase: Manuscript collections purchased from a private seller
  • Transfer: MIT records received from academic departments and programs, administrative offices, and research labs and centers, which do not require a deed of gift
  • Found in Repository: Accessions for which the provenance is unknown, e.g. materials found when cleaning out a workspace or loose in the stacks

Resource Type (required)

• Choose the appropriate option from the drop down menu
  
  • Collection: Purposefully assembled collections, often but not always from multiple sources, e.g. MIT Collection on Student Life
  • Papers: Collections of individuals (including MIT faculty), e.g. Gordon H. Pettengill personal archives
  • Publications: Accessions made up entirely of published works
  • Records: Collections of organizations or specific units and offices within larger organizations, including both those within and outside of MIT’s administrative structure, e.g. Office of the Treasurer records

Restrictions Apply? (required)

• This box is checked by default since there are use restrictions on all collections

Publish?

• For accession records, make sure this box is not checked

Access Restrictions?

• Check this box if there are access restrictions

Access Restrictions Note (required; DACS 4.1)

•  For MIT records, note any restrictions based on the Institute Records Access Statement. For manuscript collections, note any restrictions based on the donor agreement for new collections or the access note in the finding aid for existing collections. If the access restrictions for the accession differ from those of the collection into which it is placed, the access restriction statement should reflect the accession, not the collection. If the accession is not restricted, use the statement “Materials are open.”
• Consult the Archivist for Collections if you think there is a compelling reason to impose restrictions not specified in the Institute Records Access Policy or deed of gift, e.g. privacy concerns. Note that this field should only be used to describe intellectual limits on access, not restrictions based on physical condition or technical requirements.
• Examples:
  • Materials in Boxes 10-15 are closed for 75 years from the date of their creation due to the presence of student academic files. All other materials are open for research use.

  • All materials are restricted for 20 years from the date of their creation in accordance with MIT’s Institute Records Access Policy. Additionally, select folders are closed for 75 years due to the presence of personnel information; these restrictions are noted in the folder list for Series 2 and on the relevant boxes and folders.

  • Emails are restricted for 10 years in accordance with the donor agreement. All other materials are open for research use.

Use Restrictions? (required)

• This box is checked by default since there are use restrictions on all collections

Use Restrictions Note (required; DACS 4.4)

• Use the following statement for archival accessions (AC collections):
  • “Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Separate written application for permission to publish must be made to Distinctive Collections. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the creating office.”
• Use the following statement for manuscript accessions (MC collections):
  • “Access to collections in the Department of Distinctive Collections is not authorization to publish. Separate written application for permission to publish must be made to Distinctive Collections. Copyright of some items in this collection may be held by respective creators, not by the donor(s) of the collection.”

Dates Section (DACS 2.4, CAAIS 3.1)

• Add new date by clicking the “Add Date” button.

Label (required)

• This is set to Creation by default

Expression

• Used only for dates or date spans spelled out in full year/month (and in rare cases day) form, e.g. 2009 September-2010 February, or if using “circa” to indicate uncertainty about dates, e.g. circa 2000-2010. This field is not used if the single date or date range is a simple YYYY or YYYY-YYYY format.

Type (required)

• Choose the appropriate option from the drop down menu
  • Bulk Dates: Creation dates applicable to the majority of materials in the accession, excluding any outliers on either end
  • Inclusive Dates: Creation dates applicable to all materials in the accession, including outliers on either end
  • Single: Use if there is only one creation date for all materials in the accession

Begin (required)

• Numerical value of earliest (or only) creation date in the accession in YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD format

End

• Numerical value of latest creation date in the accession in YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD format

Certainty

• Choose “Approximate” from the drop down menu if dates are uncertain for any reason